the poverty luxe kitchen vol. 10: lemon dill salmon + hollandaise.

ok first of all, can we just talk about how were on volume ten of the poverty luxe kitchen? im pretty sure this is by far the longest-running series ive ever done, and weve only just gotten started. im serious. honestly i was hesitant to commit to a recipe/food post every week because obviously id run out super fast, but no, im actually adding recipes to the queue faster than i can post them. anyway, enough back pats, lets get to business here. 

this week im talking about salmon again. salmon is just my favorite, ok? i know i said that my pesto baked salmon is our new favorite for fancy dinner night, but sometimes you gotta mix things up. sometimes you want something lighter and simpler and dont want to have to measure anything. also sometimes you just really need a vehicle for my number one most favorite food thing ever: hollandaise sauce. 

if you arent familiar with hollandaise sauce (in which case, i am very, VERY sorry about the sad state of your culinary experiences), its one of those things that sounds really fancy but is actually made from a few (actually, in this recipe, only three) very humble ingredients. it also has a reputation for being a very difficult and temperamental sauce that only the most skilled chefs can make properly. this is a total lie. yes you have to pay attention (and a little methodology never hurt anyone), but its not that hard. actually, the majority of recipes ive seen for hollandaise make it way too fussy and complicated. ive taken the recipe my mom always made, and tinkered with the process a bit for a sauce thats actually pretty hard to mess up. 

hollandaise will always hold a special place in my heart because growing up, my mom made it kind of a lot. i mean, she still does, especially in the springtime when artichokes get  really cheap because nothing on earth is more glorious than a steamed artichoke with hollandaise sauce. even as a little kid this was one of my most favorite treats, so i probably make hollandaise a bit more than one should (especially considering the um... entire stick of butter involved). 

but anyway, lets get to the recipes, shall we? 

lemon dill salmon.

serves 4

heres what you need: 

1 lb salmon filets (like i said before, i just cook one big piece and chop it up when its done, but im incredibly lazy and hate touching fish)

olive oil

lemon juice

salt, pepper, garlic powder, and dried dill

heres what you do: 

preheat your oven to 425 degrees and place the salmon filet(s) in a foil-lined baking pan. 

drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice, then top with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and dill to your preference (see, i told you you dont even have to measure anything). 

bake for 20-25 minutes, until fish is cooked through. 

obviously this salmon recipe is a great starting point for just about any salmon-centric dinner, but this post was mainly me gushing about hollandaise sauce so lets get on to that: 

hollandaise sauce. 

makes approximately 1 cup of sauce, typically serves 2-4 people. 

heres what you need: 

3 tablespoons lemon juice

3 egg yolks (save the whites for merengue cookies)

1 stick butter, cut into eight slices (dont listen to my mom this step is entirely necessary)

heres what you do: 

in a small saucepan, whisk together the egg yolks and lemon juice. 

with the flame set very, very low heat the egg and lemon mixture, stirring constantly until it JUST starts to thicken and bubble at the edges (this will take 3-5 minutes, be patient and do not increase the heat). 

once the sauce thickens, immediately remove the pan from heat and quickly stir the butter in one slice at a time. 

hopefully that wasnt too stressful, but if youve followed these steps correctly you should have a thick, creamy yellow sauce that tastes like a choir of angels singing, and if not, it may have curdled but it will still taste delicious (even if its not as pretty). 

now that ive gushed all about my favorite childhood treat to re-create, i want to hear about yours in the comments! what do YOU make from your childhood? 

the poverty luxe kitchen vol. 6: pesto baked salmon.

im going to let you in on a the number one secret to how we live on an insanely tight grocery budget without going insane: once a week (usually sunday night), we have a really nice dinner at home. even the tightest weeks of rice and bean combinations and freezer soups can be tolerated when we know that nice dinner is on the meal plan. and that nice dinner is usually salmon. because 1. salmon is delicious, 2. alice freaking LOVES salmon, and 3. even though the salmon itself may be kind of expensive (though sprouts usually has a pretty great price on it), you can pair it with the cheapest most in-seasonest vegetable and BOOM. dinner. 

for a long time when i made salmon id just blacken it in the cast iron skillet with some lemon pepper, which is great and all, but sometimes you want to change things up a bit (also blackening fish in a frying pan makes a huge mess). one of my sisters told me about my mom baking salmon with mayonnaise on it, and obviously i was way into that because im always looking for more excuses to eat mayonnaise. i made something like this a couple of times before my wheels started turning about how i could make it even better. 

and then i noticed the jar of pesto in my fridge. BIG lightbulb moment there. pesto goes great with salmon. it also goes great with mayonnaise. so why not combine the three into a glorious trifecta of deliciousness? now we have a new favorite dinner for fancy dinner night. 

pesto baked salmon. 

serves 4

heres what you need: 

1 lb salmon filets (honestly i just buy one big piece because its cheaper and cut it when i serve it but im lazy and dont like touching raw fish)

2 tablespoon mayonaise (the real kind, obviously)

1 tablespoon prepared pesto

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

heres what you do: 

preheat your oven to 425 degrees. 

place your salmon filet(s) in a foil-lined baking pan (note, the foil isnt technically necessary but it DOES make the clean up a million times easier). 

mix the mayonnaise, pesto and lemon juice together in a small bowl and spread the resulting mixture on the salmon, then top with the parmesan cheese. 

bake for 20-25 minutes or until salmon is cooked through. 

i feel like i should add here that this method of cooking salmon is especially fantastic because the mayonnaise seals in all the moisture and keeps things from getting to dry, which tends to happen if you end up with a piece thats not quite fatty enough. 

looking for the perfect side dish to complement this salmon? stay tuned for next week's recipe because thats exactly what im doing!