Evelyn Dawn’s Potato Crusted Salmon
Sautéed Vegetables, Lemon Dill Sauce
@ Gina Lee’s Bistro, Redondo Beach, California
UPDATE: December 2021, a new version of this recipe now posted here.
Evelyn Dawn was my grandmother-in-law. She passed away at 93 years of age in the year 2000.
As a tribute when Evelyn passed, my dear friends Scott & Gina Lee, proprietors of Gina Lee’s Bistro, named this dish after her. They keep her memory alive in their fabulous restaurant. New patrons ask, who is Evelyn Dawn and why is the salmon named for her? They are quick to tell about Evelyn; an independent woman ahead of her time, with impeccable taste, a successful businesswoman, friend, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and educator of hundreds. A framed photograph of Evelyn sits atop the sideboard in the restaurant.
Gina said of the salmon dish, “This is a crowd favorite. Lots of people remember Miss Dawn the founder of Rolling Hills Country Day School. She came in the restaurant nearly daily and always had the salmon professing that the omega 3 fatty acids kept her going at top speed. We’ve had former students and teachers come in, they marvel that she lives on, on our menu.”
Miss Evelyn Dawn
July 8, 1907 – July 16, 2000
Evelyn in her 90’s with a glass of red wine and a cigar!
Rolling Hills Country Day School was founded by Evelyn Dawn who began educating children in the early 50’s. She bought and operated her first school in Manhattan Beach, California – a preschool. In 1961, Miss Dawn, with very little assistance, broke ground on a beautiful piece of land on the Palos Verdes Peninsula and realized her dream of a Kindergarten through Grade 8 School. She named it Rolling Hills Country Day School, now about to celebrate 50 successful years of educating children in the South Bay.
I previously wrote about Evelyn Dawn’s Potato Crusted Salmon in 2008. We are dining on the salmon and remembering Evelyn again this July, the month of her birth and 10th anniversary of her passing. Rest in peace Nana.
Evelyn Dawn’s Potato Crusted Salmon
Sautéed Vegetables, Lemon Dill Sauce
Recipe from Scott & Gina Lee
Ingredients:
- Salmon
- Flour
- Eggs
- Hash Brown Potatoes
- Flat Leaf Italian Parsley
- Salt and Pepper
Cut salmon on a bit of an angle into 3.5 ounce portions. Dust in flour. Dip in egg. Roll in hash browns to which you have added salt and pepper and coarsely chopped Italian parsley. Put aside.
Lemon Dill Sauce:
- 3 cups White Wine
- Juice of two Lemons and their Zest
- 1/2 cup of chopped Shallots
- One bunch of chopped Fresh Dill
- 1 cup unsalted Butter
Heat first four ingredients in a sauce pan. Reduce by 1/3. When reduced, strain and slowly add 1 cup of all melted butter. This is your sauce. Keep warm. The salmon is pan sauteed in olive oil on one side, flipped and then put into a 450 degree oven for 7-10 minutes depending on how you like it cooked. The salmon is served pan roasted side up…on top of zucchini, yellow squash and carrots that have been sautéed in olive oil and mirin. For plating…vegetables on the bottom, salmon on top, coat with lemon dill sauce and a dash of fresh lemon juice.
Gina Lee’s Bistro
211 Palos Verdes Blvd.
Redondo Beach, CA
310-375-4462
Gina Lee’s Menu here.
