Broiled Salmon, Latin style

My family used to live in Alaska, so we know from salmon. I still eat a lot of salmon, for its massive amounts of Omega-3's, tenderness, and not too-fishy flavor.

This dish is latinized with a mango/red onion relish and frenchified with haricots verts -- slender stringbeans.

Black beans are a cuban staple and the italian parsley just tastes good, lighten-ing the overall heavy flavors of this meal.




My original recipe and directions are below.

My new jazzy music album, "KiTCHEN MuSIC," is now available on iTunes, Amazon.com and CD Baby! KiTCHEN MuSIC takes ten familiar songs from the 40's and 50's -- the kinds of songs my Mom used to sing while cooking -- and updates them with funky arrangements and sensuous grooves. Perfect music to dance and cook to with a glass of wine in your hand.

I'm pairing this recipe with a brooding romantic song from the 1940's -- "My Ship," by Ira Gershwin (Lyrics) and Kurt Weill (Music.) Kurt Weill, born in Germany in 1900, came to America and was a popular composer from the 1920's until his untimely death in 1950.

Weill wrote some of my favorite songs from the Great American Songbook, including "Mack The Knife," "Speak Low," and "My Ship."

My Ship has been recorded by Miles Davis, Sara Vaughn, Rhassan Roland Kirk, Johnny Hartman, Flora Purim ...and now by Roberto Mighty :-)

My Ship is a difficult song to interpret, because the melody is sometimes sweet, sometimes dark, and it has an unusual harmonic structure. To my mind, Ira Gershwin's naive lyrics do not do justice to the emotional complexities of Kurt Weill's great composition, but the piece was written for a stage play ("Lady In The Dark,") and although I haven't seen the play, my understanding is that the lyrics fit the play's Book perfectly.

I became obsessed with My Ship after hearing Flora Purim's version on her fabulous 2001 album, "Perpetual Emotion." I created a dark, rythmically syncopated guitar-based arrangement of the song for my album, KiTCHEN MuSIC.

Broiled Salmon, Latin style
with Mango/garlic/red onion relish & Haricots Vert, Cuban Black Beans and Brown Rice
by Roberto Mighty

PREP TIME: 10 minutes. Cook time: 14 minutes.

TOOLS
Large Saute Pan for the Mango Relish
Medium size pot (saucepan) with a lid for the brown rice
Oven-safe pan (I use a glass pie pan) for broiling the salmon
Spatula and fork for sauteeing

INGREDIENTS

- Three Salmon Filets, about 4 ounces ("quarter-pounder") each
- EVO, Red Onions, Garlic,
- Fresh Mango, Peeled
- Fresh lime, cut in half
- Haricots Vert
- Kosher Salt to taste
- Whole Black Peppercorns, ground fresh, to taste
- Canola oil spray (for broiling pan and saute pan)
- Brown Rice
- Cuban-Style Black Beans
- Italian-Style Parsley

DIRECTIONS

STOVETOP BROWN RICE
When cooking brown rice, follow package directions, LOL. If you can't find the directions:

- 1 cup uncooked brown rice
- 2 to 2 1/2 cups liquid (water, vegetable stock or chicken broth)
- 1 teaspoon olive oil, butter or margarine (optional)
- 2-3 pinches of kosher salt

- Combine ingredients in 2- to 3-quart saucepan
- Bring to boil; stir
- Reduce heat, cover and simmer 45 to 50 minutes, or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed
- Fluff with fork. Makes 3 to 4 cups

CUBAN STYLE BLACK BEANS
- Buy a can of "Cuban Style Black Beans."
- Open can
- Dump contents of can into a small saucepan
- Heat
- Eat
- Relish the time you've saved doing it this way

OPTION: Sprinkle in cumin, minced garlic, green or "Adobo," a prepared spice preparation, to taste.

MANGO RELISH
1. Have your onions, garlic and mango chopped and ready before turning on the sautee pan
2. Spray the pan with canola oil spray
3. Turn on the pan, medium high. When it's hot, pour in the olive oil
4. When the olive oil is running like water and about to smoke, add in the onions, garlic and mango
5. Turn the heat down to medium and stir the onions, garlic and mango constantly to keep them from burning
6. Squeeze the juice of half a lime into the pan when the onions are translucent
7. Immediately add in the Haricots Vert, stirring to cover them with all the hot juices and oil
8. Turn the heat down to low, add in 2 tablespoons of water, cover and let simmer for a two or three minutes, adding water if necessary to keep from burning.
OPTION: Add a pinch of kosher salt.
9. Turn off the heat and set the relish aside to be plated with the fish, beans and rice.

BROILED SALMON FILETS
1. Preheat oven to "Broil"
2. Remove salmon filets from package. Rinse well
3. Pat dry with paper towels
4. Season (flesh side) with kosher salt, cracked black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil
5. Place salmon filets in the broiling pan
6. Put 'em in the broiler
7. Take a look in 7 minutes
8. Depending on your doneness preference, the filets will be DONE in 7-10 minute

PLATING
Put the rice and beans in the center of the plate. Put the salmon filet (One is enough for one serving) on top of the rice and beans. Layer the mango/garlic/onion/haricots vert relish on top of the salmon. Sprinkle a few dots of Mexican hot sauce on top (mama mia,) and spoon mango relish juice on top. Take a photo. Chow down.

ENJOY! - Roberto

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