Much as our group enjoyed Susan’s pre-dinner drinks, a girl’s gotta eat sometime. Mid-evening we headed into the dining room where the laughing continued. Somehow, though, we managed to get in a few bites of food: pecan crusted salmon, feta rice casserole, broccolini and caramel cake.
If you have a smoker, we suggest you make the salmon using the second method below. The smokiness of the fish complements the nut crust perfectly. Don’t have a smoker? Not a problem, it’ll be wonderful cooked in the oven. Oh, heck…You can’t go wrong either way.
Pecan-Crusted Salmon
Recipe Type: Main
Author:
Serves: 8 portions
Ingredients
- 2 pound salmon fillet
- salt
- pepper
- Pecan Crust:
- 1 1/4 cup chopped pecans
- 1 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons fresh dill or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried dill
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
Pecan Crust:
- Combine the pecans, garlic, salt, dill and melted butter in the bowl of a food processor and process until the pecans resemble tiny peas.
Salmon (Note alternative method using stove-top smoker below):
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Lightly season the salmon with salt and pepper. Spread the pecan mixture over the fillet. (It’s okay if some falls off the salmon.) Place it on cookie sheet or in a large pan and bake for approximately 15-20 minutes or until the fish is done. (You can tell it’s ready when the salmon turns a slightly lighter pink and easily flakes when pierced with a fork.)
Alternative Smoked Salmon Method:
- Smoke the salmon fillet according to the directions of your smoker. (We used a [url href=”http://www.amazon.com/Stovetop-Smoker-Original-Camerons-Stainless/dp/B00004SZ9D/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415911549&sr=8-1&keywords=cameron+stove+top+smoker” target=”_blank”]Camerons Stovetop Smoker[/url].)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- While the salmon is cooking, make the pecan crust. Spread it evenly in a large baking pan and cook 10-15 minutes, until the pecans are toasted.
- To serve, transfer the salmon to a large serving plate and top with the toasted pecan crust.