Blackened Salmon

Yummy yum yum

This recipe comes from allrecipes.com. I found it to be a bit spicy, so I've reduced the cayenne pepper here by about half.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons ground paprika
• 1/2 tablespoon ground cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

• 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 
  
• 4 salmon fillets, skin and bones removed
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

Directions

1. In a small bowl, mix paprika, cayenne pepper, onion powder, salt, white pepper, black pepper, thyme, basil and oregano.
2. Brush salmon fillets on both sides with butter, and sprinkle evenly with the cayenne pepper mixture. Drizzle one side of each fillet with remaining butter. 
3. 
   
4. In a large, heavy skillet over high heat, cook salmon, butter side down, until blackened, 2 to 5 minutes. Turn fillets, drizzle with remaining butter, and continue cooking until blackened and fish is easily flaked with a fork.

Garlic Shrimp Crostini

This is both beautiful and delicious. It's a great appetizer to serve as a host.

1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1/4 C. mayo
5 cloves garlic, minced and divided
1 Tbsp. minced green onion
1/4 C. butter
1 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley
24 med. fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
24 toasted french bread rounds
Garnish: halved cherry tomatoes, fresh parsley leaves

In a small bowl, combine cream cheese, mayo, 2 cloves garlic and a green onion. Set aside.

In a large skillet melt butter over medium heat. Add remaining 3 cloves of garlic and minced parsley. Cook for 3 min. Add shrimp and cook until pink and firm, about 3-4 min.

Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over french bread roudns. Top each with 1 shrimp. Garnish with tomato halves and parsley leaves.

Herb Crusted Salmon

This is from Studio 5, gotta give credit where credit is due.

1/2 c. dry bread crumbs
1/4-1/2 C. parmesan cheese (I added this, so it's totally optional)
1/2 tsp. black pepper
2 tsp. chopped fresh oregano *
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary *
4 (6-oz) salmon fillets
2 tsp. chopped fresh parsley *
1 1/2 tsp. grated lemon rind


*If you don't have fresh herbs, dried will work also. Or: You can buy Italian flavored dry bread crumbs and completely eliminate adding the herbs.


Combine the first 7 ingredients in shallow dish. Dredge both sides of fillets in bread crumb mixture. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add fillets to pan. Cook 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and turn fillets. Cook 4 minutes or until fish flakes.

This dish is great with rice and spinach salad!