Crispy Skin Salmon in the Oven!

 This is a quick post because I forgot to write it up and I had to figure out how to do it again.  Apologies, there are no photos.  I will upload the next time I make this.  We make it at least once a week.  For years, hubby would make the Salmon on the BBQ and occasionally me but I cannot manage the flip without destroying the fish.  Also, I tend to turn the fire too high and I burn it because of the sugar in the rub.  I bought a gadget for flipping but it tends to stick to it and definitely not big enough for salmon for 4-5 people.  

This way is easy and the skin is crispy.  Albeit, not as crispy as on the BBQ toward the middle but still tasty.  We always buy Salmon to serve about 200-220 g per person.  This is why the meal kits were not for us.  The protein was normally weighed out to about 125g.  We have a supermarket that has Coho regularly and it is basically the only protein I make at home.  I will not buy farmed Atlantic.  The market sells both but you can see it is paler and fattier.  And the one time I bought, I can tell you, it does not taste as nice and the flesh was a bit mushy.  The portions at our market are preweighed so we always have at least a portion to a portion and a half left over that we make Creamy Salmon Pasta with that the kids love, even the kid who does not like cream sauces.

CRISPY SKIN SALMON in the OVEN

2 500-600 g filets (about 2 cm thick at the thickest)

1/2 c of rub of your choice or Soy Miso or just oil

(if you are going to do a rub, I highly recommend cutting the sugar in half or even more because it will not get cooked and caramelized the way it does on the grill)

On a large, baking sheet generously oil a parchment sheet.  

Place the Salmon, rubbed or marinated on the oil.  Drizzle a tiny bit of oil over top to help cook the rub.  If you are just doing 'plain', then just rub on some neutral oil and salt and pepper.

Place the rack at the very bottom of the oven and one at the top.  You could preheat before cleaning and prepping but Im slow so I do it now and it also allows the rub to soak in.

Preheat to 475 

The Salmon will not take long so you may want to par cook sides like corn or potatoes before they go in with the fish.  I cut cobs of corn in to 4 and microwave for 2 minutes then lightly oil and place on the sheet with the salmon.  

Place the Salmon in the oven on the lowest rack.  Close and let cook for 15 minutes (I find this to cook just to opaque but not dry.  If you want it a bit ruby, cook 12-13 minutes.  

Turn off oven immediately and turn on Broiler on high.  Move the baking sheet to the top rack for 2 minutes.  (You could skip this, I just wanted to caramelize my rub a bit more).

The skin is crispy most of the way through without being burned except where there was a clump of rub.  

I highly recommend this method as BBQ season winds down.  

Ted Lasso Tribute Biscuits

 I am a Ted Lasso Uber-fan.  During the really low days of the pandemic, I refused to watch any TV that was not uplifting.  So I watched and re-watched Ted Lasso over and over again.  And every time I saw Rebecca open that lovely little pink box and took a healthy bite of Ted's gift of biscuits with the boss, I would start to salivate.  I have been making Shortbread since I was a teenager watching Martha Stewart on TV. I use a classic Scottish Shortbread to make Christmas cookies every year instead of sugar cookies.  That is all to say, I love love love Shortbread.  I love when they 'age'.  By that I mean, I always store them in nice cookie tins lined with wax paper and I find they taste better a week or two later.  Yummo!

Now, I know that the recipe is fictitious.  And I know that recently, someone from the show released an 'official' recipe, whatever that means.  I want to suspend reality and visualize that mustachioed, anxiety riddled, jolly southerner baking that recipe.  Before they released the AppleTV Official Recipe, I had already tried a few different variations of the Shortbread I have made for years.  I was only going on visual with the golden brown, yet flaky topped inch thick fingers that conjures childhood, comfort and indulgence.  After one attempt where I had run out of Butter, I made a version with a few Tablespoons of Coconut Oil, I knew I had it, my Ted Lasso experience. I have since made the, official recipe and it is very good but it isnt that moment for me.  I think that is the point. 

Ted Lasso Tribute Biscuits (Shortbread)

Ted Lasso Tribute Biscuits

175 g Butter, out at room temp for 30 minutes

50 g Coconut Oil, additional for the pan

2/3 cup Sugar, blitzed in a food processor for a 10 seconds or pounded in a mortar and pestle 

2 c Flour, scooped and levelled

1/2 t Vanilla (or Bourbon)

1/2 t Salt, also crushed, especially if using chunky Kosher salt

Optional: crushed candy canes to sprinkle on top.

Oil a 9x9" Baking Dish, well,  with Coconut Oil or Butter

Bring together the Sugar and Salt in a food processor and pulse a few times. I find that granulated sugar can have a bit of a sandy mouth feel if I do not do this and certainly, I find chunks of Kosher salt, if I do not do this.  From here you can do the rest in the food processor too. BUT, I did not. I did not feel like hauling out the food processor,  so I actually beat the sugar and salt in our mortar and pestle because I thought it would be faster.  It was not.  Then the rest, I did in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.  

After you have broken down the Sugar and Salt, beat with the Butter and Coconut Oil, until slightly lighter.  You may need to scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula occasionally.  

Add the Vanilla and beat until absorbed.

Add the flour 1/4 c at a time otherwise you will get a face of Flour.  Also, do not over beat.  Just add the flour and beat until it is mostly absorbed and then add the next scoop of flour.  

Once all the flour is mostly absorbed.  Take off the mixer and scrape down the paddle and the sides of the bowl.  I like to do the rest of the mixing by hand so I do not over beat.  Just a few folds.

