Once again, I was faced with the dilemma...how can I prepare salmon in a new way?Lady Peoples, they love salmon. I once went out with a girl who ate salmon so often, grizzly bears tried to attack her when we went to the zoo.Trying to find a new way of cooking salmon can be a challenge. I’ve baked it, seared it, broiled it, grilled it, poached it…I was running out of ways to cook it! So I thought maybe I’d sear it, just the top, and then steam it.I saw a recipe that included Dijon mustard. I like Dijon mustard. I mean, I don’t eat spoonfuls out of the jar, but as far as condiments go, I like it.But on a piece of fish? I had my doubts. But I thought I’d try it, and see what it was like.It was good! There’s just a teaspoon, so it’s not overwhelming. And it was really subtle. If you didn’t know there was Dijon in the sauce, you might not have detected it.
I used Wild Alaskan King salmon. It was thick and fresh and about $11 a pound, which is about half of what you normally pay. The filets I got were about an inch thick.You can use halibut, or any firm-fleshed thick fish. Thinner fish won’t work.I really like this dish. When you cook/sear/braise the top of the salmon first, it gets a nice crispness. Then when you steam it over the leeks, it stays really moist inside. It’s a nice contrast, the crispness of the top, and the steaminess of the rest.
I’ve always liked the french-fried onions that come in a can that you use over string beans at Thanksgiving. I thought they might go well on top of the salmon. But I wanted to make them myself. So I took some slivered leeks, and fried them in some butter and olive oil until golden.Wow. They were good. They tasted great, just a few on top of the salmon at the very end. I made a little teepee, and it looked cool, and tasted great.Leeks...they’re dirty! Make sure you clean them real good. And cut off the root at the end, and cut off the 
dark green parts/leaves on top. The dark green leaves are tough like shoe leather! So just use the pale green and white parts of the leeks.INGREDIENTS1 cup leeks, white and pale green parts only, cleaned thoroughly and cut into matchstick slivers½ cup leeks, the same way (these are for garnish)¼ cup of flour4 tablespoons butter3 tablespoons olive oilSalt and pepperTwo 8-ounce Wild Alaskan King Salmon filets, about an inch thick each1 teaspoon Dijon mustard¾ cup dry white wine1 tablespoon lemon juice, fresh squeezed2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley, choppedHERE WE GO!Let’s fry some leeks first. We will use these on top of the salmon, at the very end.Put a small sauté pan over medium-high heat.Add 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and let them heat up!Put the flour on a plate.Take the ½ cup of leeks, and add them to the flour and mix.Pick up the leeks, let the excess flour shake off, and put them in the pan.When the edges of the leeks turn pale gold, a minute or two, turn them over.Cook them on the other side until pale gold.Remove to a plate lined with a paper towel, and add salt and pepper.Don’t throw out the flour yet!And now for the salmon…Sprinkle the tops of each salmon filet with some Kosher salt. Mazel tov!Put 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat.When the butter melts and bubbles, add the salmon, skin side up.Cook for 3 or 4 minutes.
Remove the salmon to a large plate.To the sauté pan, add the final 1 tablespoon of butter, 1 cup of slivered leeks, the mustard, and some Kosher salt.Stir gently and cook for 3 minutes, until leeks are soft.Add wine, and let it cook off for a minute or two.Add the salmon to the pan, skin/raw side down, right on top of the leeks.Cover and simmer for 8 minutes, or until done (pale pink in the middle, and slightly flaky).Remove the salmon to two gorgeous plates.Add the lemon juice and parsley to the pan.Add a touch of flour, and stir gently.Taste for salt and pepper and adjust.Pour a little sauce over each salmon filet. Add some crispy leeks on top, like a teepee.
MANGIAMO!
Seared Scallops with Ginger and Garlic
I was a teenage idiot. I did some stupid stuff when I was a teenager. Nothing horrible, just the usual stupid teenage stuff—underage drinking, staying out too late, having parties at the house when she was out-of-town. When I got older, I must have apologized to my Mom a hundred times for being such a knucklehead.I’m still doing stupid stuff. But not as frequently.As a teenager, it is required by law that you do the exact opposite of what your parents tell you to do. Your parents tell you not to smoke pot, for instance. For generations, parents have been telling their kids not to smoke pot. Does it work?No. Why not? Teenagers don’t listen.We three kids – my older brother, my younger sister and I – lived with my Mom on a dead-end street named Rosebank, in Baltimore, Maryland. When my folks divorced, my Dad went back to New York. Divorce is tough on teenagers. You don’t know who’s right, who’s wrong, what to do, or where to go.The basement at Rosebank was our haven. It was our safe place. We decided to fix it up.Uncle Oscar gave us a pool table. He had bought it for his son, Johnny. Johnny and I used to play pool at Oscar’s house. Johnny and I were close in age and close in general. He used to come see my band, Momma Max.Johnny died in an automobile accident when he was sixteen. It was so heartbreaking for the whole family. I was crushed. It was the only time I saw Oscar cry. He gave us Johnny’s pool table. It took a bunch of us kids, but we managed to get it in the basement at Rosebank.The basement walls were made of stone. Not the good-looking Hollywood kinda stone, these were stones like you’d see on the walls of ancient caves – rough and lumpy and crumbly. We whitewashed all the walls. It took a few coats, but we painted them all white. We painted the poured cement floor dark green.We got a bunch of brightly colored paints and markers and brushes and spray paints. Whenever anybody would come over – neighborhood kids, friends, cousins – we’d play pool, play music and draw on the walls. Cartoons, poetry, graffiti, drawings, portraits, quotes – the walls became this mash-up mural of collective art.It was where my band practiced. That basement should be in the Slimuseum! It once had a dirt floor and crumbling walls, and now it was all spiffed up, in a hippy-dippy way. My Mom was just glad to have everybody in one place, where she could keep an eye on us dimwits.The ceiling was really low. In certain areas, big iron water pipes hung low, and you’d have to stoop under them to avoid busting your frontal lobe. One time a friend of ours named Bruce made an incredible shot to win a game of pool. In a fit of joy, he leaped straight up, hit an iron pipe, and knocked himself unconscious.Did we help him? No. We were laughing too hard. I told ya, we were teenage idiots.My brother and I used to play tricks on our friends. They’d come over, we’d hang out in the basement, play pool, and play music. Then my brother and I would give each other a wink, and one of us would sneak out of the basement.We’d go outside and move our friends’ cars. Park ‘em down at the bottom of our dead-end street. Then we’d sneak back into the basement. When the party was over, our friends would leave, and my brother and I would wait until we heard the frantic knock on the basement door.“Dude! I can’t find my car! It’s my Dad’s! He’s gonna kill me!”My brother and I would let the terror go on for a few minutes, and then we’d laugh and tell them what we’d done. Pretty stupid stuff. Like I said, I was a teenage idiot.I think the zenith of my moronosity came when I decided to make some pot brownies. I put some pot in a blender, put in some brownie mix, and then made brownies in the oven.
