Hi, my name is Maggan. Welcome to Maggan’s kitchen!
It’s Good Friday. Since it’s a non-working day, I spoiled myself in the sauna by sweating the whole afternoon. If I were a fish, I’d be ready to eat and soft to the bones as punishment for indulging.
I learned that Good Friday is a day to eat anything but meat. In my childhood, foregoing meat was the biggest sacrifice to do on this day. And so it was common to feast on tiger shrimps, crabs, grilled fish, mussels, rice cakes etc. Anything but meat. It was a good deal for seafood lovers. These days, you can even add vegetarian pizza and fresh salad to the Good Friday menu.
Last weekend, while going through last week’s newspapers, I came across a salmon recipe which I thought was perfect for Lent. It’s called salmon salad royale by Sweden’s cook of the year (2007). This is a spring salad with creamy egg halves, spinach and lemon dressing.
Ingredients for 4 portions
Salad
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200 grams fresh salmon
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200 grams baby spinach
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1 decilitre fresh dill
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4 eggs, boiled for 15 minutes
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grated lemon rind from one lemon
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4 slices of dark sour-bread
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butter or olive oil for frying
Dressing
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juice from one lemon
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2 decilitres extra virgin oil
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pinch of salt
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pinch of ground black pepper
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1 teaspoon brown sugar (optional)
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Remove the salmon skin if the butcher didn’t do it.
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Cut the salmon to 1.5 cm x 1.5 cm. Season with salt and leave for 15 minutes.
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Wash the baby spinach leaves. Strain of the water.
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In a salad bowl, mix the spinach leaves with dill and grated lemon rind.
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Cut the eggs length-wise. Take a spoon and spoon the egg halves off the shells. (This is easier than peeling off the egg shells.)
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Get a small jar with lid. Mix all the ingredients for the dressing: olive oil, juice from one lemon, salt, pepper and sugar. Put the lid on and shake. If the dressing is still not tasty enough, add a little more salt. It will lift up the sugar’s sweetness.
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Tear the bread slices into bits and fry them in butter or olive oil. Don’t brown them. You just want them to be crispy. When done, lay on a paper towel to get rid of excess oil.
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Put the seasoned salmon cubes in a baking dish lined with baking paper. (This way, you neither mess the baking dish nor the fish.) Bake in pre-heated oven at 100 degrees Celsius for 8-10 minutes.
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While the salmon is baking, lay the egg halves on the salad mix. Pour some dressing over the salad mix and the eggs.
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Finally, top it with the salmon and sour-bread croutons.
This salad reminds me of Lolo because he would love it. He was the most religious in the family and enjoyed seafood (I mean, abstained from meat) every Friday of the year.
Oh, that’s right. Lolo spent Lent in a seminary, away from family and loved ones, returning only in the afternoon of Black Saturday probably hungry and looking forward to a meat dish. He would have it then on any Friday, except Good Friday. This is if he were at least 10 years younger and still alive today.
If you don’t feel like eating spinach, use other leaves like mangold, mache, or romaine. Or better yet, mix different kinds of salad leaves with neutral taste. The salad thus becomes a feast for the eyes as well. I used mangold and romaine lettuce. Lolo loved vegetables too.
Croutons are not necessary. I made mine without this accessory. If you want some carbohydrates and can’t get sour-bread, use any kind of unsweetened white bread (baguette, loaf) as it makes good croutons too. Less healthy though.
The salmon may still seem raw after 10 minutes in the oven. Still soft and moist. But this is okay. It is safe to eat fresh salmon this way. However, this may depend in which part of the world you are located and how the fish is handled. As of this writing, H and I don’t feel any reaction to it.
Preparing the salmon salad royale is quick. Finishing it is even quicker. That’s it? I want more. I wasn’t full after eating my portion. This can be a form of sacrifice, I guess. Anyway, I have half a bag of country chips as safety net.
P.S. Lolo always had a tin of biscuits or cookies hidden in his closet.
Maggan's Kitchen Adventures 
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