Crispy Skin Salmon with Fiery Asian Slaw

I have to apologize again for being somewhat MIA this past week, but a business trip took me to Chicago for several days and away from our kitchen.  Something kinda amusing happened, though. This seafood place near the hotel where I was staying was featuring catfish from my hometown, Hickory, North Carolina one night.  Since I've moved to the coast, I rarely eat seafood away from home except for the occasional trip to a one of the local fish camps when I head inland to visit my parents in Hickory.  Anyway, I had to laugh a little bit to myself when I saw that they were featuring catfish from Hickory, and I immediately emailed my mom to let her know and ask her about it.  Where did these catfish come from?  Lake Hickory?  Umm, yuck.  She said that she thought they were probably farm raised which would make sense (and sound much more appealing to me).  

Anyway, when I returned from Chicago, Rick and I planned our meals for the weekend.  I headed to Publix to get the groceries while he headed to his place to clean up the mess that the people who had come to view his place earlier that day.  One of the meals that we planned on doing was from a recipe on myrecipes.com from the September 2009 issue of Cooking Light.  It was another one featuring and Asian style slaw, and this one added a little heat to it.  Once again, myrecipes.com didn't let us down, and the meal turned out great!  Rick wants to add it to our repertoire because it was delicious and good for us, too!  I really liked the orange juice with the fish.  I can't wait to make it.  Now, just gotta figure out what to go with the extra cole slaw!  I did up the vinegars and chili sauce in the slaw, and I added a little bit of sesame oil to it. The piece of salmon that I used was smaller than the original recipe required, and it turned out to be perfect for the two of us!  All in all, a very yummy and super quick meal...perfect for the week nights!

Here's what we did...

Crispy Skin Salmon with Fiery Asian Slaw

Ingredients

1 piece 12 oz of salmon

Cooking spray

1/4  cup  fresh orange juice

2  tablespoons  rice vinegar

2  tablespoons  balsamic vinegar

1  tablespoon  olive oil

1 teaspoon sesame oil

2  teaspoons  Sriracha (hot chile sauce)

1  teaspoon  ground ginger

1/2  teaspoon  honey

1/2  cup  chopped fresh cilantro

1  16 oz package cole slaw

1  tablespoon  toasted sesame seeds

Salt and pepper

Directions

Combine rice vinegar and next 6 ingredients (through honey) in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add  1/2 teaspoon salt, cilantro, and coleslaw; toss well to coat. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sesame seeds. Place in the refrigerator while cooking the fish.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle salmon fillets evenly with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add salmon to pan, skin side down; cook 4 minutes. Turn salmon over; cook 3 minutes. Add orange juice to pan; cook until liquid almost evaporates and fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.

Enjoy!

Rick does dinner AGAIN!

Maybe I should be sick more often because he did it again last night!  How lucky am I?  Last night, Rick brought over some whiting that he had purchased at Sewee Outpost.  If you ever find yourself on Highway 17 North heading to Myrtle Beach (or South heading to Charleston from Myrtle Beach), I would recommedn checking them out.  They have all kinds of good stuff nfrom food to equipment to everything inbetween.  They also serve awesome biscuits on weekend mornings.  I stopped by Publix on my way home yesterday and picked up some House Autry Seafood Breader.  That stuff is amazing, and it makes perfect breading for frying fish.  I swear it tastes like something you would get at a fish camp back home.  We have yet to try out the chicken one, but I'd imagine that it going to be awesome, too.  Rick requested that I make our favorite cole slaw, and I also whipped up a tartar sauce by combining McCormick's tartar sauce with some horseradish sauce.  I was impressed with how quick and easy our meal was.  Too bad the Tar Heels didn't play so well last night.

Before I post the recipe, I would like to apologize for being slack and not posting pictures.  I promise to upload them this weekend!!

Here's what we did.

Rick's Fried Whiting

Ingredients
1 lb of whiting filets
1 box of House Autry Seafood Breader
Vegetable Oil

Directions
Cut whiting filets into 2 inch pieces.  Put breader into a gallon freezer bag, add filet pieces, seal, and shake to bread the fish. 

Heat vegetable oil in a cast iron or heavy skillet (about 1/8 inch deep to pan fry).  When the oil is heated, add whiting pieces to oil  and pan fry about 2-3 minutes per side (or until fish is flaky).  Remove fish and place on a paper-towel covered plate to drain the oil.

Enjoy!