My brother and I each ate a piece. We gave a piece to our sister. We didn’t force her, she wanted one. After an hour, my sister told us she didn’t feel anything. She told us she wanted to eat another piece. We didn’t think it was a good idea and told her so. She ate another piece anyway. Why?Teenagers don’t listen.A few hours later she was screaming that she’d never be the same. She was freaking out, and she kept telling us she needed to go to the hospital. It’s funny now. It wasn’t real funny back then. She finally calmed down, but it scared the shit out of us.That night, I put the brownies in some aluminum foil. I put a skull and crossbones on them, and hid them in the back of the fridge so no one would find them. I guess I should have thrown them out, but, like I said, I was a teenage idiot.The next morning I walked downstairs and saw the woman who cleaned our house eating a pot brownie with her morning coffee.I yelled out her name.She looked at me like I was crazy, and said,“What? What’s wrong?”I thought for a quick minute, which is rare for a teenager. Then I said,“Nothing. How are you?”She gave me a funny look. She’s a wonderful woman, has been a part of the family for years and years. I’m still very close with her and her family.But if I told her that she had just eaten a pot brownie, she would have probably freaked out. If I didn’t tell her, maybe she would just feel a little weird, and not think much about it.My Dad used to tell me, “Nobody gets in trouble by keeping their mouth shut.”So I said nothing. And nothing happened. She didn’t jump out of a window, or start a religious cult, or join the circus.After she left, I threw the brownies in the trash.I guess I was starting to grow out of my teenage idiocy period. I’m now in my adult idiocy period…SEARED SCALLOPS WITH GINGER AND GARLIC 
Scallops are for adults only. They’re too expensive to waste on teenagers!When you sear scallops, it’s real important to use dry scallops. These are scallops that have not been injected with water and chemicals.So make sure you use dry scallops — it’s almost impossible to sear wet scallops, because the liquid they throw off screws up the searing process.When you talk to your fish guy at the market, make sure he knows you want dry scallops. Rinse off the scallops and pat dry with paper towels. Keep patting dry until the moisture is gone from the scallops, and the towels do not get damp.Searing is one of my favorite things to do with seafood. It’s quick. It’s easy.After you sear a scallop or a piece of fish, you can eat it just like that. Or you can add a little sauce.The sauce I made consists of garlic and ginger and honey.When you cook scallops, figure on three scallops per person. If you serve two scallops, people will think you’re cheap. If you serve four, you’ll need to take out a loan.In this recipe, I seared 6 scallops, perfect for a nice romantic dinner for two.Me and Batu!There is enough sauce here for 12 scallops! You’ll only need a teaspoon OR LESS per scallop, you’ll have PLENTY left over—it should keep in the fridge for a week.One last thing! Scallops have a little muscle on the side. Peel it off and toss. The muscle, not the scallops!INGREDIENTS
The Sauce1 tablespoon minced garlic1 tablespoon minced ginger¼ cup of soy sauce¼ cup of olive oil2 teaspoons of honey (I sometimes use more)The ScallopsTurbinado sugar (or brown sugar)Salt and pepper1 tablespoon butter1 tablespoon olive oil6 large dry sea scallops, side muscle removedHere we go...Take all of the sauce ingredients, put them in a bowl, and whisk, whisk, whisk. Taste for sweetness, and add a little more honey if you like.Put half the sauce in a small pot over low heat--save the rest in the fridge for next time. Let the sauce reduce a bit as we sear our scallops.Sprinkle the top of each scallop with JUST A LITTLE sugar, kosher salt, and fresh cracked black pepper.Get a medium-size sauté pan. Put the heat on medium-high.Put a tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon of olive oil in the pan.When the butter starts to turn brown and bubble, put the scallops in the pan — seasoned side down.
Sauté for 2 minutes. As the scallops sauté, sprinkle the top side of each scallop with JUST A LITTLE salt, sugar and pepper. If you’re concerned about splattering, place a piece of foil VERY LOOSELY over the pan.After 2 minutes, lift the scallops out of the pan with some tongs.Swish the butter and olive oil around in the bottom of the pan so you’re not placing the un-seared side of the scallop onto a dry pan. You need those juices to sear!Put the scallops back in the pan, un-seared side down. Sear for 2 minutes.Dish it up! Put the scallops on a platter with a sprig of parsley or two. You can also put them on a plate of greens. Grab the pot with the simmering sauce. Spoon a LITTLE over each scallop—a small teaspoon, and…
MANGIAMO!!
Slim Man Cooks Lamb Chops
Elvis hated us.Not the real Elvis.An Elvis impersonator.I had a band in the 1970s called Mixed Nuts. The original name was Nick’s Nuts.The problem was, a gangster guy who booked the band hated the name Nick’s Nuts. He told us to change it, so we changed it to Nix Nuts. He hated that name, too. We changed it to Mixed Nuts. Gangster guy liked it; it fit.We played cover songs, mostly Top 40 dance stuff - Earth, Wind and Fire, Kool and the Gang, Ohio Players, along with some jazz – Grover Washington, George Benson and Weather Report.We played clubs in and around our hometown of Baltimore, Maryland. We had some really good musicians in the band. We sounded good. We looked good, which is much more important than sounding good. Only thing was - we were a little nuts.
