Javanese Roasted Salmon

Some lovely Wild Coho Salmon in the supermarket! It actually looked wonderful. It’s rare to see good fresh salmon up here in the land of 'filet of Gila Monster'. There are some terrific seafood restaurants in Phoenix, but as summer comes on, all I can think about is a shipping container sitting on the tarmac at the Phoenix airport in 120 degree heat. And then a truck driving up here, some 100 miles, by a guy named Buddy who stops every 20 minutes to get a Pabst from the cooler back by the fish. But it’s not that hot yet, and I wanted to make a special sauce. Something heavenly. I wanted to blog something good, not just some insane rant about my feet. You know how I get.

Heather will know about this. Hell, I know she cooks it better! But, she LIVES in a cornucopia of beautiful fresh food and I live in a place where “Whole Foods” means a bale of hay.

It’s an adaptation of Javanese Roasted Salmon from Saucebox in Portland. I don’t know if it’s exactly the same ingredients, but it’s close enough and so very good. I perched this salmon on a bed of a mix of sautéed spinach, mushrooms, and baby bok choy. And some coconut rice, but I could have skipped that. The pics look kinda disgusting…like a big bloody scab or something, but I promise the flavor of that sauce is addictive. Maybe I should take a camera class? I just can’t get capture the beautifulness of some of my kitchen action.

Oh, and there’s a picture of my pet robin. He’s a male that couldn’t find a mate this spring, and he’s been squawking his head off first thing in the morning for 2 months. He’s very lonely and comes hopping across the yard when I whistle at him. He gets pretty close before he remembers that I’m a human, then he pretends to be all busy with the grubs and bugs. But I know he loves me.



Ok, that last comment was kinda crazy. Talking to birds. And I said this would be an issue-free post. Sorry.

I just can’t post a recipe without some weirdo confession, can I?

Javanese Roasted Salmon (lifted from The Saucebox)

6 tablespoons of unsalted butter
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 cloves garlic, grated into fine mess
¼ cup packed brown sugar
About 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
¼ cup shoyu
1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 teaspoon water
4 beautiful salmon fillets, skin and pin bones removed (I use my trusty hemostat..eh, eh, eh)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper.

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons of the butter over medium-high heat. Add the red pepper flakes and garlic and sauté until fragrant, about a minute. Add the sugar, lime juice, and shoyu…bring to boil. Simmer, stirring a lot, until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture reduces slightly, about 3 minutes. Then add the cornstarch/water and boil until thick, about one more minute. Set aside.

2. Prepare a baking sheet by lining with foil In a sauté pan, heat the remaining butter over high heat. Swirl to coat pan. Sear salmon fillets until golden on one side. Flip and sear over side, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer salmon to baking sheet. Smear about a tablespoon of the sauce over each fillet. Place in preheated oven and roast for about 5 minutes or until opaque and flakey.

3. Serve over a bed of butter-sautéed spinach or other greens. Drizzle with remaining sauce.

I'm So Fishy

I am always messing around with savory sauces or butters. Particularly those

that can compliment salmon. Ever since a heart surgeon told me he eats salmon

every MORNING for BREAKFAST (!) because he believes so strongly in the health

benefits, I’ve strived to add lots of fresh salmon to my diet. It’s easy for me

because I just love salmon. I am so boring and predictable at restaurants

because I always go for the salmon. I could be sitting at the most fabulous

steakhouse in the country that serves big fat juicy prime rib and I’ll say, “Well

then, I’ll just have the salmon, please!”

This is a recipe that’s been around my kitchen for some time. I cannot remember

where it came from…it’s scratched on the back of an old grocery receipt. With

gum stuck to it. That probably came from the bottom of a long-gone-to-

Salvation-Army purse. And I most likely copied this from a magazine in a

waiting room, because I’m too paranoid to just rip the dang page out. Like, what

are those nurses going to do?? Bill me? The way medical costs are, I should get

free subscriptions to every magazine in the reception room for at least 5 years.

This butter recipe is breeze to throw together (as long as you remember to do it ahead, so the butter has time to freeze) and it’s just delightful on salmon. My husband thinks it’s a tad too “caper-y”, so if capers aren’t your thing, decrease the amount you use. It makes plenty, so just keep the leftover in the freezer for the next time you have salmon. Like maybe for breakfast! (Let’s just forget about the fat content in the butter, shall we?)

“Salmon with Caper-Anchovy Butter”




4 garlic cloves
3 anchovy fillets (I drain them first – and use the leftovers in tuna salad)
2 tablespoons capers (again, drained)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon Cognac
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (I’ve used cilantro with good results)
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature

Blend first 7 ingredients together in food processor. Add butter and process until well-blended. Season to taste with salt, if desired (I think it’s salty enough with the anchovies!). Form the butter mixture into about a 9 inch long log and wrap with plastic wrap. Freeze until firm, at least 1 hour. Let butter soften slightly before using.

Broil or grill salmon steaks or filets as you like. Transfer to plates. Cut butter into ½ inch thick slices and top each piece of salmon with 2 or 3 slices. Serve hot.


*I served this with olive oil and salt roasted asparagus and tomatoes with a little feta cheese thrown on top during the last 10 minutes of roasting....right in there with the salmon. Yum.





(I'm betting this would be terrific with a variety of other fish as well...maybe even boring old prime rib)