My buddy raincoaster was recently asking around for a simple yet delicious way of preparing salmon steaks and I immediately thought of this fabulous dish from Janet Mendel’s Cooking In Spain – though at the time I was in Málaga and so had to send Rain the recipe from memory. It’s a recipe I have used a lot, especially for special meals like birthdays or New Year’s eve at home. I’ve always assumed Janet meant cooked ham not jamón serrano… and I have no idea if my version turns out the way it is meant to. For example, Janet suggests adding some fish broth to thin out the sauce if necessary but, as I seldom have fish broth kicking around, I just add more cava. Works for me!

Recipe and instructions below the links.

• 4 salmon steaks
• flour for dredging
• 4 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 100 gr diced ham
• 1 tbsp flour
• 100 ml cava or cider
• salt & pepper

Salt the salmon steaks, let them sit for about half an hour and then dredge with flour. Heat the butter and olive oil in a large frying pan and add the fish, cooking until browned on both sides and cooked through (5-10 min depending on how thick the steaks are). Remove to a platter and keep warm. In the same pan sauté the diced ham, then stir in the flour and add the cava and salt & pepper. Simmer and stir until nicely thickened and pour over salmon.