March 21, 2013 Edible Santa Fe Launch Reception, Dinner- Grilled Salmon Cesar Salad

March 21, 2013 Edible Santa Fe Launch Reception, Dinner- Grilled Salmon Cesar Salad

We went to Edible Santa Fe’s Magazine Launch Reception for its new quarterly issue at Zinc at 5:30 p.m.  The issue features a travel section.  We said hello to Editor Sarah Fisher and publishers Walt and Sheila who encouraged me to submit their form to write for the magazine.

I talked Jan Brooks, one of Amy’s oldest and dearest friends from Fort Worth, who also now lives in Santa Fe and has written three articles for Edible SF.  What a small world!

I met lots of other interesting people like Troy, whose wife, Grace Lapsys (www.lajoliesse.com) is making real tempered chocolates in the French style with lots of interesting ingredients such as mango.  I tried one with a whole hazelnut on the top and a dark chocolate coating with two layers of soft hazelnut flavored chocolate inside, one dark and the other milk chocolate.

Zinc’s appetizers were interesting also.  Best was a small duck confit eggroll with a sweet chili and ginger dipping sauce.  There were also puff pastries with a little twist of creamed cheese, Chorizo quiches, grilled portabella rolls, a ham sandwich and several others.  Lovely food.

After the reception, we went to Costco so Suzette could pick up a few things for the Greenhouse Bistro and Bakery in Los Lunas.

We finally arrived home around 8:00.  On the way home we discussed dinner.  Although we did not want to cook a big meal, we decided that we needed to cook the salmon steak I had bought at Sprouts on Tuesday and I suggested that we eat it on a little Cesar salad.  When we arrived at home, I took the jar of Cesar salad dressing from the fridge and added a little Kirtland’s extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice and a beaten egg to give the dressing a little more body and to freshen its flavor and correct its texture.  When I made the dressing the other day I only had one egg and I usually put in two eggs when I make it with a cup of oil.

We discussed how to season the salmon and finally we decided to sprinkle it with dried dill weed and to sprinkle it with some of the paprika salt Suzette made at Christmas with the salt we bought at Guerande, France last August and a drizzle of lemon juice.

Suzette put the salmon on the grill for a few minutes while I worked on the dressing and chopped up a head of Romaine lettuce and washed and spun it.  Soon Suzette came in and said the grill’s fire had gone out due to lack of gas, so she put the partially cooked salmon on a plate and dolloped it with a couple of pads of butter and put it in the microwave for about 4 minutes to cook it to medium rare.  Suzette cooked the salmon perfectly; no redness in the center and moist with a juicy flesh that flaked off easily.

I had heated a PPI wild rice and basmati mixture and threw some rice into my pasta bowl with some lettuce.  Suzette did not want rice so just salad in her bowl.  I then grated Parmesan cheese onto the lettuce and threw on a few croutons and drizzled the salad with some dressing.  Suzette cut the salmon steak in half and put a steak on the rice in my bowl and beside the salad in her bowl.  I went to the basement and fetched the Kudos 2011 Willamette Valley, Oregon Pinot Gris and we were ready to eat.  The Pinot Gris was a lovely pale yellow color and fruity with that wonderful minerality.  We liked it a lot and its slightly tart flavor complemented the grilled salmon and salad.  One of the reasons for making dressings with lemon juice instead of vinegar is that lemon juice complements wine while vinegar clashes with it.  I never drink wine with a vinegar salad dressing, but enjoyed the Pinot Gris with the Cesar Salad. Pinot Gris may be our new favorite wine grape of 2013, just like Chenin Blanc was last year.

Bon Appétit