Chris Schlesinger's grilled salmon steaks with North African
herb paste, watermelon salad with green peas and new potato hash
browns
East Coast Grill's Schlesinger -- known for his fiery taste and trademark
wood-fueled grill -- rubbed salmon steaks with a paste he learned about from
Moroccan cooking, in which garlic, cilantro, liquid hot sauce and several
aromatic spices are blended together. "Salmon has a strong enough character to
stand up to grilling," he says, "and to something as potent as this paste." He
turned the new potatoes into a hash with caramelized potatoes; the peas went
into a salad with watermelon. "I borrowed it from Gordon Hamersley," he says.
"He had something similar on a menu. My grandfather ate watermelon with salt
and pepper."
For the watermelon salad:
3 cups watermelon chunks, seeds removed
1 cup shelled fresh peas, blanched for 1 minute
1 small red onion, very thinly sliced
1/2 cup freshly lime juice (about 4 limes)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 small head green cabbage, very thinly sliced
For the potatoes:
16 medium new potatoes, boiled 15 minutes or until tender
6 tablespoons peanut oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
For the salmon:
4 12-ounce salmon steaks (each 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick)
3 tablespoons peanut oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 cloves garlic
1/4 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves
1/4 cup loosely packed parsley leaves
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Juice of 1 lemon
2 to 6 shots liquid hot sauce
For the watermelon salad: In a bowl combine the watermelon, peas, onion,
lime juice, salt and pepper. Toss lightly; set the cabbage aside for serving.
For the potatoes: Chop the potatoes coarsely. In a saute pan heat the
peanut oil and cook the potatoes with salt and pepper for 4 to 5 minutes or
until golden brown; set aside.
In another pan, heat the olive oil and cook the onion over medium heat for
10 minutes or until golden brown. Stir the onion into the potatoes and
sprinkle with parsley.
For the salmon: Heat a charcoal grill. Rub the fish steaks on both sides
with peanut oil and salt and pepper. When the coals are gray, grill the salmon
for 5 to 7 minutes on a side -- check for doneness by inserting the tip of a
knife near the center and looking for opaque flesh.
Meanwhile, in a food processor combine the garlic, cilantro, parsley, oil,
cumin, cinnamon, lemon juice and hot sauce. Puree them by working the machine
in on-off motions.
When the fish is cooked, remove it from the grill and rub it with the spicy
paste.
To serve: On each of four dinner plates, arrange some shreeded cabbage as a
bed for the watermelon salad. Set a fish steak in the center and garnish with
potato hash browns.
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