I made salmon for some friends tonight, and thought it’d be nice to share the recipe with all of you. I’ve been making this dish for over ten years now, and it’s always a handy recipe for entertaining, or if you’re just in the mood for some seafood. The salmon will ALWAYS come out tender and perfectly cooked, without any dryness. I used salmon steaks tonight, instead of fillets, because the market didn’t have them. It works fine, but fillets are preferable.

As always, the measurements are in the American standard system, but I have put together a conversion chart that can help approximations for metric system users.

Ingredients:

4 salmon fillets (or steaks, though fillets produce better results)
1/2 cup minced onion
4 tsp. olive oil
6 tbs. white wine
2 tbs. minced fresh parsley
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 tbs. minced fresh dill (or about 3/4 tbs. dried)
1 large lemon, quartered

Directions:


1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In a small saucepan, gently saute onions in 2 tsp. of olive oil. When the onion softens, add the wine, parsley, salt and pepper. Simmer for 4 minutes. Add the dill, and simmer for 1 minute more. Remove from heat.

   
3. Cut 4 sheets of aluminum foil for the salmon. Sprinkle and spread (brush) over each foil the remaining olive oil. Lay one fillet on each foil sheet.

   
4. Spoon the onion-herb mixture on top of each fillet. Fold the foil over the fish and crimp the ends together, making a closed packet. With a fork, prick the top of each packet several times.



   
5. Place the packets on a baking sheet, and bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes.
6. Remove the fish onto a plate, preserving the onion mixture on top. Serve immediately with lemon wedges.

One of the wonderful things to have in Spain during the hot summers is a cool bowl of its famous soup, the gazpacho. The abundance of fantastic vegetables in this country blend together to create a soup of deliciously fresh flavors.There are, of course, many different versions of gazpacho, depending on the region -  there are creamier gazpachos, smooth pureed ones, even stewlike ones. I love vegetables, and personally prefer a heartier / chunkier type of gazpacho, where I become very full on the fresh vegetables in the soup.My version is as follows - the measurements are in the American standard system, but I have put together an approximate conversion chart (in the post below) that should help out metric system users.


Summer Gazpacho

Ingredients:

1 medium cucumber - peeled, seeded, and chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1/3 cup packed fresh parsley
2 1/2 pounds ripe tomatoes - peeled, seeded, and chopped *
1 cup tomato juice
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced2 teaspoons salt
Optional: 1 fresh jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced

Directions:

1. In a food processor or blender, finely chop (but don’t puree) the cucumber and green pepper. Remove to a large bowl.
2. In the processor, finely chop the onion and parsley, and remove to the bowl.
3. Finely chop the tomatoes in the processor, and then remove to the bowl.
4. Add the rest of the ingredients into the bowl and stir very well.
5. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

*Preparing the tomatoes: To peel tomatoes, cut a small X in the bottom of each tomato, taking care to not cut into the flesh. Put the tomatoes one by one into a pot of boiling water - for ripe tomatoes, leave them in for about 15 seconds, for not so ripe ones, about 30 seconds. Lift them out with a sieve and drop them into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. With the tip of a knife, the skin should now easily pull off  - if it still sticks, return the tomato to the boiling water for another 10 seconds and try again. To seed a tomato, halve it and run your thumbs along the inside of the cavity to easily remove the seeds.



Additional notes: Gazpacho is best served on the day it is made. But if you are preparing it to eat the following day, be sure to use only half of the jalapeño because the spiciness/heat will increase over time. The soup can be served in chilled bowls along with your favorite kind of bread.

I have put together a basic conversion chart from the American Standard system to the metric system. Please be aware that this is very much an approximation, and depends on numerous other factors - how much the ingredients are packed together, how you fill your cups, the humidity in the air, etc. etc. You may also find links to numerous online calculators by searching for “cooking conversion”.

Happy cooking!


Volume

1 teaspoon (tsp) = 5 milliliters
1 tablespoon (tbs) = 15 milliliters
1/4 cup (c) = 59.125 milliliters
1/3 cup (c) = 78.66 milliliters
1/2 cup (c) = 118.25 milliliters
1 cup (c) = 236 milliliters

Weight

1 ounce = 28.35 grams
1 pound = 454 grams

Approximate Temperature Conversions

250 - 275 degrees F = 121- 133 degrees C
300 - 325 degrees F = 149 - 163degrees C
350 - 375 degrees F = 177 - 190 degrees C
400 - 425 degrees F = 204 - 218degrees C
450 - 475 degrees F = 232 - 246 degrees C