Unseasonable Weather

Being Summer Grinches, Cafe Drake is not adoring the preternaturally warm weather of mid-April here in NYC, and has been retaliating against Mother Nature by immersing ourselves in snowbound Norwegian horror movies like Cold Prey and Dead Snow. In the spirit of our new seasonal perversion we present a favorite recipe hailing from Norway.


SALMON SKEWERS WITH SHERRY SAUCE

Cafe Drake has whipped this entree up several times, and it's doable even in the dead of Summer as the oven is only only for a few minutes. best of all, the fish can be marinated ahead of time and the whole thing assembles in minutes. We generally serve the skewers over golden saffron rice on large plates scattered with avocado slices and halved cherry tomatoes, the delectable sherry sauce drizzled over all. Buttered black bread and fried apples make good sides if you're planning on a more elaborate meal.

• Take a 1 1/2 lb. fillet of salmon and cut into bite-size (but big bite size) chunks to fit on your skewers. Marinate salmon in a large bowl with the following mixed ingredients: the juice of 1 lemon, 3 T. of water, some olive oil, salt, black pepper and a bit of grated horseradish. Marinate in the fridge for about 2 hours (not less, not much more).
• Towards the end of marination, preheat your oven to 450 degrees and begin making the sherry sauce.
• The sauce is easy: combine in a pan: 3/4 cup dry sherry, 2-3 T. chicken or veggie stock, 1 cup heavy cream and roughly a T. of fresh lemon juice. Cook over a medium flame until it thickens nicely.
• Now place your fish on skewers and then on an oiled baking sheet. Cook in the oven for 7 minutes or so. Season again with salt and pepper as needed.
  
• Serve as suggested above, drizzled with sauce and alongside rice and tomatoes and avocado slices.