Dump into the oiled baking dish and press down flat firmly.  With a metal spatula with a flat edge or a bench scraper, cut your biscuits but pushing straight down.  I divided the pan to make fingers that are 1.5" wide and 3" long, so 6 x 3 rectangles making 18 biscuits that would tuck nicely into pink boxes if you have them.

Chill for an hour.  I find that if you skip this, the cookies are a bit oily.  When they come out of the fridge, use your spatula or bench scraper to cut into the cookies again.  Now if you do not do this before the fridge, this part will be much harder!

Preheat the oven to 325

Bake for 45 minutes in the middle.  Now watch your biscuits though.  If you like them paler, you might want to take them out at 35 or leave them 10 minutes longer. 

Let cool completely in the pan.  ... if you can!   

So Fluffy! Dinner or Slider Rolls - Sourdough

Nothing says event meal like dinner rolls.  I know it is tempting to just buy, especially on Thanksgiving.  There is alot going on and the last thing you need is another thing that needs oven time.  But I promise you, these are worth.  Not only are they delicious and easy to make but it will get you the props you want from the kids.  I get specific requests for these at Thanksgiving.  

I then started making them more often just for breakfast or slider night.  I am a vegetarian and life changed for me when Beyond Meat started selling their ground round in Canada a few years ago.  Before then, I had never had a slider.  True story.   Here are a few tips to ensure these go well.  

Jump to Recipe👇

1. I would only recommend you make these in a Toast Oven if you have a 'taller' one.  The kind that allows you to do much more than toast.  The shorter ones that are specific for toast will not work.  They will burn the tops before they are cooked through.  
2. If you are doing them in the toaster oven (not the short kind), use a metal (non stick) cake pan.  If you use glass, it will insulate the bottom and in the small oven, they will cook unevenly.  For the same reason, put the rack at the lowest level.
3. If you are doing them in a proper oven, you can use either glass or non-stick but if you have multiple racks, do not use glass if you are going to put them above other food.  The bottoms will not cook.
4. Dividing the dough.  I always weigh.  Sure if you are in a rush, do what everyone else tells you and just divide and divide.  But I have found that dough is unevenly dense and balls of the same size all weigh differently.  You'll only see that when you see bulgy ones come out of the oven.  I pre-weigh my mixing bowl... well actually I have known the weight of my stand mixer bowl forever, 808g.  I have it written in the last page of my recipe collection book.
5. If you are doing dinner rolls, you can divide by 20 and layout the balls 5x4.  If you are doing sliders you can make 12 so they are slightly bigger.  
6. To add a bit of chew, you can substitute all or some of the water with milk or soy milk and skip the milk powder. (a higher protein plant milk.  Cashew or Oat is not great, it will just be expensive water, from a functionality standpoint). Do not get me wrong, I prefer Cashew.  I find it to have the most neutral taste.  My kids prefer soy.
7. If you do not have a starter, you can substitute for function not taste, 50%50% 50g water and 50g flour but, then you will need another 1 teaspoon of yeast
8. I find measuring and levelling flour for breads annoying so I weigh a quarter cup and do math for the whole recipe. 
9. If you are using Sourdough starter, do this in the morning because the bulk fermentation takes longer (first rise).

So Fluffy Sourdough Dinner Rolls

So FLUFFY! Dinner Rolls - Sourdough

1 c Water (or milk)

2 T (Tablespoon) Sugar (or honey or maple syrup)

3 T Milk Powder

1 t (teaspoon) Instant Yeast

1 large egg

60 g Butter (1/4 c or half a stick) (room temperature, or microwaved for 15s)

1 t Salt

3 1/2 c All Purpose Flour (for me, that means about 500-525g because my flour generally weighs 35-37.5 g per quarter cup, see Tip 8)

Optional: chopped fresh herbs like sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano

1. Heat your Water or Milk in the microwave for 45s.  Add to your stand mixer bowl with the Sugar and Yeast and let bloom for 5-10 minutes.  
2. Add the starter with the bowl on scale.  It is roughly 1/2 c.  If you are in a rush, you do not have to wait for the yeast to bloom and just throw it all together.  
3. Add all the ingredients, except the herbs.
4. Mix with dough hook, for 10-15 minutes until the dough pulls cleanly away from the bowl and forms a smooth dough.  If it is looking dry, add water only 1 teaspoon increments and wait a good minute before adding more. If it is looking dry, add flour in 1/2 Tablespoon increments and again, wait a good minute before adding more.  
5. Add the optional herbs for the last few minutes of the kneading time. 
6. Remove the bowl from the standmixer and remove all the dough from the hook.  Take the dough and form in a smooth ball in your hands by turning it in on itself.   You can use a floured surface, silpat, or like me, just holding your hands.  
7. Drizzle a teaspoon of oil into the stand mixer bowl and then take the ball and swirl it around in the bowl to lightly oil the bowl and the ball.  
8. Cover and set aside for at 3 hours until doubled.  
9. Push down and knead a few times to even out the air distribution.  I just do this in the bowl with my knuckles and heel of my hand.
10. Weigh the whole bowl.  Subtract the weight of your empty bowl and divide by the rolls number you plan to do.  
11. Lightly butter your baking dish of choice.  
12. Take out your handy dandy scale again and weigh out the balls, rolling smooth and place in your baking dish.
13. Let rise for 2 hours.
14. Preheat oven to 375F bake for 18-25 minutes.  Watch that the tops are golden brown.  
15. Serve warm.  

Optional, if they will be eaten right away, brush with a bit of honey and melted butter.  They will not store this way very well, as I learned.  This will assume you will eat them all.