Salmon

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My computer is being so slow right now and you are lucky there are even words here to read.  I was thisclose to throwing it across the room.  SO ANNOYING.  And if you were wondering, yes, I do still have that annoying sinus-y headache.  I don't think it was helping much with the patience issue!

So, as a caveat, I am headed to Moscow right after work tomorrow.  I think my friend might go with me, which will be nice.  If not, I might head to the library and pick up a book on CD.  My friend suggested it and it is actually a really great idea!  I filled up my car with gas and it only cost $40 which really isn't too bad.  It helped that my tank still had about a quarter of a tank in it.

I really wanted to pack tonight, but this headache is driving me crazy and makes me just want to sleep, so we will see what happens...I will only be gone for about two days, so I really don't need to pack much.  I always overpack!  It is hard to anticipate what in the world you might need.

Anyway, because I will be gone, I probably won't be posting anything until Sunday or Monday.  However, I am going to try and figure out this scheduling thing and I might be able to get some random tidbits to post to tide you over!  If the posts seem random, that will be why.

Today, I got off work pretty late (6:30 pm) and didn't want to spend forever at the grocery store.  I needed to get an envelope and some stamps, so I had to go, but didn't feel like wandering all over the place.  I also had eight unused salmon fillets in the freezer, so I decided this would be a good time to use them.  All I had to pick up at the store was a jar of minced ginger and soy sauce (which both will last for a very long time).

I have never, ever cooked fish before, that I can remember.  I was a little nervous and normally I would have googled what to do, but my headache was making me lazy and unmotivated.  I just decided to go for it and I went back and forth over how many fillets to make.  I didn't want to ruin them if things went wrong, but I also wanted enough food for dinner tonight and breakfast and lunch, as well as a snack before the trip tomorrow.  Yes, I do eat weird dinner foods for breakfast....all the time.  It helps me stay full for longer.

I finally decided on four.  These fillets come from Coscto and my mom and grandma turned me on to them.  They are awesome!  They come individually wrapped.  To defrost, I put them in a bowl of warm water, and kept replacing the water until they were defrosted.  Then, I sliced the plastic open with some kitchen scissors.

To make the sauce for the salmon to cook in, I mixed two tablespoons of soy sauce with two tablespoons of Chardonnay.  I had a cheap $4 bottle of wine and I always see "dry white wine" and have no idea what exactly that implies.  I decided to go the cheap route and just use what I had.  Chefs out there -- what does dry white wine even mean??  I also added a teaspoon of the ginger and a quarter teaspoon (heaped) of minced garlic.  If you mince you own garlic, go out and buy the giant thing of pre-minced garlic.  It has changed my life.  It makes garlic soooo much easier to use, it is inexpensive, and it still tastes delicious.

After making the sauce and cutting open the defrosted fish, I put them in  big frying pan and made sure I had a lid that fit!  I put the burner on a medium-low heat (about a 4) and put the fillets in, along with the sauce.  I made sure the sauce spread throughout the whole pan.  I have to admit -- it was pretty fun cooking the fish.  It looked like I just caught them!

I covered them with the lid, and waited about four minutes.  After that, I flipped them over for another four minutes.  I still wasn't sure if they were done, so I did two more minutes on each side.  By the end, the liquid was bubbling and my stove top was probably closer to medium.

I kept taste testing as I was going, which is my favorite thing about cooking for myself.  I can just scoop things out whenever I want.

Finally I decided the salmon were done, and I might as well go all out.  I put the salmon on a "bed" of lettuce.  Mom, you should be proud I was making sure no food went to waste and using what I had!  Haha, I didn't want the spinach to go bad, so I thought it would be a good thing to eat it with.  I also had the bottle of soy sauce to add on top.

It turned out really tasty!  I was pleased with my first attempt at cooking salmon and am sad I only have four fillets left.  I am going to have to make another Costco trip soon.
Side note: Did I spell fillet wrong?  Is it filet?