A Portmanteau Meal
Often when a portmanteau word becomes fully entrenched in the lexicon of a language, people no longer remember its constituent parts, such as smog being a combination of the words smoke and fog. It seems to me, though, that brunch is more evidently from a melding of breakfast and lunch. But for last week’s Berkshire Eagle column, I created a different fusion, taking iconic ingredients from the brunch menu and used them to create something for dinner.
BRUNCH + DINNER = BRUNNER?
by Elizabeth Baer
To make a short story long…
Do I need another kitchen gadget? No. Do I need another kitchen appliance? Really, no. Do I need another kitchen appliance that needs to stay plugged somewhere, so I need to make room on the counter? Absolutely no! Nevertheless, I recently purchased a “Sourdough Sidekick,” developed by King Arthur Flour and FirstBuild, in the hope that it will mean I no longer have to throw away some sourdough starter in order to feed it.
Although I’ve been baking bread with sourdough starter for years, I openly admit that I make cheater’s sourdough because I usually use unfed starter, which means I then need to add some commercial yeast. This is primarily because I hate to waste even a drop by throwing away some sourdough starter in order to feed the remaining portion in the bottom of the crock. Occasionally, though, I will decide to make a recipe that specifically uses sourdough discard so that I will have happy, bubbly starter for my next bread endeavor.
One favorite in our family that uses sourdough discard is crackers. Over the years I’ve made them in any number of different flavors, and when we first met my son’s girlfriend, I learned that she loves “everything bagel” flavor.
Not only did I begin making everything bagel crackers, but I also started trying to come up with other recipes that would work well with everything bagel seasoning mix. One successful idea resulted in a dish that drew from the brunch favorite of bagels and lox, but for dinner!
[Side note on sourdough discard: On the King Arthur podcast, Things Bakers Know, in the episode on sourdough, the hosts noted that “discard” is an awful choice of words, since there are so many good recipes one can make with unfed starter. There is even a collection on the King Arthur website for sourdough discard recipes.]
EVERYTHING BAGEL SALMON
Serves 2; if doubling the recipe one egg will suffice, but use two pieces of salmon which will be less cumbersome than using one big one
INGREDIENTS:
¾ pound salmon fillet
1 egg
2 tablespoons panko crumbs (gluten-free will work fine)
1 tablespoon everything bagel topping
¼ cup sour cream
2 tablespoons milk, plus more if needed
1 tablespoon capers, drained
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 400°F and place parchment in the bottom of a pan big enough to hold the salmon. (This helps with clean-up as the skin will stick to the pan otherwise.)
In a shallow bowl or small pan, beat the egg, and on a plate (or in another shallow bowl or small pan) combine the panko crumbs and the everything bagel seasoning.
Dip the flesh side and the ends of the salmon filet into the egg, and then into the panko mixture. Place the salmon skin side down on the parchment. Use a spoon or your fingers to press any crumbs remaining on the plate onto the salmon.
Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes.
While the fish is cooking, whisk together the sour cream and the milk. It should thin out to be a thick sauce, pourable, but not runny. Add more milk if needed to achieve desired consistency. Mix in the capers.
When the salmon is done it should feel firm in the center. Remove from the oven and serve with the sauce poured over the top or on the side.