I fell in love with a photo of this dish that I saw on Pinterest. The photo filled me with an instant and overwhelming salmon craving.  I made it once according to the directions in Bon Appétit .  I usually cook salmon quickly on high heat À la Ieva or Marinated in Spiced Yogurt with Rhubarb Chutney.  This salmon is roasted on low heat for a long time and I was amazed by how tender and delicious it was.  Also, the combination of citrus and fennel is classic and excellent.For some reason, the dish made me think about food in Spain.  I guess it’s the simple preparation and use of citrus.  It also made me think of a dish that I made in highschool from the now long gone food column written by Bonnie Mandoe for the Maui News.  I clipped out a recipe for chicken stir fried with tropical fruit and green olives.  The combination of sweet and tangy fruit with salty, rich meat and olives was a revelation for 16-year-old Erin and I am still thinking about it over 20 years later!    So, I made the slow roasted salmon dish again, but I added spanish olives, replaced the cooked dill with other herbs added at the last-minute and used a North African dry chili pepper instead of fresh jalapeno.  I also tried it with less olive oil, and while it was certainly still good, I am an advocate of using the full 3/4 cup!

SLOW ROASTED SALMON WITH CITRUS, FENNEL and GREEN OLIVES

adapted from Bon Appetite

• 1 small Fennel bulb (or half of a large one)
• 1 orange, thinly sliced (blood oranges are pretty, but not crucial)
• 1 lemon, thinly sliced (Meyer lemon is nice, but not crucial)
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon teaspoon Aleppo or Urfa pepper (or good old red pepper flakes)
• kosher salt
• fresh ground black pepper
• 2 pounds skinless salmon fillet
• 3/4 cup olive oil (this can be reduced if you like, but I recommend the full amount)
• 1/2 – 3/4 cup pitted manzanilla olives (or some other good quality, mild, green olive)
• snips fresh green herbs  such as cilantro, parsley, chives, tarragon or dill for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 275°.
2. Layer the sliced citrus, fennel and olives in a 3 quart baking dish.  Sprinkle it with Urfa pepper (or red chili flakes), kosher salt and pepper.
3. Season salmon with more kosher salt and place on top of the fennel citrus mixture. Pour the oil over the top.
4. Roast until salmon for 30-40 minutes or until it is just cooked through.
5. Serve  the salmon broken into large pieces on top of a generous amount of the roasted citrus, fennel, olives and pan juices and sprinkled with snipped fresh green herbs.  You can eat the citrus, rind and all.

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