Blackened Salmon

This recipe comes from (paleo-friendly) Health-Bent.  The couple of different parts (requiring their own dishes) are all necessary, but it doesn't use many out-of-the-ordinary ingredients.  It's a good one for when you have some time for a more elaborate, hands-on salmon preparation.

Recipe

4 salmon fillets

Seasoning
3 tsp paprika
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp black pepper

Gravy
4-6 slices bacon, diced
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (14.5 oz) crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup stock
1/2 lemon, juiced (optional)

Start with the gravy.  Cook up the bacon, then the onion and garlic; you can either add in the second set of ingredients if you're confident, or set aside the bacon while the onion and garlic go.  Then everything goes in with the stock and tomatoes.

While that's simmering, skin the salmon and rub the spice mixture into both sides.  Get some oil hot in a skillet and cook the salmon maybe five minutes each side.

Outcome

For once, I basically played this one as written with no real substitutions: salmon skinned and coated with paprika, cayenne, thyme, etc., with a bacon tomato sauce.  Cooking for myself, I about halved the salmon portion but left the sauce the same except for adding zucchini for some summer-seasonal veggies.

I was skeptical even after the first couple of tentative bites from the outside of the filets.  Could the salmon really have been cooked through without burning the outside?  In short, yes.  Doneness is tricky to judge, but the spiced outside is almost a crispy, tangy crust, while the inside of the thicker filet especially was nicely rich and juicy.  The tomato sauce is pretty simple, but a necessary element to bring some extra moisture.

The one minor disappointment was the spice mix, which was a little bit underwhelming.  Maybe in the future I'd use smoked paprika, or more cayenne pepper for an extra kick?