Viso's Gluttony Guide: Gambling On Salmon
By Mike Viso
You can say a lot of things about me. You can start with handsome, caring, talented and hilarious. What you can't say is that I'm fancy - high maintenance, yes, but fancy? No.
So, when I was in the grocery store the other day and saw $3.99 a pound for salmon, I had to splurge. And when I think of salmon, you know who my go-to person on a recipe is? No, it's not my all-time favorite Chef, Gordon Ramsay. My go-to person is Dom Giordano, seriously. That guy LOVES salmon. I bet he could take down Joey Chestnut in a salmon eating contest. Dom's a health fanatic and a vegetarian—I think eating salmon is cheating—so finding protein is of utmost importance. That's why I had to go to him for this special occasion.
After much debate and trying to get me to buy his recipe for a nominal fee, I was able to get this EXCLUSIVE recipe from your favorite Talk Radio 1210 host. Ready!?
This is based on a pound of salmon, which is basically a normal filet:
1 tablespoon of butter
2 tablespoons of honey
Bake on 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes in the oven
Yeah, that's what he wanted me to pay for. I was shocked and I thought, "This guy is crazy. How much flavor could there be?"
I was really questioning him. Thursday is my favorite day of the week. From 8 p.m. until midnight my night is filled with food, television and an adult beverage or two. It's sad and awesome at the same time. Again, I'll profess my love of DVRs. I really need to be their spokesman because I��ll be the Billy Mays (pours out OxiClean on the curb for respect) of selling DVRs. You want to know my Thursday schedule?
7:00-7:30 Dinner
7:30-8:00 Rub my stomach and have a glass of red wine. I like a red merlot from Argentina. It's cheap and it has a nice bite to it without being overpowering.
8:00-8:30 Community
8:30-9:00 DVR'ed "Big Bang Theory." Sidenote: I talked to Mayim Bialik today who plays Amy Farrah Fowler and was the star of "Blossom" in the early '90's. There's no real point except that I want to brag.
9:00-9:30 "The Office" and yes, I still watch it. That's a prerequisite for working on Dom's show.
9:30-10:00 Back to the DVR for Tuesday's episode of "Tosh.0."
10:00-10:30: "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" is a must watch.
10:30-11:00: "The League." This might be my favorite show on TV right now. Anything that is semi-scripted, with "Curb Your Enthusiasm" writers involved is all you need to gain my interest.
11:00-11:30: DVR round 3. This time it's the reboot of "Beavis and Butt-Head" since "Jersey Shore's" season is over now. The first three episodes have been hilarious. Tell me otherwise. I dare you.
11:30-Midnight: I recently discovered that I have the TeenNick channel, so you know it's back to '90's classics from my childhood. Here, they have all the great shows from yesteryear in random order, Monday through Friday including "Doug," "Hey Dude," "Salute Your Shorts," etc.
You can see the awesomeness of this night. So, I took a big risk with this salmon recipe. Now here's the difference between me and someone that is just writing for his or her own benefit. I'll be honest and tell you I undercooked it. Salmon is so difficult! I thought that I had the nice golden-brown color and was worried about drying it out. Boy, was I wrong. So, my next piece I pan seared it and it turned out better. That's pretty simple but risky as well. You need to have the pan pre-heated for three minutes, add a coat of oil, let it heat to the point of near smoke, then you add the salmon. To complete the deliciousness, I added green beans and some of Uncle Ben's Rice.
I played with fire on the most important day of the week and you know what? It was pretty damn good. Honestly, I need that good meal in my stomach because of the weekend ahead. If the weekend was a Google search you might type in words like "girlfriend" "parents" "alcohol" "Scranton." That should give you an idea of what I'm facing.
