It has been a while since I have done any cooking. The bad weather recently hasn’t exactly inspired me to don a big rain jacket and stand outside cooking. Dani and I are starting to get rather sick of take-out, and thankfully neighbors and family are living up to promises and offering us dinners, which is pretty handy But I miss cooking. No matter how basic, no matter how mundane (heck, making toast right now works for me!), I miss it. Thankfully I got to do a tiny bit the other night. We needed something super quick. It took Drake an age to get to sleep, so we were going to be eating well late.

This was really dictated by what we had lying around.. that would be some fennel and potatoes. Of course, at this time of year the Coho salmon is previously frozen. I know a lot of people that hate to use any frozen fish. And for the most part I don’t blame them. Often enough the texture gets messed up, moistness is lost, and some say that nutrients get ruined too. However you can find really decent frozen salmon, if you are willing to hunt around. If you have salmon that has been sitting in the freezer compartment of your fridge for 3 months, expect it to be pretty bad. However, if you buy frozen salmon that has been frozen at sea, right after the fish is caught, then you have the best that you are going to get (frozen).

Rays Boathouse obviously use frozen during the off-season, and they say that most diners (including Julia Child) cannot tell the difference, when cooked properly. Of course, they have access to great seafood, and have chefs that know what they are doing, but hey in Seattle, if you know where to look, you have great seafood options too.

So this is really a simple dish:

Coho, Caramelized Fennel and Fingerlings

2 handfuls of small fingerling potatoes

4 heads of fennel, stalks removed (keep the herby leaves for adding to a salad)

1lb of Salmon (doesn’t have to be coho) - cut into two fillets

3 tablespoons of butter

olive oil

Slice the fennel from stalk end to base, so that each slice is about 1/4″ thick.

Get a piece of tin foil about 2 foot long. Fold this in half lengthwise. Put the potatoes in the middle, and add half a tablespoon of butter on top. Fold up all the edges to meet in the middle. Make sure join is folded over and over, to make a really well sealed package. Place this in a medium/high BBQ.

In a large pan over a medium heat add a splash of olive oil and a tablespoon of butter. When the butter has melted and is starting to fizz, throw in the fennel slices. Cook these over a medium heat until you get good browning on them. This can take a while - at least 10 minutes. If they are starting to look a bit dry, and more of the butter.

Season the flesh side of the salmon with salt and pepper, and the skin side with salt. Brush the BBQ rack with olive oil, and immediately put the salmon on, flesh side down. Cooking time depends on thickness, and how well done you like your salmon. Personally I like my salmon still pretty pink (raw) in the middle. Aim for about 4 minutes a side. Keep an eye on the fish though, if it is starting to look pretty dry, it is most likely done (or well done!). Generally the flesh will start flaking well when it is properly cooked (sometimes the flakiness is lost with badly frozen salmon - it almost just becomes a brick).

That is it really! The potatoes will most likely take about 20 minutes total, so if you are fast, you can get those on before you slice up the fennel - save a bit of time.

Put the fennel on two plates, and top with the potatoes. Toss gently to help coat the potatoes in some of the caramelized butter on the fennel. Top with the salmon.

A rather simple midweek dinner that took less than 30minutes start to finish.