IN THE KITCHEN
Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring! BY VICTORIA SPREHE
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L ake of Egypt Living
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I’m not sure why I associate salmon with spring, but it was the first thing that came to mind when choosing the culinary topic for this issue. Salmon is a delicious and healthy fish that can be prepared a variety of ways. My favorite way to prepare salmon is to poach the whole side. Preparing a whole side of salmon gives you enough fish for dinner and maybe some leftover for other dishes, too. Of course, this method can be used to poach already-cut salmon filets as well. When buying salmon I recommend buying wild caught over farm raised. Even if the wild caught is frozen I believe the quality to be much better than farm-raised salmon, in most cases. Farm raised salmon is fed food that has been injected with a synthetic astaxanthin and carotenoid pigment. Let’s skip the synthetic and go for the healthier, wild caught version which provides all kinds of health benefits. Here are some of the nutritional benefits of eating salmon…omega-3 fatty acids, protein, potassium, B vitamins, selenium, the natural antioxidant form of astaxanthin, helps fight inflammation, reduces the risk of heart disease and protects your brain health. Given all that I suppose we should eat salmon every day. Poaching is one of the healthiest, most flavorful, and really one of the easiest ways to prepare salmon. This instruction is for my preferred method, “shallow poaching”. This method is basically a gently simmered salmon in liquid called “court bouillon” which contains seasonings, herbs, and usually an acid. The result is a flavorful, melt-in-your mouth salmon that is perfect by itself, but it also gives you a product that you can use in a variety of ways.
