I�m Back � with Braised Salmon a Giveaway

Did you miss me? Probably not since most of you didn�t even know I was gone. For the last three weeks I�ve been on vacation in Vancouver, Canada and Alaska. I�ve been posting recipes but I haven�t opened my computer once. They were all automatically set to appear through the magic of technology that�s way beyond my comprehension.

In the upcoming days, I�ll have a lot of things to share with you about the sights, sounds and tastes from my vacation, and let�s just say for the record there were a LOT of tastes. Why else did I gain four pounds? I�m still not as large as this humpback whale I saw, but I�ve got to get back to reality and sane eating. Hence the braised salmon.

For my fellow food bloggers, I tried to connect with some of you while I was gone on public computers wherever possible (libraries are great for this), but for those of you who haven�t heard from me in the last few weeks, I�m working on catching up with what�s been going on in your kitchens while I�ve been away.

To show my appreciation to those of you who follow my blog, I�m offering a giveaway of items I brought back from Alaska: a 1/4 pound of smoked salmon in a nifty wooden box, a dish towel with a salmon design woven into it and a 47-page Alaska Seafood Cookbook.  Just leave a comment at the bottom of this post by 9 p.m. EDT July 30, telling me what fish dish you like to eat the most.  And if you don�t like fish or you�re vegetarian, well, sorry you probably won�t be interested in the salmon or the cookbook, but the dish towel is nice. But if you are a vegetarian � maybe you�d like to give the salmon and the cookbook as a gift - just stop by and say hello in a comment at the end of this post.

You don�t have to have a blog to leave a comment, but I�ll need some way to get in touch with you if you win, so please leave an email address. The winner will be picked at random by a computer generated program.

The recipe below is adapted from the cookbook in the giveaway. It�s healthy, delicious and low-cal. Just what I need to get started on losing those extra four pounds.

Braised Salmon

printable recipe here

• 4  8 oz. silver king salmon fillets
• 2 T. olive oil
• 3/4 cup carrots, sliced
• 3/4 c. carrots
• 3/4 c. fennel, sliced
• 3/4 c. sweet onion, sliced
• 3 cups red new potatoes, sliced
• 2 cups plum tomatoes, diced
• 1 T. tomato paste
• 1 quart shrimp stock (I used water)
• salt, pepper,
• 1/4 c. chopped parsley or other favorite herb
• fennel tops for garnish

Rinse salmon fillets and dry with paper towels; season both sides with salt and pepper. Heat oil in large ovenproof skillet. Add salmon, flesh side down and sear on both sides until golden brown. Remove from pan and set aside.

Add carrots, celery, fennel and onion; saut� until soft. Add tomato paste and stock or water; stir well to combine. Add potatoes and tomatoes and sprinkle with fresh herbs. Cook with a lid on top at a light simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Place salmon fillets in pan on top of vegetables. Cover and place in 375 degree oven for 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender and fish is cooked through. (I just kept the pan on the range and added the salmon, then cooked it another five minutes.)

Using a slotted spoon, carefully remove salmon and set aside. Ladle vegetable mixture into serving bowls and top with salmon and a sprig of fennel for garnish.