Who knew that tin foil could transform my relationship with salmon? Doug and I have experienced many, many salmon fails. Generally, we both have a fear of under-cooking that inevitably leads to overcooking. But recently we had a giant win, thanks to Food Network’s Giada de Laurentiis.
So I’m passing on our happy salmon experience as part of the perfect, quick Valentine’s dinner. I should note that I bought beautiful, fresh, 1-inch thick salmon fillets from local specialty market, Deep Sea Deli. As Mr. Benjamin Franklin noted, “Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days”–so, the fresher they (both) start out, the better.
Salmon with Lemon, Capers and Rosemary, Giada de Laurentiis
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary leaves
8 lemon slices (about 2 lemons)
1/4 cup lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
1/2 cup Marsala wine (or white wine)
4 teaspoons capers
4 pieces of aluminum foil
Brush top and bottom of salmon fillets with olive oil and season with salt, pepper, and rosemary. Place each piece of seasoned salmon on a piece of foil large enough to fold over and seal. Top the each piece of salmon with 2 lemon slices, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of wine, and 1 teaspoon of capers.
Wrap up salmon tightly in the foil packets.Place a grill pan over medium-high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill. Place the foil packets on the hot grill and cook for 10 minutes for a 1-inch thick piece of salmon. Serve in the foil packets. Here’s where we deviated on a cold, winter (i.e., non-grilling) night: we baked our foil packets at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.
Think of the endless combos you could try in these little foil packets: brown sugar, Dijon mustard, honey, dill, chopped tomatoes . . . and so on.
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Yum! I can’t wait to try this.