Perfect summer party fare from guest author Barbara Fradkin #mystery #recipe #giveaway

Amanda Doucette’s perfect summer party fare by guest author Barbara Fradkin

Please welcome our good friend, award-winning author Barbara Fradkin, back to Mystery Lovers Kitchen.  We love her books and Barbara never fails to deliver a delicious recipe. Plus she's offering an enticing giveaway.  Make sure you leave a comment AND your email address.

This recipe is from Barbara's awesome new protagonist, Amanda Doucette.  Amanda is a woman on the go, full of enthusiasm and purpose. Although she loves to get together with friends over dinner and wine – sometimes even a good Scotch – she is less fond of recipes that require a pantry full of ingredients or half a day’s prep. Fast, fresh, healthy foods are her favourite. Never one to follow all the rules, she likes to make things up as she goes along. Instead of tuna in the classic salade Niçoise, she switched it to fresh poached salmon.  Here’s her recipe, as accurately as she can remember it after the wine and Scotch. It’s both versatile and forgiving, so every chef can put their own twist on it.  

By the way, Linda /Erika and MJ /Victoria both enjoyed this recipe at our annual writers' retreat!  

PERFECT SUMMER SALMON 

Ingredients

1 fillet of wild sockeye salmon, about a pound

1-2 green onions

2-3 garlic cloves

juice of one lemon, plus about 1 tbsp. of grated rind (more or less depending on how lemony you like it!)

¼ cup white wine

2 tbsp. olive oil

salt and pepper to taste (or that secret ingredient, Mrs. Dash’s seasoned salt)

water as needed

1.
   DIRECTIONS

      Chop garlic and green onions coarsely.  

2.      To prepare the salmon fillet, sprinkle the top lightly with salt, pepper, and the zest of half a lemon.  Spread the garlic and onions over it evenly.

3.      Heat the olive oil in a heavy skillet and fry the salmon briefly, dressed side up, to seal in the juices.

4.      Pour wine and lemon juice gently over it, cover with a tight lid, and poach gently until the pink flesh is just beginning to turn paler at the thickest part. Adjust heat and add water sparingly to avoid scorching.

5.      Towards the end, allow the liquid to evaporate so that the fish browns slightly.

6.      Remove the fish to a plate, spoon any remaining juices over it, and chill before slicing it into single portions. Place the fish in the centre of the prepared bed of lettuce, and encircle it with any salad ingredients you have on hand. Amanda uses seasonal fresh vegetables, in this case sliced tomatoes and peppers, baby new potatoes and green beans (cooked and chilled), and slivered hard boiled eggs. Drizzle with oil and vinegar or lemon garlic vinaigrette.

Voilà! The result is as pretty as it is delicious!

Meet our friend, Barbara Fradkin:

Barbara Fradkin is a retired child psychologist with a fascination for why we turn bad. Besides her short stories and easy-read short novels, she is best known for her gritty, psychological Inspector Green series, which has received two Arthur Ellis Best Novel Awards. However, she recently embarked on a new mystery suspense series featuring international aid worker Amanda Doucette, who battles her own traumatic past to help people in trouble.

The series debut, Fire in the Stars, was released in 2016, earning starred reviews, and the second, The Trickster’s Lullaby, will hit the shelves on September 2.  You can pre-order it now!  Barbara lives in Ottawa.  One lucky commenter will win a copy of Fire in the Stars!  Just leave a comment with your email address.  

 

Join Barbara on  FACEBOOK 

and check out her  WEBSITE

Don't forget your comments!