The Secret to Miso-Broiled Salmon

Plus: The Niece and Nephew's First Visit to NY, The Central Park Boathouse, and Lots of Links.

Hey everyone,

I have a go-to weeknight dinner these days. Step one: cook rice in the rice cooker (I’m into sushi rice lately). Step two: slice some tiny cucumbers, toss them with toasted sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, and a bit of chili crisp if you have it. Step three: coat salmon in a mixture of yellow miso, soy sauce, mirin, and honey (Kenji’s recipe is good template, subbing mirin for sake and adding honey)… and here’s where things get tricky.

You can just bake your salmon in a 425 oven until lit hits 140 on a thermometer, but then you don’t get a burnished top. You can broil the salmon, but if it’s a thick filet (like these ones are), it won’t get cooked all the way through.

So here’s what I’ve come up with: I pre-heat the oven to 425. Then I turn on the broiler. I place the miso-marinated salmon on a lined-cookie sheet (I was out of foil, so I used parchment to mixed effect, as you can see)… then I broil as much as possible, to get the top as deep, dark, and golden brown as I can. When it’s just on the verge of burning, I take the temperature… if it still has a way to go, I turn off the broiler, turn the oven back to 425 (which should take zero minutes since you already preheated), and then finish by baking/roasting. It only takes a few minutes more.

The results are lovely: you get the best of both worlds. A crispy, caramelized top and a salmon that’s cooked all the way through. Aren’t you glad you subscribe to this newsletter?

This weekend, my niece Ella and nephew Jordan came to New York for their very first time.

Meeting Winston was definitely a highlight for them, as was our basement where they each found a pair of googly glasses.

As far as food went, we all met up on Saturday at The Central Park Boathouse, which earned a solid review from Helen Rosner in The New Yorker.

The view at The Boathouse is stunning: you’re overlooking the lake and all the rowboats. It’s maybe one of the best views for brunch in all of NYC?

The food is fine, better than it has to be, as Helen says. I had a perfectly nice shrimp cocktail:

Then I had a salad… or I almost had a salad: while everyone else got their food, mine never came out. I think the waitress must’ve missed my order? When everyone was done, I ate this, which was nice enough (that’s broiled goat cheese on top).

On Saturday afternoon, we came to my neighborhood — where Ella and Jordan met Winston — and then all walked to Cafe Spaghetti for dinner.

This was an excellent choice for the whole family: we had a nice big table outside on the back patio, there were lots of other kids there, and my parents loved their food. (They shared a linguine vongole and a branzino; I had the orrechiette with broccoli rabe and sausage.)

The best part might’ve been the desserts: cannolis? Check. Tiramisu? Check. The best one is the spumoni: three layers of ice cream in a chocolate shell. Ella gave it her official approval.

Let’s look at some links, shall we?

• Clare de Boer’s cider-roasted apples look absolutely incredible (The Best Bit);

• “The Substance” is one of the best food movies in years (I’m too squeamish to see it) (Eater);

• The Truth About Tuna (NYT);

• Briny, Butter, Summery… Adjectives in the NYT Cooking Section (Reddit; via Kottke.org);

• The Absolute Best Butter for Every Occassion (Forbes);

• Nigel Slater’s Grub Street Diet (Grub Street);

• Kenji’s Restaurant Red Flags (Patreon);

• The trailer for the new Martha Stewart doc:

That’s all for today, folks!

See you back here on Thursday….

Your pal,

Adam