Our keyboard player, Danny, was the nuttiest of the Nuts. He was the instigator. He was a short, roly-poly guy, looked a lot like Danny DeVito. Danny did some crazy things.One of our first gigs was opening for an Elvis impersonator. We used their equipment – drums, amps, and keyboards. I'm guessing Elvis' keyboard player wasn't very good, because he had placed pieces of masking tape on each key of his keyboard. He had written the notes of each key on each piece of tape - so the “C” key had “C” written on the tape, the “D” key had “D” written on it, and so forth, up and down the whole keyboard.We opened the show for Fake Elvis, and played for about a half-hour. Danny used the guy’s keyboard. At the end of our show, Danny changed all the pieces of tape on the keyboard – so the “C” key was no longer “C”, and the “D” key was no longer “D”.We left the stage. People didn’t throw things at us, but the applause wasn’t deafening, either. Elvis was waiting in the wings. His band went onstage and the keyboard player started their intro, the theme from 2001 A Space Odyssey.All the notes were wrong, thanks to Danny. The keyboard player looked down at his keys, and then over at Elvis. Elvis gave him a dirty look. The keyboard player started the intro again. Nothing but wrong notes. Elvis looked over at us, and we were smiling.He was not.Needless to say, it wasn’t the best night for Elvis and his band. I don’t think the keyboard player hit one good note all night. After the show, Elvis came looking for us.But Mixed Nuts had left the building.I liked the real Elvis a lot. I’ve been to Graceland more than once. Early Elvis is my favorite. He was cool. His eating habits weren’t the best in the world. A steady diet of peanut butter and bacon sandwiches can’t have a good impact on your body. But Elvis' music had quite an impact on the world.When Mixed Nuts played the Baltimore nightclub circuit, we started at 9 PM and played until 2 AM. We did five 40-minute sets, 200 minutes of music. We usually played the same club for a week. Then, we’d head to a different club, play for a week. We did that all-year long.After a show, we’d all go out to eat. Diners, Denny’s, Holiday Inns – anywhere that served food late at night. Whenever The Nuts went out to eat, we’d arrive at the restaurant in our suit jackets and vests, and dress shirts and ties, shoes and socks, and - no pants. We were always so nonchalant about it, like it was completely normal. We were nuts. Mixed Nuts. We had a name to live up to.A lot of the clubs we played were owned by Greeks – The Latin Casino, The Redwood Inn, Rhapsody, Hollywood Palace, and Club Venus. The owners were all named John. We gave them nicknames, so we could tell them apart…Uncle John. Little John. Big John.We used to play the Hilton Hotel in a neighborhood called Pikesville. It was one of the few clubs in Baltimore not owned by a Greek named John. The Hilton club was run by a guy named Bill, who had a phosphorescent orange tan, fake black hair, and chain smoked cigarettes.One night, The Nuts were at the Hilton doing our Big Finale, which was a song called “Birdland” by Weather Report. It’s a lively little number, a song that we had a request to do. The guy that requested it hit the dance floor as soon as we started the song. He was all by himself, out there on the dance floor, doing a frantic little dance…And then he died of a massive heart attack. Right there in front of us, on the dance floor. True story. We were scheduled to play the Hilton the following week. But we didn’t. Bill didn’t want us playing there anymore after the guy died.It’s not like we killed him.But it did give birth to the phrase “We knocked ‘em dead last night.”Mixed Nuts broke up soon after.Why? Like I said, the guys in the band were really good musicians, and started getting some incredible offers…The sax player got hired by Patti LaBelle. He started touring the world.The guitar player got a gig with Dion and the Belmonts. He started touring the world as well.I got signed to Motown Records. I took the drummer from Mixed Nuts with me to play on the album. Who was the drummer?Hit Man Howie Z. We still play together in the Slim Man Band.Four out of five Nuts went on to be pretty successful in the music biz.And the fifth Nut, the nuttiest Nut? Danny?He got busted a few years later for selling marijuana. The Feds found a lot of pot and a couple hundred thousand bucks stashed on his property. So I guess Danny was pretty successful, too, in his own way. Except the Feds confiscated the money. And the weed.Danny didn’t drink. He didn’t use drugs.But he did do a couple years in the Federal penitentiary. When he got out of prison, he went back to Baltimore.We’re still close friends. He still plays music in and around the Baltimore area. Jailhouse Rock!LAMB CHOPS WITH ROSEMARY AND GARLIC
When I was in Mixed Nuts, I didn’t cook very much. But when I did, I usually made some Italian vegetarian dishes; tomato sauce, pesto, things like that. I didn’t eat a lot of red meat.My Dad cooked a birthday dinner for me one year. He made this incredibly elaborate meal, and the main course was a leg of lamb with mustard sauce. My Dad had invited Danny. He loved Danny, thought he was ridiculously funny.After this extravagant dinner, after all the courses had been served, Danny looked at my Dad and said,“Good slop.”Which my Dad thought was hilarious.I still don’t eat a lot of red meat, but when I have carnivores over at Slim’s Shady Trailer Park, I’ll make lamb chops. This is my favorite red meat recipe.INGREDIENTS1 pound lamb chops (I had 6, each about ¾ inch thick)1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary1 clove garlic, minced (a generous teaspoon)1 teaspoon olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon for searing1 tablespoon butterHere we go…
Rinse off your lamb chops and pat them dry with paper towels.Put the chopped rosemary and the minced garlic on a chopping board.Even though they’re already chopped, chop ‘em up together for a minute. These guys need to get to know each other.Put the chopped rosemary and garlic in a small bowl.Add a teaspoon of olive oil, mix it up. Set aside.Place the lamb chops on a large 
plate.Rub a little of the rosemary/garlic/olive oil mixture on top of each lamb chop—only on one side! Spread it around evenly, a thin layer.Add a little kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper.Get a large sauté pan (I used a 10-inch pan).Turn the heat to medium-high.Add the 1 tablespoon of butter, and the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. When the butter starts to brown, add the lamb chops—spiced side down!Cook for a couple minutes, as in 2 or 3. Thinner pieces take less time, thicker ones, longer.Using tongs, turn ‘em over. Swirl the olive oil and butter around in the bottom of the pan so you’re not placing the lamb chops in a dry pan.Cook for another 2 or 3 minutes.Check them for doneness - at 2 or 3 minutes a side they should be medium rare. If you like them well done, cook for a couple minutes more on each side. If you like them rare, cook them less.That’s it!!Dish it up, make it look nice, add a sprig of rosemary, maybe a dollop of risotto, a couple baked asparagus spears, and…
MANGIAMO!!!!
Slim Man Cooks Ahi Tuna with Red Wine Sauce
Ahi Tuna With Red Wine Sauce and the Baltimore Colts
Why don’t cannibals eat divorced people?They’re bitter.September 11, 1983. The Baltimore Colts football team was scheduled to play the Denver Broncos. The year before, 1982, the Colts had not won a game, and because they stunk so bad they got the first pick in the NFL draft the following year.The Colts chose quarterback John Elway, from Stanford University. Elway refused to play for the Colts. He was even considering joining the New York Yankees baseball team rather than play football for the Colts. So the Colts traded Elway to the Denver Broncos and in the second game of the 1983 season, the Broncos came to Baltimore to play the Colts at Memorial Stadium.I had been a Baltimore Colts fan from day one. My uncle Oscar had season tickets from their very first game – the seats were in the mezzanine, right next to the press box. Oscar played football in high school-he was good enough to be offered a full scholarship to college, but chose medicine instead. When the Colts came to Baltimore, Oscar bought the best seats. I went with him to as many games as I could. I knew all the players, their numbers, their statistics, their nicknames.Lenny Moore, #24. Gino Marchetti, #89. Artie Donovan, #70. Johnny Unitas, #19. Raymond Berry #82.
