i've invited a guy i like to my house and told him i'll cook ....?

Question

but the thing is i'm crap at cooking! i said i'd cook salmon [he likes it loads and i said it without thinking!] so can anyone give me a simple and easy recipe that i can't burn or mess up?

Answer 1

Salmon bakes really well in a covered dish and is hard to screw up - I do it this way alot:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Put 1 or 2 tablespoons of good quality olive oil in the bottom of the dish (1 if the salmon has skin on it). Um, it's best to use a pyrex glass dish or a ceramic dish that is large enough and preferably one with it's own lid - but a glass cake pan or glass pie dish with foil over it will work in a pinch. Add a little salt and pepper and I usually press in a clove of garlic but you might want to omit that for obvious reasons. You can also add a little wine or fresh lemon or lime juice. Put the salmon into the dish, turn over a couple times to coat well with the oil mixture, cover the dish and bake for about 25 to 35 minutes depending on the size, cut and thickness of the salmon. It will flake easily when it's done, and if he likes salmon that much he probably knows what it looks like done so you can ask him to help, just tell him it's a new recipe. If it's a salmon fillet wtih skin, put the skin side down. Tarragon is also wonderful on salmon, you can sprinkle a pinch (don't overdo it) over the above before baking. This is great with baked potatoe or rice and a steamed vege and salad.

Another recipe for salmon that I really like that you might want to save for a later date because of the onions/shallots and garlic is do all of the above but without any citrus juice, wine is ok, use the garlic, then lay thinly sliced onions or shallots over the salmon, as much or as little as you like, I usually use three or four shallots or 1/2 a med onion and sprinkel with a handful of small green olives or sliced large green olives - pimento stuffed olives are fine and add a nice splash of color. You can also use black olives, a lesser amount of greek olives or any combination of olives. Don't overdo the olives, it's better to have too few than too many. You can also toss a tablespoon or so of capers onto the above and bake as described above.
I haven't given exact measurements because it pretty much doesn't matter, just follow your feelings. This is easy and pretty foolproof. If you are going to serve wine with this dinner, I'd recommend a Chardonnay. Good luck, do as much ahead of time as you can and remember, the most important thing about the evening is to relax and have fun!

Answer 2

Salmon steaks
mushrooms - sliced
herbs - mixture of either fresh or dry

take a large piece of foil and rub some butter on it - this is so the fish doesn't stick.
lay the sliced mushrooms on the foil, lace the salmon on top and the herbs on top of them.
sprinkle with salt and pepper
fold the foil into a parcel but leave lots of air - ie do not fold the foil tight
put in an oven on top setting for 15 mins.
serve with a salad - just buy a prepacked one or else boiled new potatoes - just put the potatoes in a pan of boiling salted water and bold vigorously while the salmon is in the oven - remember to bring the water to the boil before you put the salmon in.

Recipe 2 - Mediterranean fish

1 bottle of passata (thick tomato sauce available in any supermarket) if you can't find this then a large jar of Italian tomato sauce
salmon steaks
a few - shrimp, muscles, prawns - whatever is on the fish counter - you could even add squid
peppers and mushrooms sliced (you can leave these out)
fresh basil leaves torn up

Get a large oven proof dish - put all the ingredients in the dish and bake for 20 mins covered with a lid or foil.

serve with pasta or rice - you can get boil in the bag rice and some crusty bread to mop up the sauce

Answer 3

Think carefully about this. Are you after a long or short term relationship? If short term, go the "buy ready to cook" option - you'll wow him. If you are after a long term relationship - can you keep it up? Either it'll cost you a fortune or he'll realise you are not that good a cook. Salmon is dead easy, only problem is time of year for accompaniments. Best meal ever is salmon with dill, jersey potatoes and peas with hollandaise sauce (which you can buy in a jar or packet mix.) This time of year jerseys are not available but there are still some charlotte new potatoes available which make a decent substitute. If you are really scared of burning it , go for steaming the fish. Go for salmon steaks for this (cut across the fish) or buy a tailpiece which is very reasonable and will give you four good fillets (2 hot on the night, 2 cold with mayonnaise for next day's lunch?) This is a really healthy, tasty way of cooking. If you have a steamer, just sprinkle fish with salt, pepper and chopped dill (for tailpiece put sprigs of dill in cavity). Bring water in base of steamer to boil, put steamer on top and cover. Steaks will take about 8 minutes, tailpiece about 20 minutes. New potatoes should be scrubbed but not peeled and will take 20 minutes to cook. Frozen peas are almost instant. Work out the sequence to put things on - probably potatoes first, then steamer, then peas. Have your plates ready to serve. If using steaks, all you need to do is put them on the plate. If using tailpiece, you need to lift off the fillets - dead easy. You can remove the skin if you want before serving - just run a knife along it and it will lift off. The backbone gives a really easy way to separate the fillets - there is a longitudinal line which you run your knife along, then a horizontal series of bones which guid your knife to lift off the fillet.

