salmon

This simple potato salad is delicious with either smoked salmon or salt cured salmon

My New Year’s decision regarding food is to eat more fresh fish. Although it’s harder to find then meat it’s worth while going the extra mile to buy good fresh fish, preferably not farmed. For this recipe I chose fresh salmon that I seasoned with Red Peppercorns,

I got hooked on hot-smoked salmon while living in England where my corner fishmonger sold me some of his personally recommended local stuff. I had to limit myself to buying this only once a week. It was sweet and salty, firm and creamy all at the same time.

Start an elegant menu with a tray of cherry tomatoes, cucumber slices, assorted olives and those toasts as hors d’oeuvres or accompany them with a Greek style salad as a first course. Pour a California Chardonnay and your party will get the perfect beginning.

This may be a simple recipe, but the flavors unite in an elegant and complex way. It's perfect for one because you can have it on the table in less than 10 minutes with almost no mess.

I've been on a Bill Granger kick recently. His fresh, Asian-influenced recipes are perfect for the warmer weather that's coming our way. This recipe has been adapted from one of his, but with the method simplified a bit and the flavor boosted by the addition of ginger, cilantro, scallions and chili.

In a former life, I owned a fish market. In addition to selling fresh fish, we offered prepared foods to take home - a radical concept at the time - and this dish was prepackaged with instructions. It's a rich, bright dinner party meal that whips up in less than 10 minutes and never fails to impress. Best with the first sorrel of the season. Sorrel is one of the easiest herbs to grow (note: invasively so) but this sauce guarantees it a home in my garden.

This is now my go-to method to cook salmon in the winter and spring, when the weather doesn’t always allow us to get to our grill. There are many reasons I love it. First, it is a great method to cook whole salmon if you want to scale up for lots of guests.

Roasting kale is one of my favorite ways to enjoy this hearty winter green. The edges become nice and crispy, which is the perfect contrast to the melt in your mouth sweet potatoes. This dish is a great balance of sweet and spicy and has quickly become one of my favorite meals to serve when I have guests over. If you're not into salmon, try topping the greens with a fried egg! It's simple and delicious and makes for some great leftovers (if there is any)!

Few things – except the Swedish chef from The Muppets Show and the smörgåsbord, of which this dish is an indispensible part – are so associated with Sweden and Swedish cooking as gravlax. It’s enjoyed in many ways, but the favourites are either as a standalone dish, with lemon wedges and a warm side, or in very thin slices as part of a festive buffet.