Rolling In Cashews

It was one of those days where it took me forever to get out of bed but once I was out of bed I was on a roll. I was highly excited today because I went to see about wedding invitations. I went to this astonishing little print shop in Forest Hills that made some amazingly beautiful invitations and it just got me excited all over again. She was so personable and friendly it made me want to squish her, that’s one heck of a business woman. Although the overall price seemed a bit pricey she really did give me a great deal and I think she won my heart over. I can’t wait to get these things printed.

And since my head was all taken over with this exciting moment in my day, I totally forgot about dinner. Well I knew I had to make dinner but I forgot to thaw some meat or chicken to cook. Luckily, I have a fish market down the block so I walked over there and picked up some salmon. I was inspired to do this fish when watching Paula Deen’s best dishes show. I love that woman. She made this interesting Pistachio crusted salmon with a lemon cream sauce. I of course can’t follow directions so I added some twists and turns and came up with this dish. I would have done pistachios but they didn’t sell them without the shells in the supermarket, so I went for some cashews instead. As for the lemon cream sauce… I had some mascarpone cheese in my fridge for a while now and really needed to use it. Mind you I never even tasted mascarpone cheese but I heard it was good and bought it a few weeks ago not really knowing what I’d do with it. If you don’t have mascarpone or don’t want to shell out for it you could also use some Philly Cream Cheese that comes in a block, it seems to have the same texture like mascarpone.

As for the side dish I just thought, hmmm, what goes good with cream—well corn does… and so doesn’t mushrooms, so I went for it. I had some left over crushed cashews and figured I might as well throw them in the pan as well. It came out so good! This is a really quick dish so you want to cook right before it’s time to eat. You can even make these into little servings (for 8) and serve it as a starting appetizer. It really hits a lot of taste buds. It’s not overly lemony and it’s not very fishy. The fish is light and fluffy and the crunch of the garlic and cashews really give it a great twist! I hope you give this little meal a chance because it’s the first time I ever made it and we both really enjoyed it!

*For the chopped cashews, you can either put into a food processor or the mini chopper and chop it that way or put it into 2 Ziploc bags and beat it with a rolling pin till they are broken down well.
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Cashew Crusted Salmon with Mascarpone Lemon Sauce and A Corn and Mushroom Side Dish

Serves: 4
Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 20 Minutes
Ingredients:
1 lb. of Salmon Filet, cut into 4 pieces (palm sized)
1 cup of Cashews, finely chopped (2/3 for Salmon and 1/3 for Corn and Mushrooms)
Peanut Oil (about ½ cup)
6 cloves of garlic, chopped (4 for salmon, 2 for corn and mushrooms)
Salt and Pepper for seasoning
1 tablespoon of butter (unsalted)
1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour
½ cup of chicken broth
4 oz. of Mascarpone cheese
¼ cup of heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of pepper
The zest of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 pack of frozen corn (about 1 ½ cups)
1 pack of white mushrooms (remove caps and cut into 4, about 14 mushrooms)

Directions:
This is a 3-part meal. Part one is the salmon: Wash the salmon and pat dry with a paper towel. Season lightly with salt and black pepper on both sides. Drizzle oil on both sides and rub in well. Drench the salmon in the cashews, covering the salmon. The salmon won’t be totally covered because it’s hard to do that, but it should be pretty well covered. Heat the frying pan with about ¼ cup oil (make sure the pan is covered with oil and has a little height to it, but not too much. You are not trying to deep fry the fish). Once the oil is nice and hot, add the 4 chopped cloves of garlic. As they are frying mush the garlic against the pan allowing the garlic juices to expose. Once they are lightly browned (you do not want to burnt he garlic) add the salmon skin down. Fry for about 3-4 minutes on each side. If you can fry the sides do that as well. Do not over cook the fish. Once you see the outside of the fish all change to a cooked salmon color, give it 1 more minute and remove from heat.

Part 2: Mascarpone Lemon sauce. In a small sauce pan. Melt the 1 tablespoon of butter, don’t let it brown. As soon as you see the tiny little piece melt add the flour and stir constantly. Once that is fully incorporated add the chicken broth and whipping cream. Stir till fully incorporated, about 2 minutes. Add the 4 oz. of mascarpone cheese and stir thoroughly till incorporated. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice and salt and pepper. Wisk together constantly. Put it on a very low heat and allot it to get to a simmer. Once it is done (it should all take about 6-8 minutes) Pour a nice spoon full over the salmon to serve.

Part 3: Corn and Mushrooms: In a small frying pan heat a few tablespoons of peanut oil. Once the oil is hot add the 2 chopped cloves of garlic. Let it slightly brown. Add the mushrooms and stir constantly allowing all sides to cook about 2 minutes. Add the frozen corn and a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of black pepper and stir well. Constantly stir so nothing over cooks or gets too watery. Once the corn is full cooked (defrosted) add the 1/3 cup of chopped cashew nuts and stir about 2 minutes. Cover the pot and turn off the flame. Serve this side by side with your Salmon and Mascarpone sauce. I even like to pour the sauce over this side dish as well. It’s so yummy!