Pan-Seared Salmon with Tapenade

Remember a couple days ago, on the Production Eats post I mentioned something about wanting a second piece of that salmon with olive tapenade from when I worked on the show Bones. We'll here's that second piece. That's how much I wanted it.

I was still craving salmon when I ventured into the farmer's market over the weekend. Luckily, they had some sushi grade fillets over at the Dry Dock Fish booth. For this, I simply pan-seared the salmon in some butter and lemon juice, then placed it into the oven to let the inside cook slightly, but still keeping it slightly rare.

For the tapenade, I made two kinds. I made a simple ordinary black olive version and a sun-dried tomato version. I really liked the sun-dried tomato blended into the tapenade. I wasn't always a fan of olives and tapenade for that matter, but now I love them. So I guess I didn't need to get back in line for that second piece.

I served the salmon with some fresh slices of tomato over a small bed of lettuce. You can serve the tapenade as a appetizer as well on crackers or on crostinis

Serves 2-3

Pan-Seared Salmon with Olive and Sun-dried Tomato Tapenade

2 salmon fillets
3 Tbsp butter
salt and pepper
dry oregano
Juice of half lemon
Black Olive & Sun-Dried Tapenades (recipes below)

Preheat your oven to 375˚F

Season the salmon filets with salt, pepper, and oregano.

Melt the butter in a  oven-safe skillet and add the lemon juice. When the butter has melted. Place the filets. Sear each side for 1-2 minutes per side depending on thickness. Once all sides have been seared, place the skillet in the oven for 5-10 minutes to let the inside of the salmon slightly cook through.

Remove from the oven and serve. Top with some black olive tapenade or sun-dried tomato tapenade.

Tapenade

20 black or kalamata olives (pitted)
1/2 Tbsp capers
Juice of half lemon
1/8 c extra virgin Olive oil
pepper

Combine all ingredients in the food process and blend until a paste-like consistency.

Note: to make it into a sun-dried tomato tapenade, add a few sundried tomato that has been preserved in oil. The oil from the tomato will replace the 1/8 c extra virgin olive oil that is called for in the ingredients. Add more, if needed.