Showmanship Is Secret Ingredient for Salmon

Many of his friends think that, when it comes to cooking, John Pequet is just plain nuts, but they don’t tell him that because they fear some therapist might drag him out of the kitchen.

Here’s a guy who at the drop of a hat will whip up a huge--and elegant--meal for anywhere from two to 200 people.

And 200 is no exaggeration: Several years ago, Pequet’s real estate broker wife, Betty, promised a Christmas meal to a banker friend if a certain deal went through. It did, and the guest list got a little out of hand, eventually climbing to that astonishing figure.

To this day, many who were on that list call the meal their most memorable: smoked stuffed salmon, roast pork with maple-mustard sauce, seafood salad, pasta, roast beef with mushroom sauce and other dishes. And, except for a little help from his daughter and granddaughter, Pequet handled all the kitchen chores himself.

“We fooled them all,” he says with a laugh. “Showmanship is the name of the game in cooking, and you can take simple dishes--which all of those were--and present them in such a way that everyone thinks they were extremely difficult and expensive to make.

“Take the salmon, for example. If you shop carefully and buy it on sale, it’s cheaper than hamburger. Fix it with some dill and liquid smoke and present it with the proper garnish and you have a masterpiece.”

And Pequet knows something about sales. He does all the shopping and meal planning in addition to all the cooking. “The kitchen is mine, and I tell Betty to stay the hell out of it,” he says. “Besides, she’s much too busy, and I just love every moment I’m in there.”

Of all the many dishes for which he’s known, Piquet chose the stuffed salmon to share with Chef du Jour. “Your guests will go nuts over it, guaranteed,” he says. “It’s really very simple to do, and a little touch of liquid smoke gives it an exotic and unexpected flavor.

“The only problem is getting the butcher to properly bone and clean the salmon,” says Pequet, who really does have a job (he’s co-owner of a spa shop in Laguna Niguel).

“But you’d be amazed the workmanship a bag of homemade chocolate chip cookies will buy these days.”

STUFFED SMOKED-IN-THE-OVEN SALMON

1 whole fresh salmon (4-6 pounds), boned

1 tablespoon liquid smoke

2 pounds fresh spinach

3 tablespoons butter

1 large leek, chopped

1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped

4 ounces goat cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 1/2 cups vermouth or dry white wine

Stuffing Preparation:

*

Cook spinach in water until tender. Drain, squeeze dry with hands and rough-chop in blender or food processor. Melt butter in heavy skillet and saute leeks until tender. Remove from heat and stir in spinach, dill, sour cream and goat cheese. Mix well (best when refrigerated overnight).

Cooking Salmon:

Cut sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil large enough to completely enclose salmon. Dribble liquid smoke across center and place butterflied salmon in middle. Fill one side with stuffing and close. Mix vermouth and lemon juice and pour over the salmon. Seal with foil and bake in preheated 350-degree oven for 20 minutes per one-inch thickness of salmon. Serve on decorative lettuce-lined platter with garnish of cherry tomatoes, parsley and thin slices of fresh lemon.