Receta My Copycat Recipe Joins Taste of Home.
When we lived on the East
Coast, there were two warehouse chain stores in the area, BJ's Warehouse and
Costco. The closest place now is Sam's
Club in Grand Junction, CO, or Farmington, NM; we do not often go there due to
the long travel time to either. One item
we really enjoyed eating was the stuffed salmon; of course it was stuffed with
imitation crab meat, but we did not care because it tasted so yummy.
With salmon fillets and
imitation crab meat on hand; time to get the little gray cells going, remember
how the stuffed salmon tasted and come up with a copycat recipe. Well folks, it came out well, and very, very
close to the actual product I used to purchase.
It came out so well, that Taste of Home decided to feature it in their
Christmas Recipe Book – 2015 (page 92).
My recipe appears in the “Entertainment Shortcuts” section; convenience
products and quick ideas to impress yuletide guests. Taste of Home changed my recipe a bit to
create a service for twelve; I am going to give you the original recipe. By the way, I served this dish to my hubby
for Valentine’s Day, so it does not have to be just for a December holiday
meal.
Just shows you, when you
enjoy a certain food product, or even a dish served at a restaurant; do not
immediately say, “I can’t make this myself.”
Never, say never!
- 4 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
- in half
- 4 (1/2 lb. each) salmon
- fillets, at least 1 ½” thick; deboned and skin removed
- 1 cup flaked style
- imitation crab meat, pulled apart
- 1 cup hot, cooked long
- grain rice
- 1 Tbsp. melted butter
- 1 Tbsp. softened cream
- cheese
- ½ tsp. minced garlic
- ¼ tsp. each crushed, dried
- celery seed, basil, oregano, marjoram, rosemary and thyme
- 1 tsp. each salt and dill
- Preheat oven to 400F. Brush two Tbsp. olive oil on bottom and sides
of a 1.5 quart baking dish.
Make a cut lengthwise on
each fillet, leave ½” uncut space on each side, and on the bottom; create a
pocket by gently running tip of sharp knife under each flap and leave ½” space
each side.
In a medium bowl, combine
crab meat, rice, butter, cream cheese, garlic and herbs (except salt and dill)
well. Spoon filling into each filet
pocket; creating a small mound at the top.
Brush remaining olive oil onto salmon; sprinkle salt and dill over the
salmon and place into baking dish. Bake
for 20 minutes; check for doneness (thickest part of fillet will flake) about
two minutes before allotted cooking time.
Options: add ¼ cup tiny
shrimp to the mixture; or better yet, use real lump crab meat instead of the
imitation.