A Few of Our Favorite (Fast) Foods

Around 1750 the Earl of Sandwich put some meat between two slices of bread and gave fast food a good name. It was several hundred years before American ingenuity came along to ruin its reputation.

But fast food doesn’t have to mean a hapless piece of meat or produce that’s been fried to a frazzle, wrapped in layers of paper and plastic and sold for the cheapest possible price. Fast food can be made from scratch, served with pride and consumed with pleasure. The following recipes, a few of our favorites, prove the point.

Fish Story

Coming up with a recipe combining fish and red wine isn’t the easiest thing in the world, but years ago in La Jolla I tasted an unforgettable one using salmon. I failed to get the recipe, but remembered the fish had been poached in Chambord liqueur. In trying to recreate the dish to serve with a bottle of light Zinfandel, I only had a few ounces of Chambord, so I decided to add some soy sauce. The end result wasn’t the same, but it still turned out terrific.

To serve with this dish, a Beaujolais or a lighter-styled Zinfandel works perfectly.

SALMON CASSIS

4 (6-to 8-ounce) salmon fillets

3/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce

1/4 cup creme de cassis or Chambord

Freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup white wine

Place fish in shallow baking dish. Combine soy sauce and creme de cassis and pour over fish. Season to taste with pepper. Marinate 1 hour.

Drain most of marinade from fish into saucepan. Heat over low heat and set aside. Add white wine to fish and bake at 350 degrees 15 to 20 minutes. Serve fish with warm marinade. Makes 4 servings.