Smoked Salmon Salad with Sorrel Dressing and Missing Home

I miss trees. Of course we have trees here in California. Funny little trees that look like broccoli against the parched hills of summertime, trees that make me laugh. But, I miss tall formidable fir trees that smell fresh and make me feel so small. I want to be watched over by snowcapped mountains, to be enveloped by salty air while watch ferries gliding across the water. In short, it has been more than a year since I was in Seattle and I want to go home, but my trip was canceled and I am feeling a little bummed about it.

When I am missing home there are a few things that help; first there is my wallpaper of the Olympic Mountains as seen from the balcony of my old apartment. No luck. I see it every day and  need something a little more powerful. I could make myself a cup of Market Spice Tea, if I wasn’t out. Third, I could try to pick up a bottle of Washington wine, but this is Sonoma County, you can’t find good Washington wine anywhere. My fourth option is one I am thankful for, because it is not an option that has always been readily available to me; hot smoked salmon.

Most areas of the country and world for that matter think of nova lox when they think of smoked salmon, ask a Northwesterner and you will get a different answer. I like lox, but I grew up on salmon smoked over a fire in the traditional way practiced by Costal nations from the Chinook to the Makah*. In school we took field trips to salmon hatcheries and fish ladders. I could name every type of salmon swimming through the waterways of Washington State when I was 8 years old. So, where I can easily pass on lox, I hone in on a plate of hot smoked salmon like a hunger crazed mosquito to well, me.

When we lived in the Hamptons I could never find hot smoked salmon and after having a steady supply for 25 years, it was a bit of a shock. But, since there were many things I could not find there, such as pho, eventually I became more industrious and like any food lover ended up making it myself. My neighbor Rob was my smoked salmon guru and even supplied me with an entire Copper River salmon (from Alaska) that I used for my first attempt. I loved tending a fire on a dreary day and the result was not only phenomenal, but made me feel a little closer to home.

Here in California I am not as lucky and it would seem that smoking salmon on my little balcony is frowned upon by the landlord. Go figure. But, thankfully I can find hot smoked salmon almost as readily as I could at home. For a while we would drive up the coast to buy it from an old hippie selling it out of a homemade trailer on the side of Highway 1. It was not exactly consistent and half the time it was amazing while the other half was like eating a vaguely fishy salt lick. So the other day when I saw SeaBear smoked salmon for sale I jumped. While it may not exactly be local, SeaBear is a producer of quality sustainable smoked salmon and is just what the doctor ordered. Normally I would tear into the smoked fillet like a starving Kodiak, but I decided to be a little more civilized than that and put it into a lovely salad that reminds me of the beautiful dishes of Washington.

Before I go on I should mention that while certain dishes are Northwestern in feel, our cuisine is very ingredient driven. We don’t have many traditional recipes like they do in the South and Northeast which leads many to mistakenly believe that food is an afterthought to Washingtonians and that couldn’t be further from the truth. Our cuisine generally starts in the oyster beds or berry thickets with inspiration and creativity taking the lead from there. The food is gorgeous and we tend eat it simply dressed so as not to lose what makes it so utterly beautiful.

All right, enough on that, back to my salad. While not everything in here is traditionally Washingtonian there are a few things I used to remind me of home. I paired the salmon first with raspberries, the natural sweet tart flavor of a raspberry is as natural a pair to salmon as a lemon. Berries grow beautifully in Washington and are often found in salads as well as other savory applications. Greens grow extremely well in Washington and I chose the lambs ear over a traditional lettuce for two reasons, I love the body and crunch. Another ingredient that thrives in the rich soil of Washington is the shallot. In this recipe the robust flavor of a shallot is tempered by frying it into crispy little pieces to garnish the top of this lovely salad. Finally I used another Northwest mainstay, sorrel, to give my dressing a piquant citrus element  that works so well with all of my ingredients. The salad is crunchy and full of different flavors and perfect for a summer evening whether you are looking out at Puget Sound and the Olympics or the hills of Sonoma County. I would serve this salad with a cool, crisp white wine (preferably from Washington) such as a dry riesling with a lot of minerality or a citrusy peach heavy sauvignon blanc.

Smoked Salmon Salad

4-6 ounces Hot Smoked Salmon, flaked (I used King)

4 cups Lambs Ear (mache), rinsed and dried

2 cups Pea Shoots rinsed and dried

1-2 Small Zucchini, cut into relatively thin sticks

1 1/2 cups Raspberries

1 Golden Beet, roasted, chilled and diced

1 recipe Crunchy Shallots

Prepare your ingredients. Separately, toss the lambs ear, pea shoots, beets and zucchini in the dressing and arrange on the platter. Add the salmon, raspberries and crunchy shallots.

Note: If you wanted to make this salad a bit heartier, I suggest slicing up some rounds of cold chevre, rolling them in chopped hazelnuts and toasting them in the oven. They make a lovely addition.

Crunchy Shallots

1-2 Shallots, sliced thin

1 Egg

1/4 Flour

Sea Salt, to taste

Freshly Ground Pepper, to taste

Canola Oil

Add the egg to a smallish bowl and beat with a fork. Combine the flour, sea salt and pepper in another bowl. Add the sliced shallot to the egg, tossing to coat and then transferring to the flour mixture, coating well.

Heat the oil to 375F and add the shallots and fry until brown, just a few minutes. Remove and drain on a towel before topping the salad.

Dijon Sorrel Dressing

1/4 cup TBS Olive Oil

3 TBS cup Rice Wine Vinegar

1 1/2 TBS Dijon (try Maille, it is very creamy and perfect for this)

A Good Handful Fresh Sorrel Leaves

Sea Salt, to taste (maybe go a little light since there will be plenty of salt from the salmon)

Freshly Ground Pepper, to taste

Add your ingredients to a blender and puree until well combined.

*Makah means generous with food, how cool is that?