They had whole, gutted and gilled salmon available at the grocery store here yesterday. They looked beautiful and fresh. And, notably, were about half the price per unit mass as the salmon fillets. So, given that, I figured I might as well just get a whole salmon and figure out how to cook it for dinner.

I did a mash-up of two different recipes for it. For cooking instructions, I followed a Jamie Oliver recipe that I found online. But I used the seasoning and side veggies from one of the Dish of the Day recipes. That one called for braising salmon fillets in a mixture of white wine and vegetable stock and then serving it with sautéed asparagus, leeks, and peas. For mine, I baked the salmon (and potatoes) as per Jamie Oliver, but stuffed it with leeks and lemon and then more-or-less braised the veggies to serve with it. It worked out quite well and we were all very happy with the results and looking forward to the leftovers tonight!

Roasted Whole Salmon with Potatoes and Spring Vegetables

Adapted from Jamie Oliver and Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 whole gutted and gilled salmon (~2kg)
• 1-2kg potatoes, sliced ~5mm thick
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 2 leeks, divided
• 1 lemon
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives (or 1 Tbsp. dried), divided
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh tarragon (or 1/2 Tbsp. dried), divided
• 2-3 Tbsp. oil, divided
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 500g asparagus, trimmed
• 1/4 c. white wine
• 1/4 c. vegetable stock
• 2 c. fresh or frozen green peas

Directions

1. If the salmon still has its scales, you will want to descale it. This is a messy process. Put down some towels or paper and be prepared for scales to go flying everywhere. Drag the back of a knife from tail to head at a 45° angle. Repeat all over the fish until you've removed as many scales as possible. Rinse the fish and your knife and do another pass or two until it feels like all of the scales have been removed.
2. Rinse the fish again, then dry thoroughly with a towel. Set aside.
3. Preheat oven to 250°C (475°F) and oil a large roasting pan.
4. Add the potatoes and onion to the pan, drizzle with 1 Tbsp. of the oil, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Rub the fish all over with the remaining oil and place it on top of the potatoes.
6. Trim the leeks, halve lengthwise, wash very well, and slice.
7. Zest the lemon.
8. Combine the lemon zest with half of the leeks, 4-5 tsp. of the chives, 2 tsp. of the tarragon, and a bit of salt and pepper and toss to combine.
9. Stuff as much of the leek mixture as possible into the salmon. Allow any excess stuffing to spill out onto the potatoes.
10. Slice the lemon and stuff some of the slices into the fish.
11. Make a few gashes in the skin of the fish.
12. Sprinkle some salt and pepper over it, making sure to get some into the gashes.
13. Place any remaining slices of lemon on top of the salmon (preferably over the gashes if possible).
14. Bake at 250°C (475°F) for 15 minutes.
15. Reduce temperature to 180°C (350°F) and bake for another 30 minutes.
16. Meanwhile, melt the butter over medium heat.
17. Add the remaining leeks and sauté until softened (3-5 minutes).
18. Add the asparagus and cook for another minute or so.
19. Add the wine, stock, remaining tarragon, remaining chives, and salt and pepper to taste; cover; and cook for 2-3 minutes.
20. Add the peas and cook until vegetables are heated through and just tender (another 2-3 minutes).
21. Serve the salmon and potatoes with the vegetables on the side.

Roast Leg of Lamb

I don't buy lamb often. It's too expensive. They had some on for 50% off the other day though. I was hardly going to pass that up!

I used the rub from a Jamie Oliver recipe I found and the cooking instructions from a Martha Stewart recipe and met somewhere in the middle. I'd meant to make the mint sauce from the Jamie Oliver page as well, but I completely forgot about it. I might make up a small batch to go with the leftovers tomorrow. Honestly though, the lamb is delicious as is and I love the flavour of the rub. It doesn't need any sauce and part of me wonders if the mint mightn't take away from the delicious lamb and lemon flavours already present.

Roast Leg of Lamb
Adapted from Jamie Oliver and Martha Stewart
1 leg of lamb (mine was ~2.5kg), fell removed
coarse sea salt
pepper
zest of 1 lemon
3 Tbsp. garlic paste
1 bunch fresh rosemary, leaves removed and chopped
~1/4 c. olive oil
new potatoes (~200g per person)
carrots (1-2 per person); peeled and cut into large chunks/quarters
parsnips (I couldn't get any for this, but I definitely would've put a few in if I'd had 'em; 1-2 per person)
onions (1/2 per person, rounded up); peeled and cut into eighths
garlic (1-2 cloves per person); peeled and bruised

1. Combine the potatoes, carrots, parsnips, onions, and garlic in a large bowl.
2. Add 1/2 the rosemary and some salt and pepper. Drizzle over a couple tablespoons of olive oil and toss to coat. Dump veg into the bottom of a large roasting pan.
3. In a small bowl, combine the garlic paste, lemon zest, some pepper, ~1 tsp. of salt per kg of meat, and the remaining rosemary and olive oil.
4. Smear the mixture all over the lamb and place the leg on top of the veg in the roast pan.
5. Bake at 425F for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 325F and bake for an additional hour or until internal temperature reads 130F.
6. Broil for an additional 5 minutes then remove from oven and allow to sit for 15-20 minutes.
7. Serve with roast veg. Optionally add mint sauce or gravy. A salad might be nice along side as well.

I think a little bit of lemon zest added to the potatoes could be quite good. Other veg could be added as well if desired. Really though, this roast was pretty much perfect. The lamb was delicious and tender. The rub was amazing. I was initially dubious about the lemon zest, but it was great! Definitely don't leave it out!