slow down salmon

In slow cooker news, I finally steamed/poached salmon according to Grant Achatz's general philosophy of cooking fish in the crockpot. First, I lay lemon slices and a few chives on the floor of the slow cooker. Then I poured in about 1/4 cup vermouth and 1/4 cup water. I seasoned the salmon fillets with salt and pepper and lay them on the bed. Cooked on low for about 1-1.5 hours. It was delicious but may have worked even better with less time and less liquid. I served on a cauliflower puree which I intended to be more of a mash—I saw a good recipe from Art Smith but didn't remember it exactly and added too much liquid. On top is a caper/red onion/olive relish.

Update-I finally did the Art Smith cauliflower recipe after actually reading the recipe and it's amazing and made it into my Paprika collection.

grape and olive crostini

I made Smitten Kitchen's grape and olive crostini as one of the eight courses of New Year's Eve dinner and am obsessed with this recipe for easy roasting of olives and grapes. It's amazingly simple but tastes complex because the grapes break down and crystalize around the salty warm olives. I will definitely make again—maybe next time as a side or platform for meat instead of on crostini.