BLOG/RELIEF: MEXICAN RADIO SALMON FOR GENE BRANAMAN. Gene gave to Catholic Charities, and asked for either of two things; but I’m happy to do both! This is the first request: a new recipe, ideally to feature halibut or salmon fillets. I should warn you all that I don’t cook fish often, so this recipe is more “what to do if you don’t cook fish often and have some salmon lying around for some reason” than “the best, most delectable gourmet salmon recipe you’ll ever see!”. But I ate it today and it’s good. I am calling it Mexican Radio Salmon a) because it is about as “Mexican” as that song; and b) because I love the idea that there are many types of Radio Salmon out there in the world, and this is the Mexican one. (Shades of Beware the Fish!–of which more soon.)

As always, all quantities and even ingredients can be shifted to accomodate your tastes. This recipe is a guideline or a source of ideas–I’ll do it differently next time, and the time after that, etc. These quantities made a good solid meal for one petite person.

What I used: about 1/4-lb. salmon fillet, skin on; half a shallot, chopped; some tomato I was trying to get rid of, chopped; one biggish jalapeno, cut into thick rings, with the whitish-green, pithy inside stuff removed; canola oil; canned corn (I think Green Giant’s Niblets are pretty much the best thing on earth); fresh cilantro; canned pinto beans; one slice of bacon, torn into pieces.

What I did: Put the fillet, shallot, tomato, and jalapeno in a nonstick saute pan, with some canola oil to cook in. Fried ’em up, stirring frequently and turning the fish now and again, until the fish was cooked–pink all the way through, flaky flesh. At the very last moment, added some corn, maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of the can. Stir stir, fish was done; used spatula to get it onto a plate, and topped with most of the stuff that had cooked with it. (Didn’t bother trying to get everything, and left almost all of the jalapeno rings in the pan.) Added the pinto beans (about 1/2 can) and bacon to the pan and cooked on high heat while I cleaned up the kitchen. You don’t have to stir this too often, though you should do it occasionally. When the liquid/fat had cooked down, I poured the beans/bacon/jalapeno mixture along the side of the salmon fillet and again topped with cilantro. Total cooking time was about 15 minutes. When you eat it, you can control the heat by eating more or less of the jalapeno rings–you need ’em to add heat to the dish, but I discarded about half of them when I was done eating. Sort of like how you don’t eat the bay leaf.

The results: Yummy! A bit generic–this doesn’t showcase the flavor of the salmon. I imagine a higher salmon-to-stuff ratio would help that; or leaving out the bacon-and-beans side dish, though I really loved that. You could also use a slightly larger amount of skinless salmon, chop it up, and make a Mexican Radio Salmon Taco, if you wanted. This is a homey, filling, quick meal for when, like I said, you have some salmon and you’re not sure why. …Variations might include a Mexican Radio Toasted Sandwich (club roll filled with thick tomato slice, beans, bacon, a smaller amount of chopped jalapeno or a couple rings, sliced onion or shallot, a cheese slice [maybe munster, maybe something more pseudo-Mexican], cilantro; wrap firmly in aluminum foil and bake at 375 for 15 minutes) or Mexican Radio This Chicken Was On Sale.