Baked Salmon with breadcrumb crust

Salmon is a delicious versatile fish. Raw or cooked, it'll forever be one of my go-to items on the menu. I used think salmon is fancy, and choose salmon dishes when eating out. Also you know, when you get to choose between chicken or salmon, I always thought ooh absolutely salmon. It's only until after a while I realized a lot of times, the salmon in restaurants are.. just ok. The salmon I make however, is absolutely da bomb.

Salmon is nutritious, it has lots of vitamin B6, B12, Niacin, Thiamine and Selenium. It's full of good fatty acids, so skip the multi-vitamin today and have a slice of salmon.

Salmon fillets are my favorite to cook. If you read my whole fish recipes... that doesn't apply here. Whole salmon is first of all.. HUGE! If you ever come across a whole salmon make sure you check out the size of these guys, and also look at its teeth! These babies are predators. I don't typically go for the salmon steaks either. I don't like the way it's cut with all the spine and bones and a bit too much skin. The fillet on the other hand, is a much better piece. It's pretty much boneless and easy to portion, easy to clean up, easy to descale, easy to eat. 

What you need:

- 2 pieces of salmon fillet cuts, about 250-300g each (depends on how hungry you are really)

- seasoned bread crumbs

- grainy Dijon mustard

- garlic shake, salt and pepper to taste

- a tsp of olive oil

Recipe:

- De-scale, and/or de-skin the salmon. Wash your salmon pieces, pat dry with paper towel.

- Oil the bake ware so it doesn't stick- in my case my 8 x 8 glass bake tin. Put the salmon pieces directly on it. 

- Drizzle the olive oil on top of the salmon, shake the dried garlic, salt and pepper on top. 

- Spread a thin layer of grainy Dijon mustard on the salmon top. I used other type of mustard in the past but this is by far the bestest and most flavorful mustard. Every bite will have some of the sweet mustard seeds for texture too!

- Now sprinkle a generous layer of breadcrumbs on top... prep is done!

- 450F, 15-20 min. Serve hot.

I served mine today with a fast and easy Greek salad. I love the contrast in colors and flavors. Also the vegetables are crisp and tangy, just what you need to compliment this fatty and creamy fish. I also made some of my Mediterranean olive and blue cheese buns - let's have a piece of that too. You can obviously serve with potatoes, roasted vegetables, rice, or anything else that tickles your fancy.

Note:

- I tend to descale the thing only. The skin is full of fatty acids and I'll eat the thing. If you don't like the skin, just get rid of it. Grocery stores often times can do that for you if you just ask.

- If you look at your salmon you'll see it's always thicker on one side and thins out on the other. The thicker end is closer to the spine and thins out at the belly. To achieve even cooking, just reverse the second piece on the bake ware so the salmons are opposite of each other in terms of thickness. Also pro-tip: season the thicker end with more salt and more mustard. This way when you cut the salmon with your fork as you eat the thing it won't be bland. 

- If you didn't have Italian flavored breadcrumbs. Regular bread crumbs are fine. Add: salt, pepper, oregano, thyme, rosemary, dried garlic and dried onion 

- Do not, I repeat, DO NOT over-cook your salmon. You are going for the barely flaking off with a fork kind of consistency. I even under cook it a bit just let the residual heat do the rest of the work. You know salmon can be eaten raw - hello sashimi! So don't worry about it being slightly under. Over cooked salmon is a sad mess, it's tough, dry, and pointless to eat. It's like the event hall salmon that sat under the heater for just a tad too long. Don't be that guy, don't ruin the gorgeous piece of fish.