Blackened Salmon With Mashed Potatoes

I originally posted this on June 6, 2010 in YadaYadaYada.

I’m in a culinary mode this weekend :) *claps*

For lunch today, I prepared another easy to make dish which is gourmet-ish in style but very doable at home.

I call it:

*BLACKENED SALMON WITH MASHED POTATOES”

Preparing the Mashed Potatoes:

Because it was getting late for lunch and I didn’t have time to prepare the mashed potatoes the usual way, I grabbed a pouch of Idahoan instant mashed potatoes. It’s very easy to prepare:

  1. Heat up 2 1/4 cups of water and about 5 tbsps. of butter. Bring it to a boil. When it boils, take it out of the heat.
  2. Add 3/4 cup of milk. Pour in the contents of the pouch.
  3. Mix well. Add more milk if you want it creamy. Add more butter if you want it to be a little more tasty.

Because I was gonna prepare a dish that’s heavy on the spices, I preferred mine to be creamy so I just added milk.

For the blackened salmon, there’s practically just three things you need:

  1. Salmon
  2. Olive oil/butter
  3. Blackening rub

You’ll see different recipes for the rub out there. Mine is a my very own version of the rub because I toned down the spiciness a bit and I added more on the other flavors. So here’s my recipe:

Preparing the Blackening Rub:

  • 2 tsps. Paprika (you can get the Spanish one but I got the Sweet one to balance the saltiness and spiciness of the mix)
  • 4 tsps. Italian Seasoning (you can replace this with 4 tsps. of Thyme and 3/4 tsp. of Cumin if you don’t have Italian seasoning)
  • 2 tsps. Onion powder
  • 2 tsps. Garlic powder
  • 1 tbsp. granulated sugar (it’s tbsp. not tsp., take note. it’s the only thing here that is measured by tbsp)
  • 2 tsps. salt
  • 2 tsps. black ground pepper
  • 1 tsp. Cayenne powder (adjust it according to your taste; 1 tsp. is ideal for me)
  • 1 tsp. dried leaf Oregano
  • 1/2 tsp. ground Nutmeg

You can prepare this ahead of time. You can actually make more rub but just observe the proportions. What I usually do is I make heaps and store them in a jar so I would just grab it when I need it for my fish, chicken or steak.

Preparing the Blackened Salmon:

  1. Grab a slice of salmon and dip it in melted butter. If you don’t like butter, you can use olive oil instead. I used butter in my case.
  2. When it’s wet on both sides, put the blackening rub on each side.
  3. Put it on a non-stick grill pan that’s preheated for at least 5 minutes.
  4. Cook the salmon and flip to the other side. Do not overcook.

I dropped in 2 tbsps. of the mashed potatoes in the center of a plate. I placed a salmon slice on top. I cooked the asparagus in the same grill pan I cooked the salmon in. After that, I put the asparagus on the side as a garnish and poured over the remaining juices on the salmon.

We didn’t have any good wine in stock at home. I just prepared iced tea with calamansi. It’s very refreshing :)

For dessert, I served the key lime cheesecake bars I made last night.

Aah, it was a heavenly lunch!

*BTW, I accept orders for this dish in case you want it for your parties :)

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