Weekday Favourites - Salmon and Couscous

My partner is a really good cook and one of his absolute best recipes is for pan fried salmon fillet. I'm really terrible at cooking salmon on the stove top - I can't seem to get the balance between succulent flesh and crispy, almost caramelised surface. I'm very lucky in that I have someone to cook it for me, just the way I like. Although the salmon is cooked skin-on, we tend not to eat the skin, although if it is crispy enough it can be perfectly edible. I just find it can be difficult to get the skin just right, and when I'm tired and hungry, I'm really not remotely bothered about the skin.

This salmon was seasoned very simply with just salt and freshly ground black pepper. You could add any seasonings or spices to it. Cajun salmon is wonderful, and I really like paprika with it. My partner cooks the salmon skin side down in a hot pan. It should sizzle as soon as the fish hits the pan. You can add some oil to the pan first, or rub the fish with oil and add that to a dry pan. Either way should work just fine. Most of the cooking time takes place on the skin side - as it cooks you'll see the flesh turn from the raw coral to a beautiful soft pink. Once the flesh is cooked three quarters of the way up the salmon, flip it over to cook the top side of the fillet. As we won't be eating the skin, my partner makes sure he gets lots of flavour into this side of the fish. He adds a knob of butter to the pan, to baste the skin side of the fish, to keep it moist. Meanwhile the butter on the surface of the pan cooks the non-skin side, caramelising it and creating a "crust". Once basted and cooked all the way through, my partner removes the skin - it should slip off with very little difficulty. If you are having trouble removing the skin the salmon may not yet be fully cooked.

If you have to prepare the rest of the meal at this point, cloak the fillets in some foil to keep them warm. We love to eat salmon with couscous. I like the contrast of the sweet salmon and the savoury couscous. I really like the textures as well. I'll do a recipe for this another time, but the basic principle is to cook the couscous according to the packet instructions, and then add salt and pepper, a squeeze of lemon, finely chopped red onion or spring onion, and finely chopped sundried tomatoes.

My partner served the salmon fillet and couscous with a mixed leaf and fresh herb salad. We opt for the lazy option and buy a packet from the supermarket. We add fresh chopped tomatoes to liven it up a bit. You can make a dressing to go with this but I love it with a bit of the salmony butter straight from the pan.

It's my favourite weekday tea: it takes about 15 minutes to make, it's fresh, colourful and vibrant and really, really tasty.

The quality of this picture can only be described as shoddy, but I was in such a hurry to shovel it into my mouth, I really couldn't bring myself to be professional! You may notice I've already made a start on the salmon!

Speaking of salmon, it's also a proper weekend meal. My partner made salmon cooked in exactly the same way as above, but with homemade oven baked French "fries", a dressed green salad and some really good quality mayonnaise (not homemade - a Friday night in our household involves drinking wine, not slaving over homemade egg-based sauces). This was delicious and a more indulgent way of eating salmon.