Grilled Salmon and Tim’s Jalapeño Chips

(Published in Chile Pepper Magazine)
Yield: 2 sandwiches * Zest Factor: Medium

A Seattlelite by birth I rightly worship good salmon and thrive on Tim’s chips. Now I grew up on Ivar’s and knew them for their killer claw chowder but the salmon and chips is a new treat. So here’s a little taste of the Pacific Northwest and a unique take at fish and chips that’s good to weather a storm with.

¼ cup sour cream
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon fresh dill, minced
1 tablespoon scallion, minced
1 tablespoon jalapeño, minced
salt and freshly ground pepper

Seattle Slaw

1 ½ cups shredded green cabbage
1 cup shredded carrot
½ large jalapeño, julienne
3 tablespoons furukaki
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil

2 (6 to 8 ounce) salmon fillets, skinned
2 teaspoons olive oil

2 lemon slice
2 sprigs dill
1 thin baguette, halved and toasted
1 large bag Tim’s Jalapeño chips (available at: timschips.com)

In a medium bowl combine sour cream, mayonnaise, lemon juice, dill, scallion and jalapeño to make your tartar sauce. Mix well and season to taste with salt and pepper. In a large bowl mix cabbage, carrot, jalapeño and furukaki. In a small bowl mix lemon juice, rice wine vinegar and olive oil, stir and dress your cabbage slaw. Mix slaw well then drain excess juices, creating your Seattle slaw.

Rub your salmon fillets with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Top each fillet with a sprig of dill and a slice of lemon and grill on a preheated grill for 3 to 4 minutes per side until just starting to flake. Discard extra lemon and dill.

To assemble your sandwich, dress each baguette half lightly with jalapeño
tartar sauce and ½ cup of Seattle slaw. Top each with a grilled salmon filet and serve with Tim’s delicious Jalapeño chips and you have a true West Coast treat.

Furikake Seasoning:

“Furikake is a lightly salted Japanese condiment that is generally sprinkled over cooked white rice or Japanese rice balls called Onigiri. It’s like the salt and pepper of Japan. Furikake usually consist of various ingredients such as sushi nori (seaweed), sesame seeds, dried tuna flakes, ground shiso leaf, salmon flakes, powdered soy sauce or miso, and dried egg. Furikake taste good on almost anything, giving whatever it is added to a slightly salty sea-foodie flavor. Try it on anything you can think of like grilled fish or toast. We bet that the taste will leave you pleasantly surprised!”-Asian Food Grocer