San Francisco Cooking School // Salmon 6 Ways

I’ve been wanting to take a cooking class for a long time. I spend a lot of time in our kitchen concocting meals from ingredients we have in our pantry, and really just getting inspiration from recipes. I’ve been really wanting to acquire some more in-depth cooking skills and to build my confidence in attempting new things in the kitchen. So taking a cooking class would be a great jumping off point for me.

And for Christmas, Mike bought me a cooking class at the San Francisco Cooking School, and I was finally able to find some time and a class I wanted to join.

I thought Salmon 6 Ways would be a great way to gain knowledge on a couple more techniques and help me think of more creative ways to cook fish.

The school itself is beautiful. Such a nice fully functional kitchen with every thing a chef could want.

We split into teams to tackle the six dishes plus some sides. Between the four teams each dish was created twice so we could taste different variations. Each team was encouraged to help each other with certain aspects of each dish and to walk around to other teams to see how their progress was going.

The main dish I was working on was the (1) Caramelized Salmon with Salsa Verde. I’ve never caramelized anything other than onions so it was really interesting to me to try to tackle this dish.

2. Salmon Sashimi with Ginger and Hot Sesame Oil

3. Poached Salmon

4. Salmon en Papilote

Plow Potatoes - these were some of the most amazing potatoes I’ve ever eaten

4 pounds Yukon Gold Potatoes

1 Tablespoon rosemary chopped

3 Medium yellow onions, sliced very thin

In a large pot over medium-low heat, add olive oil and sliced onions. Add a big pinch of salt and caramelize until onions are deep golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, parboil potatoes in salted water until just tender - make sure they aren’t too soft. Remove from water and cool.

Smash potatoes with the palm of your hand - should be the size of a small pancake [if potatoes are the larger size cut in half and smash]. Fill a heavy bottom stockpot with at least 2 inches of canola oil and heat to 365 degrees. Working in batches, deep fry potatoes until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

Toss potatoes with caramelized onions, rosemary, and salt.

Caramelizing my salmon

Finished product below with the salsa verde. The recipe recommended not adding seeds from the jalapeño but since I enjoy some heat I added about half the seeds, plus I didn’t puree the mixture all the way and made it a bit coarser - also I forgot to grind the pink peppercorns so I had to hand smash them which turned out to be what I would prefer the next time I made this dish because I think the coarsely chopped peppercorns added a bit more bite to the sauce.

5. Pan Roasted Salmon with Horseradish Cream

Zucchini and Summer Squash Salad

Black & White Sesame Brittle

6. Slow Roasted Salmon with Beets, Arugula, and Mustard Vinaigrette

Had to try everyone’s dish and compare what each cooks take on their salmon dish tasted like! Full belly!

I really enjoyed my experience at the San Francisco Cooking School. I got a lot of hands on teaching and some great tips to take back to my kitchen. I will definitely take another class in the future.

Caramalized Salmon with Salsa Verde

Ingrediants

1 Jalapeño - seeded and chopped 

¼ Cup pink Peppercorns

1 Cilantro bunch

2+ Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

2 Teaspoons of champagne/white wine vinegar

Sea Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper

1/3 Cup brown sugar

2+ Teaspoons of Kosher Salt

1+ Tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

Fresh Black Pepper

4x6 oz center cut Salmon Fillets with skin

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Grind the peppercorns or coarsely chop with the dull side of a knife. Put jalapeño, peppercorns, cilantro, olive oil, vinegar, and a pinch of salt in a mini chopper. Puree until smooth or until you like the thickness. Taste and adjust seasonng.

Mix brown sugar, 2+ teaspoons salt, thyme, and pepper in a small bowl. Taste to make sure salt/sugar ratio is good. Rub a little olive oil all over the salmon fillets and then rub sugar/thyme mixture on top side. Heat a non stick pan to medium heat with a little oil, when hot add the salmon, sugar coating face down. Once sugar coating is caramelized, about 3-5 mins depending on size of the piece, flip over and finish cooking in oven for 3-5 minutes (again depending on the size of the fish)

Place salmon on platter and drizzle salsa verde on top. Pour remaining salsa in small bowl and serve with platter.