I loved football. When I was a kid, I played football in little league. I wasn’t offered any scholarships, but I loved playing. And I loved the Colts.You can imagine how thrilled I was when the Colts called and asked my band to sing the national anthem for Elway’s first appearance in Baltimore. The band was BootCamp; we’d been making a name for ourselves in the music biz. We had worked up a great acapella version of the “Star-Spangled Banner.” It was a show stoppa. At parties, shows, concerts, weddings, funerals - all of a sudden, out of the blue we’d burst into the national anthem It was a cheap way to get a standing ovation. But our four-part harmony rendition was quite stirring, if I may say so myself.When we got to Memorial Stadium that Sunday, we were escorted through the Colts locker room, and into an underground tunnel that led to the field. As we were coming to the end of the tunnel, we heard this rumbling…The players, all suited up and breathing fire, were coming down the tunnel right behind us. We stood up against the wall and let them pass. They were big, and they had a look in their eyes that was fierce. Like Gladiators getting ready to enter the Coliseum.When they passed, we followed them out onto the field. We walked up to the microphone. The announcer asked everyone to stand and remove their hats. Memorial Stadium got dead-quiet. Then he introduced us, “Ladies and Gentlemen, Baltimore’s own BootCamp!”We sang our hearts out. It was the thrill of a lifetime. Fifty-thousand people standing on their feet, cheering. A standing ovation! Of course, they had to stand because it was the national anthem; but I’m marking it down in my bio as "a standing ovation before a sellout crowd of 50,000."
When we finished, we walked to the sidelines, and stood among the Colt players. The Colts’ front office had given us field passes. I’m sure when they gave them to us they weren’t thinking we’d stay on the field for the whole game, but there we were, standing on the sidelines with the players and coaches.All the players and coaches were giving us funny looks. I can’t blame them. We were dressed like …well, it was the 1980s. We looked like a cross between Duran Duran and Devo. We had on as much eyeshadow over our eyes as the Colts had under theirs.On the opening kick-off, I couldn’t see what was going on, but I could hear it. The two teams charging down the field sounded like a stampede of wild horses. When they hit each other, you could hear the crack of the helmets, the grunts and groans of the players.When the special teams unit came over to the sidelines after the kick-off, it was something I’d never witnessed before. The players were out of breath, wheezing and panting - fingers were broken, uniforms were muddy, noses were bloody.Playing football is a brutal sport. Playing music is not. Musicians don’t encounter a lot of violence. Unless, they’re really, really bad.The Baltimore fans were booing Elway mercilessly that day. People from B-Mo were pissed off. They weren’t afraid to be vocal about it. John Elway had said he’d play anywhere but Baltimore, and we Baltimorons took it personally.It would have been nice if the Colts had won. But the Colts were pretty bad that day. They lost, 17-10. The newspaper ran a photo on the front page the next day.Hit Man Howie Z was in it, back to the camera, walking off the field. 1983. It would be the Colts last season in Baltimore.On March 29, 1984, at 2:00 AM, 15 Mayflower moving trucks arrived at the Baltimore Colts training complex. Eight hours later, they were loaded up and heading to Indianapolis.They took everything - the Colts’ name, the trophies, the memorabilia, the mascot, the uniforms. All gone to Indianapolis.The mayor of Indy had offered the owner of the Colts a 12 million dollar loan, a 4 million dollar training complex, and a new 77 million dollar stadium.Let me make an analogy. Your wife (spouse) meets someone new, a wife that you stood by through the good times and the bad. This New Guy offers her a 12 million dollar loan, a 4 million dollar work-out room, and a 77 million dollar house.And she takes it. That’s OK, things didn’t work out, I can handle that. But did she really need to take all your stuff, too? Your trophies, your memorabilia, your mounted deer head? No. With all that money, she could have bought new stuff.Did she have to take it all in the dark of night, at two in the morning, while you were sleeping? That’s harsh. But that’s what the Colts did.When I heard the news about the Colts leaving town, I was pissed off; so much so, that I didn’t go to a football game, or follow the NFL for years.I was bitter. Lots of folks in Baltimore were.When the Baltimore Ravens came to town, Oscar got season tickets, great seats in the club section. I resisted at first. Then I gave in. I went to my first Ravens game. The guy sang the national anthem and it sent chills up and down my spine. The crowd cheered, jets roared as they flew right over our heads, and Ray Lewis came out of the tunnel and did his dance while fireworks shot into the sky. The stadium went wild. It was thrilling.I was hooked. I was back in love! The Ravens went on to win the Super Bowl that year—2000.It took me a while, but I had found a better wife. She’s been great. She won the Super Bowl again last year. What more could a husband ask for?I’m not bitter anymore. I’m better, not bitter.
AHI TUNA STEAKS WITH RED WINE SAUCEWhat do you do with all that red wine left over from the Super Bowl Party? Make red wine sauce!You can use this sauce on steak, chicken or ahi tuna steaks. You can grill them, or sear them. I seared.I went to the grocery store not long ago and they had beautiful ahi tuna steaks for $8 a pound. I bought two, and was wondering how to cook them.I had done tuna with a red wine sauce before, but it wasn’t where I wanted it to be. The sauce wasn’t right. It was bugging me. It was keeping me up at night. Then, around dawn, it dawned on me. Tomato paste!The next time I made the sauce, I added a little tomato paste to the sauce to thicken it up and give it a little zip. Then I added a little dried oregano to give it some zing. Zip! Zing! It turned out great.A few things before we get started - the tuna steaks I used were about an inch and a half thick. I cooked them for 2 minutes per side over medium-high heat. They turned out perfectly — the pepper/salt/sugar that I had sprinkled on top gave them a nice sear, and they were a beautifully pink on the inside.Cooking times vary. A thicker piece of fish takes longer.Also, when you light your Cognac on fire, be careful, boys and girls. Yes, the subsequent explosion of flame looks so cool and very dramatic, but have the fire department on the phone in one hand, and a garden hose in the other.If you’re using this sauce on a steak or chicken, just cook or grill the steak as you normally do, and add a little sauce on top.This is a bold sauce. Don’t use too much!INGREDIENTS2 ahi tuna steaks, about a half pound (8 ounces) each2 tablespoons butter2 tablespoons olive oil2 tablespoons chopped shallots1 tablespoon chopped garlic2 ounces of Cognac (about ¼ cup)½ cup dry red wine½ cup stock (I used beef)½ teaspoon dried oregano1 tablespoon tomato pasteFresh ground black pepperKosher saltBrown sugar or raw/turbinado sugar (you can use plain sugar in a pinch)Here we go…Rinse off your tuna steaks and pat dry with paper towels.Let’s make the sauce.In a small pan over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of butter, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil.When the butter melts, add the shallots and the garlic.Cook about 2 minutes until the shallots are clear and the garlic is golden. Stir a few times.Add the 2 ounces of Cognac.
