Published: 09/25/2014 - Updated: 04/25/2016
Author: Nayeli Reyes1 Comments
Fish, like all meats, are capable of providing a large amount of minerals. In regards to fish, they hold especially abundant amounts of iodine and calcium, as well as B complex vitamins. But something that fish meat possess that birds, pigs, steer, and other mammals we eat don’t, is a very special type of fats known as omega-3 acids. They are a type of unsaturated fatty acids that help develop our brains and the rest of the nervous system, as well as maintaining the retinas in our eyes. It is especially important in our first years of development, although that is not why we need it for the rest of our lives. Because we are inefficient at synthesizing these fats from other fatty acids, we must search for food sources that can provide them within our diets. It is also known that unsaturated fatty acids help regulate cholesterol levels that damage our arteries, and reduce certain immune system inflammatory responses that could cause harmful coagulations, or cancer developments.
Omega-3 oils are not present in sufficient amounts in all fish, due to the fact that they obtain these fats directly or indirectly from oceanic phytoplankton, which is why freshwater fish do not have access to these food sources. Fish hatcheries try to supply this lack of natural phytoplankton by adding foods that help them have good omega-3 levels.
The fish that we will talk about today in these recipes is salmon. This is a carnivorous animal related to the freshwater trout, is rose-colored, which comes from the crustaceans they eat. This pigment is known as astaxanthin. Farmed fish have a lighter skin because they don’t have natural access to a lot of their crustacean diets, which provide them with their coloring. So they are given other foods that provide them with color, to soften this desired characteristic. Farmed salmon differ from wild salmon in that their meat is softer and fattier, while wild salmon is firmer, and has a more intense flavor. You meat select should depend on what you are looking for in your dishes, so here are the recipes:
Salmon Chowder
Ingredients
- ½ kilo salmon fillet
- 500 ml chicken broth
- ½ c. green pepper
- ½ c. celery
- ½ c. mushrooms
- 1 c. potatoes, cubed
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 3 Tbsp. butter
- 1 ½ c. milk
- ¾ c. yellow corn kernels
- 2 c. table cream
- 1 Tbsp. dill
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- In a pot, add milk and yellow corn kernels with a bit of salt, cooking until soft and the flavor blends. Once finished, blend or process.
- In a deep pot, add butter and sauté garlic, celery, peppers, mushrooms, and onion until soft. Once finished, add chicken broth, potatoes, and dill. Salt and pepper to taste.
- On low heat, cook for 30 minutes until the potatoes are nearly soft. Then, add the milk with corn, the table cream, and the salmon. Cook until the salmon fillet is completely cooked, stirring constantly. The movement should crumble the fillet.
- Serve hot, accompanied by a bit of toasted bread or croutons on top of the soup.
Baked Mustard Salmon
Ingredients
- ½ kilo salmon fillets
- 14 fresh asparagus shoots
- 4 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
- 2 Tbsp. honey
- ½ c. diced almonds
- ¼ c. onion, sliced
- ¼ c. butter
- 2 tsp. dill
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Melt butter and add to honey and mustard, in a bowl.
- In another bowl, mix dill with almonds.
- With a brush, varnish one side of each fillet. Sprinkle almond and dill mixture on top.
- Grease a baking pan with a bit of vegetable oil, and make a bed of asparagus on it, placing onion slices on them. Place salmon fillets on top of these vegetables.
- Bake at 200?C for 15 minutes.
- Serve hot. You can add a bit of lemon juice on top of your fillets. Rice, mashed potatoes, or a salad would make a good accompaniment for this dish.
About the author
Stacy
I have to say…BRAVO!!! I like in Alaska now and we eat TONS of salmon. I read this article just after it was posted, and was SO excited to try these recipes, I actually took the mustard recipe on a boat campout that we had that very night, and everybody LOVED it! The mustard and honey combine for such a strong, irresistable flavor. And then with the sliced almonds sprinkled on top, and the bed of carmelized onions. Mmmmm, I actually had to had the recipe out to my friends!!