Creamy Lemon Salmon Collar

One of my favorite parts of parents coming into town is the food you eat when parents come into town. Aside from going to all of our favorite restaurants, making seafood pasta with clams as big as my hand and her infamous Korean BBQ Bulgogi, she still managed to leave our fridge filled for the week. We even opened the freezer to find salmon collars, which we love! Normally I like to bake Salmon in a Honey Ginger Glaze, but with my new little lemon tree growing in the backyard I thought it’s time to start seeing what sorts of recipes I will want to make once the flowers turn into fruit!

We made the mistake the other night of buying frozen salmon fillets from the grocery store thinking, this will be a great way to incorporate more fish into our diet considering I would nothing but meat and carbs for the rest of my life if I could. Salmon is like the red meat of the ocean world so I approve. But boy were we wrong. Do not, I repeat, do not, get the pre-filleted frozen salmons at the store. They came out being way fishier in taste than you ever want fish to be. I think that is why I avoid a lot of seafood sometime, because if you aren’t getting it from a source that is fresh that you can rely on, you will often end up feeling that you are eating something from the bottom of the sea floor. I usually know not to get cheap uni (sea urchin) or shellfish for this exact reason, because for over 20 years I was certain that I didn’t like either of these things, wondering why people paid a premium for the taste of salty sea water; only to realize later that I had just been exposed to poor quality seafood. I will never forget my experience in Tokyo while Jimmy and I were on our honeymoon, we splurged and decided to do omakase at Sushi Bar Yasuda, where Yasuda himself changed my entire perception on the offerings of the sea, by explaining to me that I have just been eating shit until now and unfortunately I was going to go back to eating shit once I left the proximity of Tsukiji Fish Market. Yasuda was a bit cocky in his statements, but after eating his food it felt warranted. I would go back and let him tell me all about our crappy US fish again.

So given we are stuck with what we have here, what have I learned? Never buy the pre-frozen stuff, just go get a whole side of salmon and cut them into freezable sized portions yourself. Or, if you are lucky, maybe your mom will leave behind some fresh salmon and you won’t have to make that choice at all.

1. Season both sides of the salmon with salt and pepper then dredge in flour; shake off any excess flour.
2. Over medium high heat, melt the butter and olive oil in the pan. Add the salmon pieces and saute for 2 minutes with the skin side up. Flip and cook for another couple minutes, ensuring that the center reaches 145˚F
3. Take the salmon off the stove and set aside to rest.
4. Add remaining flour to the remaining butter and oil in the pan; stir well for a minute then carefully add the lemon juice and chicken broth. Mix thoroughly.
5. Simmer on low for 5 minutes then add the salmon back into the pan, skin side down. Spoon the sauce over the salmon, add the lemon slices and dill then let simmer for another couple minutes.
6. Serve by placing it over rice, risotto, pasta, or even a salad. Spoon the remaining sauce from the pan and enjoy!