Stand back, Jack! Get a lighter, one with a long handle. Light the Cognac on fire. Be careful! The flames will shoot up!When the Cognac burns off, and the fire department has left…Add the red wine and the beef stock.Let it cook for 3 minutes while stirring.Add the oregano, stir.Add the tomato paste, stir for a minute or so.Remove from heat.The sauce is done, now let’s cook our tuna.Rinse the ahi tuna steaks and pat ‘em dry with paper towels.Add a little freshly cracked black pepper, a little kosher salt and a sprinkle of turbinado or brown sugar on top of each steak.Get a sauté pan; put it over medium-high heat.Add 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan.When the butter starts to brown, add the tuna, peppered/salted/sugared side down.Add a LITTLE SPRINKLE of fresh cracked black pepper, kosher salt, and turbinado sugar to the other side.Cook for 2 minutes, turn over with tongs. Swirl the butter and olive oil around in the bottom of the pan, so you’re not placing the ahi tuna in a dry pan.Cook for 2 minutes on the other side.Give it a slice, see if it’s done to your liking. If it is, dish it up. Keep in mind, the fish will keep cooking, even though you've taken it out of the pan. Err on the side of rare.Put some greens on a plate with a few grape tomatoes, place the tuna on top, drizzle just a little red wine sauce over each piece, and…
MANGIAMO!!!!
Slim Man Cooks Cippolini and Red Bell Pepper Sauce (for fish)
I saw a tour bus driving north on Route 29. I started following it.I had just come from the recording studio in Washington, DC. It was the early 1990s. I had written a song for a singer named Brian Jack. Brian was the former lead singer in a Baltimore band named Child’s Play. He had a great voice, big charisma, and I took him into the studio to do some songs I’d written. We hit it off.The two of us lived in a house on Sue Creek, in a town outside Baltimore called Essex. People in Baltimore made fun of Essex--probably because a lot of rednecks lived there. I liked Essex.The house we shared was incredible — 21 Woody Road. It was right on the water--kinda like a Redneck Riviera. We had windsurfers, Sea-Doos, all these great water toys. None of them were ours - people parked their things at our pier, and they’d let us use them in return.
The previous tenant had been hauled off to jail for insurance fraud. I remember the first time I met him. He was standing in the huge living room. It had cathedral ceilings, a big fireplace, and massive floor-to-ceiling glass doors that overlooked the deck, the pier and the river. I’ll never forget what the guy said,“I laid a lot of pipe in this house.”I thought maybe the guy was a plumber. Then it hit me — he wasn’t talking about shower stalls.Brian and I moved in soon after the guy was taken off to prison. I wrote songs for Brian, he sang ‘em. Things were starting to take off, he was getting airplay, and packing the clubs.Brian and I were heading home from the studio when we saw the tour bus and started following it. I had this intuitive feeling that we should tag along behind the bus. A couple minutes later, it pulled over to the side of the highway, onto the shoulder. I pulled right behind it. The driver got out of the bus, came over and asked me if I knew the way to Merriweather Post Pavilion.As a matter of fact, I did. I told him to follow me.I saw the Doors at Merriweather Post Pavilion on their first tour. I saw Led Zeppelin at Merriweather when they opened for the Who back in 1969 — the only time that ever happened. Procol Harum, Paul Simon, and Frank Sinatra; I’d seen them all there. I’d even played on that stage before. I knew where the backstage entrance was. The big-ass tour bus followed me in my little blue Honda station wagon.
We reached the security gate, and I told them what was going on, and they waved us through. They didn’t even ask any questions. I’m guessing they were well aware that whoever was on that tour bus was running late.The tour bus followed me on the small winding road through the woods to the backstage area. When we got there, the bus driver parked, got out, and thanked me a million times.And then guess who stepped off the bus?B.B. King. When I was a kid, my Mom had brought home an album of his called Indianola Mississippi Seeds. Man, did I love that record. I must have played it a million times. “Chains and Things”, “Nobody Loves Me But My Mother”, “Hummingbird” – which was written by Leon Russell—I loved those songs. Joe Walsh played guitar on that album, Carole King played some keyboards. It was one of my favorites.I loved B.B. King and here he was standing right in front of me.He thanked me. He asked me and Brian if we’d like to stay and see the show. Then he walked us to the side of the stage, and dropped us off, right behind the curtain. We waited in the wings. I looked out at the crowd. It was buzzing.A few moments later, B.B. King’s band took the stage and played one song. Then B.B. King came out, and played and sang his heart out. All night long. Brian and I watched the whole concert from the side of the stage, a couple yards away. It was an amazing show.After the show, B.B. King invited us back to his dressing room. He signed autographs for everybody waiting in line. He told stories. He was charming, laid-back and as gracious as could be.B.B. signed a photo for me.A crazy coincidence…The guy who signed me to Motown way back when was Carl Griffin. Carl had produced a CD for B.B. King called Live At The Apollo. It won a Grammy in 1992 for both B.B. and Carl. When I mentioned to B.B. King that night that Carl was one of my best friends, B.B. smiled and said,“Carl’s a good man.”Yes, he is!Want to hear the rest of the story about the Live at the Apollo CD?Ray Charles was scheduled to do the concert that night with B.B. King. But right before the show, Ray Charles demanded to be paid an additional 50 grand--in advance--to be included in the live recording. Nobody had that kind of cash lying around on short notice. So Carl decided to go ahead with the show. Ray Charles played, but was not included on the live CD.The CD went on to win a Grammy for Griff and B.B.And that’s the rest of the story.
