Recipe: Salmon Recipes (5) for lucky Colette!

1. Cap'n Bob's Salmon Steaks (with soy sauce, dill, and lemon juice)
2. Sourhwest Salmon (with tomato and green pepper)
3. Salmon Cooked In Coconut Milk (with ginger, tomatoes, and peppers)
4. Salmon in Vodka Cream Sauce with Green Peppercorns - (using vodka and cream)
5. Tuscan Salmon (with spinach and grapes)

Cap'n Bob's Salmon Steaks

2 salmon steaks (10-ounce each)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup Chinese light soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
1/8 cup lemon juice
Ground cloves (the spice), to taste

Prepare a sauce of the olive oil, soy sauce, dill weed, lemon juice and cloves. Mix well, and brush over the salmon steaks. Place on a cookie sheet.

Broil steaks on both sides until lightly browned and tender. Do not overcook. This will take very little time, so be careful. Serves 8.

Southwest Salmon

1 1/2 lbs. salmon steaks, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tomato, sliced
1 medium green pepper, cut into rings
1 small onion, sliced
2 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tbsp. olive or canola oil
1 1/2 tsp. salt
Lemon wedges

Arrange fish in unbreaded square baking dish, 8x8x2-inches; sprinkle with salt, paprika and pepper. Top with green pepper rings, tomato and onion slices.

Mix lemon juice, oil and garlic; pour over fish.

Cover and bake in 375F oven 15 minutes.

Uncover and bake until fish flakes easily with fork, 10 to I5 minutes. Garnish with lemon wedges. Serves 6.

Salmon Cooked In Coconut Milk
Serves 4

4 thick salmon steaks
2.5cm/1in piece root ginger, peeled and cut into small, very thin slices
2 large cloves garlic, peeled and cut into small, very thin slices
350g/12oz tomatoes, peeled and halved
1 fresh red chilli, de-seeded and sliced as finely as possible
1 small yellow pepper, de-seeded and thinly sliced
4 to 6 cardamom pods, roughly crushed
400ml/14fl oz tinned coconut milk
sea salt
2 limes, juice only
handful of fresh mint leaves, chopped

Put the fish steaks in a fairly shallow ovenproof dish with a lid, into which they fit quite closely. Scatter the ginger, garlic, tomato, chilli and yellow pepper over and around the fish and the cardamom pods in between.

Empty the coconut milk into a separate bowl, add a good sprinkling of sea salt and gradually stir in the lime juice. Pour the mixture gently over and around the fish and cover the dish.

Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas 2.

Put the dish on the centre shelf and cook for 40-50 minutes, until the fish is lightly done. To discover this insert a small, sharp knife into the centre of one of the steaks - if the flesh is slightly darker pink in the centre it will be perfectly cooked. Remove from the oven. Before serving scatter the mint leaves on top.

Salmon in Vodka Cream Sauce with Green Peppercorns

8 tablespoons butter
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 pound spinach
6 salmon fliets (6 ounce each)
salt and freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
1/2 cup vodka
2 tablespoons green peppercorns in water, drained and crushed
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/4 cup snipped fresh chives

Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine 4 tablespoons butter and onion in large Dutch oven. Cover and bake until onion is golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes.

Stir spinach into onion and bake until just wilted, about 3 minutes. Remove from oven; keep warm.

Season salmon with salt and pepper. Heat oil in heavy large skillet over high heat. Add salmon in batches and cook about 3 minutes per side for medium. Transfer to platter. Tent with foil to keep warm.

Pour off excess oil from skillet. Add cream and vodka and boil until slightly thickened, about 4 minutes.

Add green peppercorns and remaining 4 tablespoons butter and stir until butter is just melted. Mix in lime juice, season with salt and pepper.

Divide spinach and onion mixture among plates. Top each with salmon fillet. Spoon sauce over. Sprinkle with snipped fresh chives.

Tuscan Salmon

1 teaspoon each salt, ground mustard and dried thyme, crushed
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
4 salmon steaks or fillets (6 oz. each)
2 teaspoons honey
3 teaspoons olive oil, divided
2 quarts spinach leaves
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
2 cups halved red California seedless grapes
1/2 cup dry red wine
salt (to taste)

Combine salt, mustard, thyme and pepper; mix well. Rub salmon fillets with honey and sprinkle with seasoning mixture; reserve any remaining seasoning mixture.

Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in nonstick skillet. Brown both sides of salmon fillets.

Toss spinach and garlic with remaining 1 teaspoon oil in 13x9x2-inch baking dish. Place salmon on spinach, cover loosely with aluminum foil.

Bake at 300F 10 minutes.

Saute grapes in skillet used to brown salmon. Add wine, bring to boil, season to taste with remaining seasoning mixture and salt; reduce by half.

Serve salmon on spinach; top with grape sauce. Makes 4 servings