Date Night at Home

Every girl loves date night. And I’m not an exception to the rule, however my husband travels for work and he’s on the road or in an airplane for many hours in the week, so I decided we would have a date night at home. I found this beautiful piece of salmon at Costco (my favorite store) the other day and decided it was a perfect romantic date night staple. To go along with the salmon, I decided on smashed red potatoes, fresh green beans, baby bella mushrooms and garlic bread.

The only seasoning I use for salmon is sea salt and cracked black pepper. You don’t want to over power the wonderful flavor the fish has to offer with lots of different seasonings. You will need to get your side items cooking and almost cooked before you start cooking the salmon. It takes very little time to cook. I chose to do fresh green bean for this particular meal. They weren’t the best pick of beans I’ve ever had, but given the time of year and the fact they would be seasoned well and basically cooked to death I knew I could make them taste good.

No southern green vegetable is prepared without some sort of pork! I like bacon in my green beans and lots of it! Don’t judge. I often say to my friends, don’t expect to come to my house for dinner and get a light meal! I cut my bacon into pieces with my kitchen scissors, that way you also get a bite of bacon with the beans. Cook it down a bit and then add the beans. I like to stir the beans around in the pot with the bacon grease before I add the water. That helps to give them that smokey bacon taste. I let them cook a bit and then I add the water and salt. Adding the right amount of salt can be a bit tricky, so err on the side of light in the beginning and you can always add more after they have cooked for a while. And if I may offer a bit of advice right here, season your food! It gives it flavor. No one likes bland food.

I love red potatoes, well actually I love any potatoes, but red potatoes are my favorite. Mostly because they are the one potato where it’s politically correct to leave the peels on. I call them smashed because I boil them first until they are fork tender and then transfer them to a baking pan to get ready to smash them.

Some people use a potato masher for this part, but I find that to be very messy so I use the bottom of a glass. Now here’s where you make these babies yummy. I like to say they are like twice baked potatoes but much less work. After I have smashed them, I brush them with olive oil and apply a small pat of butter to each one. I then salt and pepper them (I like Kosher salt for these). Salt them well. I then add mild cheddar cheese. You can use sharp if you like, but I prefer mild and then finish them off with real baking bits. Cook them on about 425 degrees until the cheese is melted. When they are finished cooking you can add some chives and sour cream if you like. My family doesn’t do the chives and we didn’t have sour cream this particular night. Here’s what they start to look like as you’re preparing them for the oven.

So now that I have the beans cooking and the potatoes cooking, I need to start the salmon. I like to cook mine in olive oil and it doesn’t take a lot, basically just cover the bottom of the pan. And cook it on medium heat, that way it won’t cook too fast and you won’t over cook it.

I can’t stress enough, not to over cook it. Cook them just until the bottom turns a light brown color and then flip them over and cook the other side the same. I typically take them out at that point, because I put together a concoction to let them simmer in a bit before I plate them. Once I remove the fish I add a stick of butter to the pan, some fresh garlic, some capers and white wine. I just used some wine I had opened, but if you don’t have any on hand you can also use a white wine vinegar. I also add a little salt and pepper for additional taste and just let it simmer until it reduces a bit. I then add the salmon let it simmer and one side and then flip it over and let it simmer a bit more. You cannot believe the flavor this gives the fish. In fact my husband said last night, he thought it was the best he’s ever had! Score! After it’s simmered a bit, maybe 3-5 minutes I plate it and spoon some of that yummy goodness over the fish. Oh my! My family loves mushrooms and we especially love the baby bellas. I decided they would be a nice touch to this meal. All I did to cook them was just throw them in to the yummy sauce I made for the fish. Look at how wonderful they look!

While these were cooking the garlic bread went in, the potatoes were finishing up and the beans were done! We could hardly wait until this wonderful food hit our tummies. I poured the wine, pulled out the bread and potatoes and here is the finished product!

So date night at home was a success! Good food and better yet great company. Give it a try! This meal was super easy and even with the prep work it was done in about an hour. Until next time!
Sandi