Cippolini and Red Bell Pepper Sauce (for fish)After a night of singing the blues, this is a dish that will make you happy.The first time I made this sauce, I used maple syrup. Not pancake syrup, maple syrup! Big difference.My Dad lived on top of a mountain in upstate New York. Maple syrup was everywhere—you could see taps on maple trees with buckets underneath all over the place. Real maple syrup is real good.Getting to the grocery store at my Dad’s house was an ordeal. So if you ran out of something, you had to spend a good hour driving to and from town to get what you needed.One time I ran out of sugar for my coffee. I put in some maple syrup instead and loved it. It’s still my preferred coffee sweetener. Another time, I ran out of honey--I was going to use it in a sauce for grilled salmon. I used maple syrup instead—just a little—and loved it.I know some real good cooks who look down on this kind of thing. One of them suggested I try a medium sherry instead, and I did. I cooked the sauce both ways, with sherry and with maple syrup.I did a taste test at Slim’s Shady Trailer Park. Everybody loved the sauce with the maple syrup much better than the one with the sherry. But what the hell do those people know?If you want to substitute sherry for maple syrup, use a cream/sweet sherry.You can use this sauce over fish. I’ve used it over seared mahi and it turned out well. Mahi is a strong-tasting fish—so I used a little more sauce than I normally would. If you’d like to use a milder fish, you can use this sauce on seared or baked grouper, halibut, or salmon. Less is more—less sauce is mo’ better on mild fish.I used this sauce on baked salmon recently and it was magnifico. I used just a drizzle of sauce.This is powerful stuff!
Notes…Cippolini onions are small onions, a little sweeter and milder than regular onions. You can find them in most grocery stores. If you can’t, use shallots instead.Meyer lemons are my favorites; they’re sweeter and milder than regular lemons. I’m into sweet and mild these days, I guess. If you can’t find Meyer lemons, use a ripe, soft lemon.You can use red bell pepper, or a combination of red and yellow bell peppers. Whatever combination you use, you’ll only need a tablespoon or so.To sear a piece of fish...get a medium sauté pan. Put it over medium-high heat. Add a tablespoon of butter, and a tablespoon of olive oil. Salt and pepper your fish, then sprinkle a LITTLE brown sugar (or turbinado sugar, or regular sugar in a pinch) on top. Do both sides, but use just a little salt, pepper and sugar, got it?When the butter starts to bubble, sear for 2 or 3 minutes, depending on the thickness. Then flip over and sear the other side for a couple minutes.Thick fish take longer.To bake a piece of fish, heat your oven to 400 degrees. Rub your fish all over with a little olive oil, and then sprinkle a little salt and pepper on top. Put it in a glass or ceramic baking dish and bake for 10 minutes. Check it with a fork. If it flakes, it’s done. If it doesn’t put it back in the oven until it does. Then drizzle a little cippolini sauce on top.
INGREDIENTS2 tablespoons olive oil1 tablespoon butter2 tablespoons chopped cippolini onions1 tablespoon minced red bell pepper (or half and half red and yellow bell pepper)1 tablespoon maple syrup¼ cup dry white wine1 tablespoon lemon juice1 tablespoon chopped Italian flat leaf parsleyKosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper to tasteHere we go…Put the olive oil and butter in a small sauté pan over medium-high heat for 2 or 3 minutes—don’t let the butter burn!When the butter starts to bubble, add the onions and red bell peppers and cook for 2 minutes while stirring and swirling. This is how you swirl…remove the pan from the heat for about 10 seconds, and swirl everything all around. Put the pan back on the heat for 30 seconds and repeat.Add the maple syrup and cook for 2 minutes, swirl and stir.Add the wine and cook for 1 minute. Shall we swirl and stir?Add the lemon juice. Cook for 2 minutes.Add the parsley; add kosher salt and some fresh cracked black pepper to taste.That’s the sauce! You are now The Boss of the Sauce—use it over seared mahi, or baked salmon, or whatever fish you like. You’re the Boss.
MANGIAMO!!!
Slim Man Cooks Seared Scallops with Rosemary
After BootCamp broke up, I decided to circle the wagons. So I gathered up the mules and the Conestogas, and sat by the campfire, trying to figure out my next move. One night, after getting kicked in the head by one of the jackasses, I came to the realization that I needed to go back into the studio and start writing and recording again.So that’s what I did. Monday through Thursday, from 10 AM until 3 PM, I wrote songs. The studio was owned by Rick O’Rick, AKA Cowboy Pickles; it was right outside of Washington, DC.I’d leave Baltimore at 9 AM, drive an hour to the studio, write and record for five hours, then drive back.At night, I was singing in piano bars. I had decided to learn all my favorite songs, to find out what made them work. From Sinatra to Elvis to Motown, I studied and learned every hit song I ever loved. I would sing these songs and play piano at restaurants in and around Baltimore, Maryland. I also had a blues band — The Scrappy Harris Blues Band. We played every Wednesday night at a dive bar called The Horse You Came In On.That was my Life After BootCamp. I played piano bar. I played the blues. I wrote songs--all kinds of songs.I wrote a rock song and needed a singer for the demo. Someone had mentioned the name Brian Jack. I looked him up. He was in a band called Child’s Play. They had released an album on a major label, and had just broken up after being dropped. I reached out to Brian and asked him to sing one of my songs.I picked him up — he didn’t have a car – and drove him to the studio. He walked in, opened his mouth and sang that song like he’d sung it a hundred times. It was magic. Everyone who heard the song loved it, and loved his voice – he sounded like Bryan Adams meets Rod Stewart.I continued writing songs with Brian in mind. I’d write a song. I’d get everything done - all the guitars, keyboards, bass, backing vocals, horns, everything. I’d go pick up Brian, drive him to the studio, and he would sing, as I guided him along. It took us an hour a song – at most – to do the vocals.That’s the way it got started. We became the best of friends.
I wrote. I produced. Brian sang. He had an amazing voice.