Whatever you decide, can I suggest you have a practice before the big night - it will give you more confidence and at least remove the cooking nerves!

Answer 4

Here's an idea, I use this recipe often and get raves:

Salmon filets
Mix 2 Tbls. Whole Grain Mustard
1 Tbls. Honey
1 Tbls. lemon juice
1 tsp. olive oil

Slather all over the salmon and pop it in the oven on a non stick baking dish or coat one with a little cooking spray skin side down. 350F for about 20-25 minutes. Let the Honey mustard glaze crisp a bit. Springkle a little fresh parsey on it for garnish

Answer 5

Kered,

You actually did good! Salmon is very easy to cook. Here's an impressive dish that you can make:

Salmon
Steam in a fry pan for 5 minutes with 1/2 cup of water.

Sauce
1/2 cup of red wine (the same wine you will serve with dinner)
1/4 cup of chopped shallots (or onions)
1/2 teaspoon of red wine vinegar
1 stick of butter

Place first 3 ingredients in a small pot. Boil until reduced to 2 tablespoons. Add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time, constantly stirring.

Wild rice
Cook in chicken broth for 50 minutes.

Good luck! Let me know how it turns out!

Answer 6

Maybe 'lou' could starting reading the questions - you asked for a recipe, not a site...

"Salmon Loaf" - 6 servings

2 tbsp. butter or margarine
1 small onion; finely chopped
1 (15 oz.) can salmon
1 3/4 cups soft bread crumbs
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup milk
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. chopped parsley
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper


1) Grease 8x4" loaf pan. In 6" skillet over medium-high heat, in hot butter, cook onion until tender.
2) In large bowl, combine cooked onion with remaining ingredients; mix well and spread into prepared pan.
3) Bake at 350* for 50-60 minutes until set in center. Cool on wire rack 10 minutes. Serve with Hollandaise Sauce.

Answer 7

do a lovely salmon salad you cannot go wrong there just place a tiny bit of oil in a frying pan get the pan hot,place the salmon steaks in and cook for a couple of minutes until the salmon changes to a lighter colour than place on top of a bed of salad and there you are a lovely meal.

Answer 8

Get a boneless fillet with the skin on one side; melt some butter and brush it over the fillet then sprinkle some brown sugar over the brushed on butter; sprinkle some garlic salt over that and bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes serve with wild rice and a veggie. Quick and easy and feeds 3-4 firemen depending on how big the fillet is.

Answer 9

Buy some cedar cooking boards (chemically untreated). Heat oven to 375 F salt and oil the fish and bake skin side down on the wood planks until the top starts to brown. When you spatula the fish off the plank, the skin should stay behind on the plank. If not, peal off before serving.

Answer 10

Here's an easy and delicious recipe that's foolproof. Good luck!

Garlic Salmon

1 1/2 pounds salmon fillet
salt and pepper to taste
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 sprig fresh dill, chopped
5 slices lemon
5 sprigs fresh dill weed
2 green onions, chopped

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray two large pieces of aluminum foil with cooking spray.

Place salmon fillet on top of one piece of foil. Sprinkle salmon with salt, pepper, garlic and chopped dill. Arrange lemon slices on top of fillet and place a sprig of dill on top of each lemon slice. Sprinkle fillet with chopped scallions.

Cover salmon with second piece of foil and pinch together foil to tightly seal.

Place on a baking sheet or in a large baking dish.

Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until salmon flakes easily.