Specific Dinner Type Hints:
Salmon Cooking Hints
About the scaly bits… here’s the deal on this. Ask the dweeb at the fish counter to slice the skin off ONLY if they look competent. Slicing the skin off is a bitch and a half. It’s hard. If they don’t do a good job at it you lose a good portion of your fish and you’re faced with having to tell them “Well now I don’t want it, you dork!” which is fun, but often times just too much effort, yanno? SO, if it looks like they know what they’re doing, ASK. If, however, it doesn’t look like it can be done easily by that person, don’t ask. Just cook the fish and then using a thin spatula, lift the fish away from the skin afterwards. That’s as far as I’m going with this hint cus the only way to make it easier for you is for me to come over there and do it.. and you got a better chance of kissing the Pope on the mouth than you have of getting me to come help cook.)
Removing fish from fish skin: Peek at the edge of the salmon. See where the skin sorta meets the meat of the fish? Slide the spatula between there and lift. Again, its’ easy, but not all that easy to explain. So...erm... have at it.
Is it Done Yet? It’s tricky with salmon to really check it well. This is because it’s a pink fish, and when cooked, is still a pinkish fish. It comes down to texture. Fish is flakey. Even a fairly moist fish like Salmon gets kinda flakey. If it’s overcooked it’s kinda hard. Don’t do that, k? If it’s NOT cooked all the way, it’s not at all flakey. Its pinker, and...Erm... unflakier (in a sorta mooshy way) than the rest of the fish. Here’s what I found online about how to make sure fish is cooked all the way:
“To test, give it a gentle press or squeeze. (That’s what she said!) Perfectly cooked salmon will give slightly, but not too much; if it's wobbly or jelly-like, then it's undercooked. Salmon which is firm to the touch is definitely overcooked and you'll find eating it akin to chewing on cotton wool.” – from http://www.trout-salmon-fishing.com/salmon-recipes.htm
(I love this person!) Ok... so don’t eat wobbly or jelly-like salmon. Also, don’t eat super firm cotton wool salmon. Words to live by, my friend. Words to live by.