After about a year, when I had 12 songs finished, I suggested we put out a CD. I borrowed some money to get the CDs made. Rick O’Rick and I took care of the studio bill. Brian did the artwork. He sent it off to the manufacturer. When we got the CDs back, I was pretty shocked when I read the back cover…All songs written by Brian Jack and Tim Camp.Dayuummm, son! Ain't that a kick in the head! Brian hadn’t written one word, hadn’t written one note of music. When I asked him why he listed himself as songwriter on the credits, he said,“I always wanted to be a songwriter.”I suggested that he might start by writing his own songs, not by putting his name on mine. There was no way I could afford to get the credits changed. Not on this batch of CDs. I figured I’d correct the songwriting credits if we re-ordered more.The CD took off like a rocket. We were getting airplay on the big rock station in Baltimore. Lots of airplay. Brian put together a band. He asked me to play keyboards. I didn’t want to. I had just finished the BootCamp saga, and I was in no hurry to play in a rock band again. But Jackson — that’s what I called him — insisted. I started playing keyboards in his live show.He was packing 1,000 seat clubs. Jackson put together an incredible show. At one club called Hammerjacks, he hung a rope from the ceiling, which was 20 feet high. He would swing from the stage up into the balcony, hold the railing, sing a few notes, and then swing back on stage.He was like Tarzan, bare-foot and bare-chested, swinging from the rafters, screaming at the top of his lungs. He was selling out wherever he went. He had a great voice, along with charm, looks, charisma and stage presence.And he had incredible hair, which is the most important thing in the music binniz.I started calling some folks I knew in the music business. I hooked Brian up with my attorney – who’s also my close friend – who hooked Brian up with a manager, Dee Anthony. Dee came out to a show. He loved it.Dee Anthony started off as a road manager for Tony Bennett. Dee went on to manage Peter Frampton, J. Geils, Devo, and Basia, among others. His daughter, Michelle, was a bigwig at SONY/Epic.Brian signed with Dee. Dee signed Brian to SONY/Epic. Frankie LaRocca was hired to produce — he had just come off a big hit with the Spin Doctors. The future looked mighty bright.When it came time for Brian to record his CD for Epic, I found out that none of my songs would be included. Dee was under the impression that Brian had co-written all of the songs we had recorded. Dee then set Brian up to write all new songs with other big-name writers. I was out. Like Tom Hagen in The Godfather, I was out.Epic rented the finest studios, hired big-name musicians. When they heard the first batch of new songs, they didn’t like them. Epic decided to abandon ship. After spending $40,000 they dropped Brian. He hadn’t even finished half the CD.I didn’t see Brian much after the Epic disaster. I went back into the studio by myself and started writing again. I wasn’t writing for anybody but me this time. I just wrote whatever came to mind. After a few months, I put all of these songs together and decided to do a CD of my own.
I needed a CD cover, so a friend arranged for a photographer to shoot some photos of my donkey face. I sat at the piano and he took pictures. After the photo shoot, I made dinner.As we were having dinner, I asked the photographer what kind of stuff he liked to photograph. He told me he was a forensic photographer for the police department.So…The guy who shot the front cover of the very first Slim Man CD took photos of dead bodies for a living. Come to think of it, the front cover for End of the Rainbow does look a little morose. But even that didn’t stop it from being one of the Top Ten Jazz CDs for the whole year.One door closes, another one opens.SEARED SCALLOPS
I have a great friend named Clubby Clubb who lives in Ocean City, Maryland – he was also good friends with Brian. Clubby Clubb has the most incredible wine store and deli a block from the beach. He lives a charmed life. He only works six months a year, April to September. The rest of the year?Mostly, he goes fishing. He plays with his kids.One day when I told him I wanted some fresh scallops, he told me about a bayside fish store where the boats bring everything in fresh each morning, to service the resort restaurants.I went there one morning and they had these incredible scallops. I love scallops and I created a way of searing them that is so quick, so simple and so delicious that you are going to send me a million dollars after you try these.Make all checks out to Mr. Man.Scallops are expensive—I’ve seen them as high as $36 a pound. I found them for $20 a pound recently, and bought a pound. There were 10 big scallops, which I seared. They were delizioso!One last note - make sure you buy dry scallops. This is very important. Your fish guy should know. Wet scallops are injected with chemicals and crap and are impossible to sear.Buy dry scallops, and gently rinse them. Then gently pat them dry with paper towels. Keep patting them dry until the paper towels are no longer damp. Even dry scallops retain a bit of water. Water ain’t good for the searing process! Capisce?And finally, if you don’t like prosciutto, just leave it out. You can still pierce the scallops with the rosemary—without the prosciutto.INGREDIENTS
10 dry sea scallops, about one pound10 slices of prosciutto, sliced thin, fat trimmed off10 thin rosemary sprigs, each at least 4 inches longA little brown sugar or turbinado sugar (you can use regular sugar in a pinch)Salt (I use kosher salt)Fresh cracked black pepper1 tablespoon butter1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oilHere we go...Rinse off the scallops and pat dry with paper towels. Remove the small side muscle from each scallop, and discard - the muscle, not the scallop! Place the scallops on a plate.Take a slice of prosciutto, and trim it so it’s about the same size as the scallop. Remove some of the fat if you like, and wrap it around the sides of the scallop. I wrap the prosciutto around once, and slice off the remaining prosciutto.Then, take a sprig of rosemary, about 4 inches long, and strip off about an inch of the leaves from the bottom of the sprig. Take the bottom end of the rosemary sprig, and pierce it through the side of the scallop, to hold the prosciutto in place.The end without the leaves should be poking out of one side of the scallop, and the other end – the top of the sprig – should be poking out of the other side of the scallop.Do this with all 10 scallops.Add a sprinkle of brown sugar, salt and pepper to the top of all 10 scallops.
Put a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. When the butter starts to bubble and turn brown, place the scallops in the pan, salted/peppered/sugared side down.Cook for 90 seconds, 2 minutes maximum. As they cook, add a LITTLE salt, pepper, and brown sugar on top of each scallop.Use some tongs to turn each scallop over. Before you set each scallop back in the pan, swirl the butter and olive oil around in the pan, so you’re not placing the scallop in a dry pan. Cook for 90 seconds, 2 minutes maximum on the other side.Remove the scallops with some tongs. Make sure the scallops are done. Cooking times can vary according to the heat of your stove and the thickness of the scallops.Dish it up! You can serve these over some wild greens, with some tomatoes on the side. Or eat them all by themselves.
MANGIAMO!!!!!!!
Seared Salmon with Ginger and Scallion Glaze
The first time I went to Nashville was when Ronnie Dunn was competing in the finals of the Marlboro Country Music Talent Contest. It was the late 80’s.We had discovered Ronnie in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at a place called Tulsa City Limits. He did his soundcheck before the show, and I knew he was going to win the whole competition. He did.And he did it in Nashville at a place called the Stockyard, a restaurant that specializes in…beef.I fell in love with Nashville. It’s still one of my favorite towns.When my friend Patrick Clifford moved there a couple years ago, I started going back. I got such a great vibe from the place. But I wasn’t ready to make a move from my hometown of Baltimore.My Dad was not doing well. He was living alone in upstate New York, and it was getting tough for him to deal with all the snow and freezing cold. The closest town was about a half-hour away. To get there you had to drive down dirt roads.Most old folks drive slow. My Dad drove like he’d just robbed a bank.A couple times, he slid off the road into snow banks. So it was time to make a move. He kept the house upstate, and moved to Annapolis, where he was much closer to the family.When he got settled in, I decided to drive to Nashville. I took Batu with me. We looked at a couple of places, and I found a place I really liked. It was dog-friendly. I signed a lease.I wasn’t really looking to make a move. And I don’t know why I pulled the trigger right then and there. But I did.I went back and told my Dad I was moving. He asked me when. I told him…two weeks. He was surprised, but happy for me. I was sad, but it wasn’t like I was moving to the Amazon. Nashville is 700 miles from Annapolis. If anything were to happen, I could be back in a day.So I packed up all my stuff. I don’t have a lot of stuff. I never really wanted to have a lot of stuff. I could put everything I own in a Hefty trash bag liner, sling it over my shoulder, and be gone.And that’s what I did. I grabbed Batu, put him on top of the stuff piled in my car, and I drove to Tennessee. My apartment in Nashville was in a place called the Gulch. The Gulch is Nashville trying to be Manhattan. They had a few high-rise, modern apartment buildings, and some cool little bars and cafes and restaurants, but it wasn’t real popular. Or populated.My building was called the Velocity. It was maybe half-full. It had covered parking, and it was very modern. The apartments were very small. Mine was 500 square feet or so. But I dug it.There were train tracks right behind the apartment. Not just one or two…a bunch of them. It never bothered me; I liked the sounds of trains going by.I had a balcony out front. I could see Music Row. And I could see that the Gulch was starting to build up. An organic grocery called The Turnip Truck was going up a block away. A clothing and music store called Two Old Hippies was being built. More high-rises were being built all around.Nashville was growing up in a hurry.My amigo Patrick was taking me around town, introducing me to some wonderful people. Robert Ellis Orrall and I became friends. He’s an amazing guy. He set up the showcase at the Bluebird that launched Taylor Swift into the stratosphere. He co-wrote a lot of songs with her.
