My friend made this last week at a dinner party and it was amazing. I’m tasked with making dinner for a (different) friend tomorrow who’s vegetarian and carb-free atm and so I immediately thought of this and got the recipe.
First question, I guess “under the grill” means broiler, or at least that intense heat that comes from the top. Which my oven doesn’t have. I have a gas oven with just bottom heat. What adjustments should I make?
and second: what can I substitute for the pancetta to make it vegetarian? Doesn’t have to mimic it or anything. I was thinking maybe chanterelles because they’re kinda meaty and peppery. Thoughts?
Well, technically my guest is a pescatarian. And my oven does have a bottom drawer but it’s not a broiler, just storage. No idea why, it certainly would’ve been easy enough to make it so, since the gas is already down there. But I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a bottom drawer broiler in Germany.
for something like this, a very hot oven should do well instead of the broiler. Just put it up to 300 and you will be ok. Maybe not as brown on top but still good.
I would skip the pancetta as there are already so many strong flavors; you’ll never miss it.
Are you sure? Take the stuff out of the bottom drawer, and turn on the oven. Do you see flames at the top when you look in the bottom drawer? Then that’s your broiler.
This thread is the first time I’ve ever heard of the drawer being for anything but storage. But then, every single oven I’ve had access to included a top grill.
I grew up with gas appliances, and the broiler was always in a drawer at the bottom of the oven. Since 2003 I’ve only had electricity for cooking, and the drawer is for storage. It was the first time I’d seen such a thing. The broiling element is at the top of the oven.
Huh. All the ovens (all gas) I’ve ever owned, except perhaps for one in the 80s that my parents had, had storage on the bottom and the broiler element on top. I didn’t even know they still made ovens with broiler drawers. At any rate, the ovens I had in Hungary (all pretty old) had no broiler component to them at all, so a broiler is hardly universal.
Anyhow, lacking a broiler, I would probably just proceed with the recipe as listed (in the oven set to highest heat) or sear the salmon skin-side down in a hot pan over medium-high heat until the skin starts to crisp and finish in the oven with the rest of the veggies (and I probably would give the veggies a head start)
Or: Do the above, and then impress your friend by your Secret Process (Pro Step, Magic, whatever) and brown the top with the same blowtorch you use to char your peppers, caramelize you sugar, etc. Make a show of it.
My advice for the broiler issue is to get a cast iron pan screaming hot, and start the salmon on that (flesh side down). Then, flip over the salmon (to skin side down) and finish it in the oven.
Since this recipe also calls for grilling the veggies at the same time, you might want to start them in a separate pan and then add them to the cast iron pan when you put it in the oven.
Consider using anchovy paste instead of the pancetta. It’s not the same flavor exactly, but it does add that background of cured salty umami flavor. One of my favorite salmon recipes creates a sauce in the pan drippings, adding white wine, anchovy paste, capers, parsley and - after you take it off the heat - butter. (As much butter as you want; the original recipe I based this one was a beurre blanc which calls for a whole stick of butter. I go for a much lighter sauce with just a tablespoon or two.)
