Im honored to have this weeks guest chef make the time for the MizFits.
We all know him by his comment-moniker Dr. J but it took me a long ass time to figure out where to find him.
Ill save you the search: stop by and visit Dr. J at his blog where he offers his irreverent, slightly irrelevant, but possibly useful opinions on health and fitness.
He’s a Florida surgeon, a fitness freak with a black belt in karate, runs 50 miles a week, flies a Cherokee Arrow 200 AND makes time to do guest posts.
All in an impressive day’s work I guess.
The best meal I ever had was on a trip along the California coast, south of San Francisco in Big Sur! This coastal area, considered by many to be one of the most beautiful drives in the world, was preserved by law to maintain it’s visual beauty. It was one place where they got it right the first time! It was in the late afternoon and we stumbled across Nepenthes restaurant. They gave us outdoors seating with a southern vista of the California coastline, as far as we could see. With the setting sun, it was a view beyond belief. I ordered “Creole Salmon” for dinner. I’ll never know if it was the meal, or the company and meal with the view, but it was the best meal I’ve ever had. I am trying to recreate that experience. Look at the attached picture or painting I did of the view from our table, if the magnificent Ms Mizfit sees fit to post it, and as they say about movies, “suspend your disbelief, “ and it probably will not be the worst meal you’ve ever had.
First I have to tell you, I do a lot of cooking, I do it fast, and I keep it simple. Not much different from my surgical maxims!
OK, start with a salmon filet. No more than 1 inch thick. If you can use wild caught, pacific, maybe Alaskan salmon, all the better.
We are going to broil this in the oven. Broil it on high, on the highest shelf. I did say fast, right? I can’t give an exact time as all ovens are different and you may have to experiment with yours to find what works best.
To prepare the salmon, use crushed garlic, or fresh prepared garlic, or even garlic powder, on the fish. Then find a barbeque sauce that you like. We have “Sweet Baby Ray’s” here and I like that one best. It’s a no fat, not too bad in the sodium department, great tasting sauce.
Cover the salmon with a thin layer of the sauce. Put it in the oven and let er rip!
What we want is a caramelized glaze that is crisp but not burned. Although I charred one yesterday when I got distracted and the broiler just turned itself off before the fire department arrived! It was pretty good. I may do it that way next time for myself, but I’m not recommending that system for a neophyte!
Have some finely chopped scallions ready to sprinkle on top when it’s ready to be served. Maybe a little warmed sauce nearby to flavor, prn (as needed). Have it with steamed broccoli, and brown rice or quinoa. Use a fat free ranch dressing or fat free sour cream on the broccoli if you wish, or any other way that you like. Lastly, if you can, eat it with chopsticks. I can’t explain it, but I feel using chopsticks add a higher awareness to eating. It’s a leap of faith.
On the drive home, we could overlook the ocean from the coastal highway from above the low clouds that form over the cool pacific waters.
Hope you guys enjoy the meal!
Dr. J
Thanks so much. And, as you well know, you already were a MizFit.
Now, here’s where I need to offer a Dr. J a GINORMO apology.
Yesterday? there were lovely pictures after his post.
a photo of the view from the restaurant and a PAINTING this Renaissance Man (sorry hubby–just borrowing the moniker this once) did of aforementioned view.
We’re having growing pains up in herre and the pictures wont show up this morning.
I shall try to fix STAT (ha ha. get it? medical term? our guest chef is a doctor? dont forget to tip yer waitress Ill be here all week.)—stay tuned…
**edited to say apologies abound. wordpress is FIGHTING the MizFit with regards to photo-uploading.
dietgirl says
May 15, 2008 at 4:17 ammmm mmm, great stuff. i love guest chef time 🙂
Crabby McSlacker says
May 15, 2008 at 4:36 amThanks MizFit and Dr. J, that was a great suggestion!
Salmon is so healthy but I don’t eat it nearly as often as I should. Appreciate the cooking tips.
Gena says
May 15, 2008 at 5:31 amThanks, Dr J! I’m always looking for new ways to cook fish, and this sounds so good!
The Bag Lady says
May 15, 2008 at 7:40 amGreat recipe, Dr J!
And am hoping Mizfit can get the photos posted so we can enjoy them along with the fish!
MizFit says
May 15, 2008 at 7:43 amThere was a bit of a storm in these parts last night—-MizFit is in the clean up stage 😉 but hopes to be at desktop later.
M.
Mercedes says
May 15, 2008 at 7:46 amYum. I’m usually terrified of using the broiler, but maybe I need to get over it for BBQ salmon.
Now I need to drag my sorry @ss over to the treadmill.
*whine*
-MizFit, I hope everything’s Ok after the storm. We’ve been having some doozies, too; things can get pretty ugly.
Jen says
May 15, 2008 at 7:48 amI LOVE salmon–it’s one of the few animal proteins that I could happily eat every day! (Never been a huge meat eater–just makes me feel sluggish.) I’ll definitely be giving this a whirl…
Sagan says
May 15, 2008 at 9:03 amSalmon is wonderful! And I love using chopsticks. It’s so much more fun than using a fork and knife. Even though I have MAJOR issues when I use them (my lack of chopstick-ing skills is quite disgraceful, really).
Heather says
May 15, 2008 at 10:03 amThanks Dr. J! I too love Sweet Baby Ray’s, although I admit it’s not for the nutritional information. Sounds like a very yummy way to make one of my family’s favorite proteins. And I never thought of broiling it.
mamarunswithscissors says
May 15, 2008 at 10:20 amwe love salmon here!!!
always looking for a new way to prepare it and this one sounds awesome!!
can’t wait for the picture.
charlotte says
May 15, 2008 at 12:40 pmI love Dr. J! He’s def. on my list of Top Ten People I’d Like To Have Lunch With! Thanks for the salmon idea!
Dr. J says
May 15, 2008 at 3:52 pmI really appreciate the opportunity to be part of this community!
I can’t thank everyone enough for all your kind and generous comments.
You are all very special people!
Sweet Baby Ray’s just went on sale today, BOGO! Life is good 🙂
All the best!!
Dr. J
Jeff says
May 15, 2008 at 4:00 pmSounds like a fabulous place to eat.. When I go back to visit I’ll be sure to check it out!.
Stay Natural… Stay Strong!
JEFF
Mallory says
May 15, 2008 at 9:23 pmAwesome… I am so making this… right now! Will report back, but I can’t imagine it being bad!
Mallory says
May 15, 2008 at 10:39 pmSo… I got everything ready, come to find out we don’t have any BBQ sauce in the house (for shame, I know) anyway, I decided to change the flavor profile and used some hot thai chili sauce and hosin instead. It was mighty tasty. Thanks Dr. J for the inspiration, and new salmon cooking technique. I was always a baker of fish, but I will definitely be trying to broil more things!
Diana the Scale Junkie says
May 17, 2008 at 9:13 pmI grill salmon twice a week, I love it with citrus seasons, I love when it gets crispy…but this…this creole recipe sounds awesome! I’ll put it on my list of things to try when I’m brave enough to turn the oven on again, even with the AC it just heats up the house more than I like. Just call me goldilocks, bitchin when its too cold, bitchen when its too hot, you know the story 🙂