Robert also has a very cool record company called Infinity Cat. It’s a pop/punk/alternative label. His sons, Jeff The Brotherhood, were on Infinity Cat. They just got signed to Warner Brothers. Infinity Cat has a band called Diarrhea Planet that is about to blow up—they just got a rave review in Rolling Stone.Patrick also introduced me to Angelo Petraglia. Angelo produces Kings of Leon. He gave them their signature sound. Angelo has a band called The Jane Shermans that are one of my favorites. His
wife sings lead and plays bass. They sound like The Pretenders meets Missing Persons meets U2. I saw them at The Basement.The Basement is a showcase club that holds maybe 50 people. It's in the basement of a record store called Grimey's. That's right, a record store. They used to have them all over the USA. Now there are only a few left. Grimey's is one of them. And the club downstairs is one of the coolest around.
And one of the coolest bands I've seen at the Basement is St. Paul and the Broken Bones. They are amazing. The lead singer looks like Drew Carey, and sings like Wilson Pickett.
Patrick looked at me the first time we saw them and said…“Star Time!”
I told everyone who would listen to watch out for St. Paul and the Broken Bones. Last week they were on CBS TV.Nashville is cool. It didn’t used to be cool, but now it’s on fire. GQ calls it “The hippest town in America.” The New York Times calls it “The It City.” I’ve seen more beards and skinny jeans there than Brooklyn.
Artists, bands, songwriters are flocking to the place. Record labels, music biz people, are moving there in droves. The Black Keys, Jack White, Sheryl Crow and tons of other acts now call Nashville home.There is more construction going on in Nashville than I’ve ever seen in one city. Houses, apartments, malls, restaurants, cafes, clubs, office buildings…the town is blowing up.The TV show ‘Nashville’ is bringing a lot of attention to the town. I’ve done some acting on that show. It’s pretty cool--since they had me on it!The only thing missing in Nashville is a cool jazz club, a place where a guy like Slim Man could play.Or cook. Or clean...Seared SalmonI had a hot date. It was a hot day in Nashville. I had tickets to the Sade concert that night at the Bridgestone arena. Patrick got me tickets at the last second. He's a well-connected man.So I had this idea to do a little seared salmon with a glaze. I went out to the store, bought what I needed for the glaze, went to the really expensive organic grocer to get the really wild Coho salmon, and I went back to the Slim Shack to put it all together.I was going to do a glaze with soy sauce, scallions and ginger, similar to my Salmon Ella recipe. I put together some soy sauce, some grated ginger, some scallion, some garlic, and some hot sauce...and it sucked. It was salty, so I added a little honey. It didn’t taste right. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get it right.Hot Date was coming over in 20 minutes, but I didn’t panic. I threw the soy sauce glaze in the disposal, and started all over. Tried it again with some olive oil and balsamic vinegar instead of soy sauce. And I nailed it.I put the salmon over some organic mixed greens, and took an heirloom tomato and sliced it into small wedges, and placed them around the edges of the plate. It looked great. It tasted scrump-didlly-umptious.Oh, and Sade? It was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. I’ve seen Hendrix twice. Saw the Doors on the first tour, and their last tour. Saw U2 at the Ritz in NYC on their first tour. The Police on their first tour. I saw The Stones (The Rolling Stones, not the Flintstones) in 1972 when Stevie Wonder opened up. Earth, WInd and Fire, Gladys Knight, The Spinners...I've seen so many great shows.And Sade’s show--August 1, 2011--in Nashville was one of the best I’ve ever seen. The staging, the production. the pacing, the musicianship, the lights, her voice, the songs...just excellent. And Sade was born the same day as a guy named Slim Man. January 16, 1914.
IngredientsThe Salmon:2 pieces of salmon, about 1/3 pound each, filets, skinless, about an inch thickkosher salt (just a sprinkle)brown sugar or turbinado sugar (just a sprinkle)1 tablespoon of butter1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oilThe Glaze:3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar1 tablespoon chopped scallions (use the middle green part)1 teaspoon grated ginger1/2 teaspoon minced garlicThe SaladOrganic mixed greensOne heirloom tomato, sliced into small wedgesHere we go...Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Rinse off the salmon and pat dry with paper towels.Put all of the glaze ingredients in a jar, and shake it up. Set aside.Sprinkle a little kosher salt, and a little brown sugar (just a little!) on one side of the salmon.Get a small fry pan, put it on medium-high heat. Add the butter and the olive oil, and when it starts smoking, add the salmon, sprinkled side down, and cook for 1 MINUTE AND THIRTY SECONDS!While it’s cooking, sprinkle the un-sprinkled side with a little kosher salt and a little brown sugar. Turn the salmon over, and cook for 1 MINUTE AND THIRTY SECONDS!Remove from the heat. Get a baking dish, put just enough olive oil in the bottom to keep the salmon from sticking, and place the salmon in the dish. Pour half the glaze over one piece of the salmon, and the other half of the glaze over the other piece of salmon.Put the salmon in the oven and cook for five minutes. Don’t overcook.Put some greens on a plate. Place the tomato wedges around the edges. Put the salmon on top of the greens, pour a little marinade from the baking dish onto the salmon, and a little onto the greens, and…
MANGIAMO!!!!!!!