We came, we saw, and we conquered Thanksgiving 2020. 250 pies successfully went into the oven and then safely into the homes of their rightful adopted families.
If you tuned into Sobremesa 11. I gave out my tips for how to bake allllll night long - and can say that they all really helped carry me through the finish line this year. I danced my booty off while rolling out doughs, ate my Rumspringa snacks, drank lots and lots of water (to avoid HIRSTY), and generally kept my shit together! A fun upgrade was swapping my normal frozen pizza to a homemade Salvadorian pizza, aka pupusa, from my girl Maria. It was a pretty great bake-off, I gotta say.
But then came actual Thanksgiving day.
I spend so many weeks planning for Thanksgiving, baking for hours the week of, this year even writing about it this newsletter - I probably say/type the word Thanksgiving hundreds of times….starting in September. So finally, when the last pie goes out on Wednesday, I consider Thanksgiving to be over with. But no, Thanksgiving is always the next day, and I’m like “oh…this is it?” I have a very weird relationship with Thanksgiving.
Alas, my family of five still cooks all of the traditional Thanksgiving food (but enough for at least 10 people). We always eat at 9pm earliest because we’re too tired to even put the Turkey in until 2pm, and then we somehow even manage to swallow down some of the pie we just spent 24hrs practically swimming in. We say thanks and all of that good stuff, but the food aspect of Thanksgiving, truth be told, doesn’t capture my heart. Mostly it’s nice for us in the bakery biz because it’s the 1 day out of 2 days that we even close the business - which means no phone calls, no texts, no emails, no fixing leaky faucets, no calling our point of sale service when it conks out, nothing. Peace. I actually lobbied (for the 3rd straight year) to cancel Thanksgiving food and eat literally anything else. I did not win this argument. As my dad said, “It’s the ritual. It’s the one day of the year almost everyone in the country is eating the same food.” Touché. I get it.
So this year, I wanted to at least plan my dream Thanksgiving morning brunch.
I wanted it to be light, but not too light (like I was going to be hungry 2 hours later kind of light since it had to hold me over until a huge meal), and not sweet (I absorbed enough sugar in the last couple days, thank you very much).
I discovered this salmon recipe from Alison Roman a few weeks back and put my spin on it - you may have already cancelled her, but damn that bish makes some good food. I made it for dinner one night, loved it, and had a little leftover. The next morning, I was a smidge wine hungover and was desperately reaching for one of my emergency bagels** ….and it hit me that the leftover salmon MIGHT be bomb on said bagel.. and, it was right.
**(note: I always keep a bag of bagels in my freezer. If I could eat bagels every day, I 100% would. But, sigh, for obvious reasons, it’s just not a good idea. So, I keep these for when the mood strikes, or when you are hungry AF and the fridge is bare).
One reason I love this salmon dish is that is is covered in a brown butter (if you’re new here, see Sobremesa 09. on my obsession with brown butter) which makes the fish super goddamn juicy. FYI - brown butter is butter that has been cooked just long enough to toast the milk solids in the butter. When you cook the butter butter in a saucepan just a lil’ bit past the melting point, the result is a magical nutty and sweet flavor *heart swoons.*
Another reason I love this dish is that it’s cooked with the flavors of my favorite kind of deluxe NY bagel - lemon, capers, onions, sesame, and dill. The kind I used to wait in line 45 mins for back in the *before-time* (bagel sandwiches are truly are the only thing I would ever ever sand in line for). It’s like lox, but UPGRADED. Yeah, I said it.
So while I highly recommend this dish for a dinner entrée - I SUPER highly recommend that you have for the morning-after. Cook it up hot and fresh, reheat it, or it’s honestly even nice cold straight from the fridge.
Morning-After Salmon
Serves 2-4
Ingredients
1lb salmon
½ lemon, sliced thin
3 tablespoons butter
Olive oil
Salt + Pepper, to taste
1 shallot, sliced thin (red onion works too, but shallots are just better versions, no?)
1 tablespoon brined capers, drained
½ cup fresh dill, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
4 tablespoons cream cheese
1/2 scallion, sliced thin
Let’s go!
Heat the oven to 325 F.
Rinse your salmon and pat dry. Place on a foil-lined baking sheet. Salt and pepper and smother with a lil’ bit of olive oil. If you are in Brooklyn, I highly recommend getting your salmon from my neighborhood fish spot, Shipwreck.
Let’s make your brown butter. Take 3 tablespoons of butter and melt in a small saucepan over medium heat. Swirl the pan frequently as you go. You’ll see it start to foam, and little caramelized bits forming at the bottom. After about 2-3 mins, it will turn a rich dark brown and smell nutty and sweet.
Add the olive oil, lemon & shallot and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the lemon and onions start to brown and cook down, about another 2-3 minutes. Add the capers. Cut the heat.
Pour the brown butter mixture over the salmon.
Bake for 12-15 mins. It should be cooked but medium-rare inside. Go ahead and throw your bagels in to toast with. Make it a party in there!
Meanwhile, make your scallion cream cheese. Simply mix the sliced scallions into cream cheese (I use a fork to really mash it in there).
When the salmon is finished, top the with the fresh dill and toasted sesame.
Portion out the salmon as desired and place over the bagel.
Enjoy with a smidge of a wine hangover, cup of black coffee, and glass of OJ.
Happy cooking. Love ya mucho.
Tessa