Smoked Salmon At The Town Grill In Lisbon

HowChow: The official blog of gas stations where you should eat fish. 

Visit the Town Grill in Lisbon for barbecue, but get a piece of smoked salmon to go.  The restaurant in the Citgo station smokes salmon fillets and sells the meat for $1 per ounce.  You pick the amount that you want.

I thought the smoked salmon was delicious.  Smoky with a firm crust coating tender meat.  Like prosciutto, good smoked salmon has a big flavor that gives you a full meal for a small amount of meat.  I cut the Town Grill's salmon into a pasta dish with onions, garlic, lemon and a little half-and-half. Four dollars of salmon made a special dinner.  You can put it in wontons.  Make salmon and cucumber rolls.  Put mustard and salmon on toasted baguettes.  And that's just a single Chowhound post.  This isn't the type of salty smoked salmon to put on bagels, but it's a great treat.

And if smoked salmon isn't your cup of fish, try the ceviche special in the R&R Tacqueria inside the Shell station on Rte 175 at U.S. 1.


Smoked Salmon Pasta
(serves two)

4-6 ounces of spaghetti or a similar pasta
2 TBL olive oil
1/3 c. chopped onions -- one small onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 c. water

salt

2 TBL lemon juice -- about one lemon
zest of one lemon (divided use)

1/4 c. cream or half-and-half

4 ounces of smoked salmon, broken into small pieces
ground pepper

1) Heat a pot of boiling water for the pasta.  Add the pasta and cook to al dente.

2) While the pasta cooks, heat a large skillet on medium heat and add the olive oil.  Add the onions and garlic, saute for two minutes.  Then add the water, a pinch of salt, lemon juice and the zest from half of the lemon.  Increase the heat and let the sauce boil down by half.

3) Take the sauce off the heat.  Add the cream.

4) Before you drain the pasta, save about a cup of the cooking liquid.  Then drain the liquid.  Add the hot pasta to the skillet.  Add the smoked salmon and the zest from the second half of the lemon.  Season with the pepper.  Add a little of the pasta liquid if the sauce seems dry.