Salmon in Dill Butter & Wilted Arugula - Oyster Mushroom - Goat Cheese Salad

For the salmon you'll need:

1 to 1.5 pound salmon fillet (wild Sockeye is in season now)
3 tablespoons of butter
3-4 tablespoons of finely chopped fresh dill

Preheat your oven to 250 F.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan and add in the chopped dill.  Cook for 2-3 minutes over medium heat while swirling the pan occasionally.

Arrange your fillets in a glass pan.  I put the skin side down, baste each fillet with the butter, turn so skin is facing up and finish off the butter on the skin side.  Put into the oven with skin side up.

Bake for 25 minutes or so, depending on the thickness of the fillet.  I usually use a single fillet that is 1.5 inches at its thickest and fills the pan.

After removing from the oven, let the pan rest for 5 minutes before moving the fish to plate.

For the arugula-goat cheese salad:

1 pound of arugula
1/2 pound of oyster mushrooms
1/4 pound of soft chevre
1/4 cup chopped watercress
1 cup of bread crumbs
1 egg
1/2 cup flour
2 tablespoons of chopped thyme
Leaf lard or other high temperature oil for frying the cheese
Olive Oil
1 clove garlic

First put your cylinder(or whatever shape you have) of goat cheese into the freezer for 10-15 minutes to get it firm.

Place three small bowls on the counter.  Flour goes in one, beaten egg in the next and the last should have a mix of bread crumbs and thyme.  For bread crumbs I usually have a bag of crusts in the freezer that I keep from stale dry leftover breads.  I'll take some of these out, chop them up a bit and then run them through the blender until they are very fine crumbs.  Alternatively, you can use Panko crumbs from the store.

Next, use a small fry pan to melt enough lard to make a centimeter of depth.  I keep this on medium to low while I get the cheese ready to fry.

Pull out your chevre from the freezer.  Using a sharp, unserrated knife, cut the cylinder into into 4-5 evenly divided wheels.  Take each wheel and coat both sides in flour, then egg and finally in the crumbs.  Set each wheel aside on a plate until all are coated nicely in crumb.

Bump the heat up on the lard to medium high.  It should be shimmering, but never smoky.  If it starts to smoke, remove it immediately from the heat.  Place a few of the wheels carefully into the oil, being careful not to overcrowd your pan.  Overcrowding causes diminshed crispness and makes turning the wheels difficult.  Cook on each side 60-120 seconds or until golden brown.  Place them on a wooden cutting board to allow them to stay crisp until serving time.

In a large (14") saute pan, gently heat some olive oil with the crushed garlic.  As soon as the oil is warm, add the oyster musrooms.  These are best if they are in clumps of no more than 2-3 mushrooms.  Cook until the mushrooms soften and brown a little, then set aside in a bowl.  While the pan is hot, stuff in the arugula, put a lid on it and allow it to wilt for 1-2 minutes.  Remove from pan directly to serving plate, top with mushrooms, then chevre, and garnish with a touch of watercress.

Now that you have your salad done, plate the salmon servings next to it and pour any residual herb butter over each piece of salmon.