Grilled Salmon with Spanokopita

The spanokopita was actually lunch from yesterday that Bryan forwent for a sandwich.

For the spanokopita I first removed the filo dough from the freezer to defrost the night before. To start the filling, I chopped about 1/2 a white onion and 2-3 cloves of garlic. These were placed in a skillet with about 2 tbs. olive oil and a large package of baby spinach. I turned/folded the spinach, allowing it to wilt and cook down. When the spinach had fully cooked down I then added 2 whisked eggs to the skillet and stirred and folded the mixture until the eggs were soft scrambled. I removed this from the stove and propped up one end so the water from the spinach will drain well (it took me 2 wet spanokopita before I started squeezing out the water). To roll these, instead of the standard triangle I usually do, I rolled these more like egg rolls. Taking 2 sheets of filo dough I placed about 3 tablespoons of the spinach mixture onto the middle of the dough long ways. I folded in the ends first and then rolled the rest of the filo around the spinach forming a log shape. (In hind sight, it may be better to place the spinach closer to the edge so filo is evenly wrapped instead of thick on one side.) These were placed on an olive oil drizzled cookie sheet and then I drizzled olive oil over each. They were placed in a 350 degree oven until golden brown.

The salmon was bought frozen. I defrosted the 2 salmon steaks for about 30 mins by placing them in a plastic bag and letting them sit in luke warm water for about 30 min. After they were defrosted I poured out the water, removed them from the plastic bag and added the following to the dish to marinate: cracked salt and pepper, a few tablespoons of olive oil, a few splashes of soy sauce, and a few tablespoons of tarragon vinegar. I let the salmon marinate for about 30 minutes while I got the charcoal started.

To cook:

The salmon was first placed over direct, medium high, heat skin side down. I warmed the spanokopita on a bed of fennel fronds on the side of the grill while the salmon was cooking. After about 5 minutes on the skin side I flipped the salmon and let it grill the other side for about 5 min. more. When it was all done, it was removed from the grill and after plating the salmon and spanokopita I splashed some lemon juice on both..... We cracked open a bottle of Etude and it was good.... even if it was almost too hot to eat :)