Many restaurants have some sort of crusted fish… is it all that special?

Time: 45 minutes

Difficulty: 1/5

Ingredient Availability: 5/5

Salmon is my favorite fish. Honestly, I think the only way to mess it up is to overcook it. With that being said, I doubt that this recipe from Joshua Weissman’s Unapologetic Cookbook will be bad. I typically enjoy the flavors of parmesan and walnuts are my favorite true nut, so I have high expectations yet again for a Joshua Weissman recipe.

Key Ingredients and Omissions:

The ingredients for this recipe are pretty simple. The pecans and walnuts that I used were raw, so I had to toast them myself. Other than that, none of the ingredients are particularly special of had to find.

Tools:

• Nothing Special

Cooking Review:

Preheat Oven and Toast Nuts: 14 minutes

While the oven preheated, I lined a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spread the pecans and walnuts on it in an even layer. I then let the nuts roast for 7 minutes. At that point, the nuts had become aromatic and slightly darkened.

Mixing mayo and Nut mixtures: 13 Minutes

Next, I combined the ingredients for the mayo mixture and set it aside. After that, I chopped the parsley and crushed the pecans and walnuts in a plastic bag. The parmesan was grated and mixed with the nuts and parsley.

Topping and baking Salmon: 17 minutes

With the salmon on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and seasoned with salt, I topped the fillets generously with the  mayo mixture followed by the nut topping. I then baked the fish for 12 minutes.

Analysis:

The fish was cooked perfectly, with great flakiness and moisture. The nuts also add a good textural contrast against the soft fish. I think the mayo mixture is the strongest taste in this recipe, easily overpowering he salmon itself. The parmesan does come through, as well, being the main source of saltiness. Overall, this dish tastes good, but I don’t think the flavors really meld together very well. Each component (fish, mayo mixture, nut mixture) is pretty distinct and they don’t really combine to be anything special. Given what the dish is, it does taste as you would expect it to. It’s not bad by any means, but it’s not special either. I’m going to give it a 7/10, but I could see someone saying it’s an 8/10, as it is pretty flavorful and generally tastes good.