Adventures with Rommelsbacher toaster oven – Ep 1 – Roasted salmon

We were at Robinson’s department store the other day.  We came across this toaster oven.  It is German and has a name that sounded like a WW2 tank. The side ventilation vents made it look like one as well.  The Rommelsbacher toaster oven model BG 1055/E was one of the smallest toaster ovens on display but it looked the meanest.  The sales staff rattled off its positive attributes. The thing that made the sale was the price of $149, discounted from the regular price of $199. We figured it would pay for itself in a few meals if we actually used it.  So this is how we ended up with this thing.  We will see what we can do with it and document our adventures in the process.

The Rommelsbacher toaster oven model BG 1055/E has an internal light, fan and double glazed doors. It does not have a rotisserie rotating spit.  It is too small to fit a whole chicken.

We picked this piece of salmon from NTUC Fairprice Finest to practise with as it was quite small and looked good.  We will combine this with other ingredients that we already had. In this case we will also roast a red capsicum at the same time.  We also had some Chinese parsley and lime which will use to garish the fish after it is cooked.   Here are pictures of our raw materials.

We cut the capsicum into small strips. The size was based on our objective that they will be cooked at the same time as the salmon is done.  The slice of salmon was about 1.5 cm thick.  We used some olive oil, a dash of pepper, some sea salt and cumin powder.  We never tried salmon with cumin before but we think it would be interesting to mix and match.

This is what the fish and capsicum looked like after they have been smothered with olive oil etc.  Some recipes suggest that the seasoning be left on for a while before cooking, but we did not. It was straight into the Rommelsbacher toaster oven once the preparation was done.

The oven had been switched on while we were doing the preparation, which took less than 10 minutes. We selected a temperature of 200 degrees C, top and bottom grill with fan on, time of 15 minutes.  The tray was placed at the middle position.

The result of our maiden run of the Rommelsbacher toaster oven was decent.  The salmon was cooked just right. The capsicum was ok but they could be better.  I think they need another 5 minutes to be at their best.

Anyway, once the garnishing was added on, the dish looked good. Lemon would normally be used but the large lime did its job just as well. In fact it has a more subtle and less sour taste which I think worked even better.  The overall taste was good but not fantastic. The Chinese parsley and cumin gave it an Asian “feel”.  It could do with more cumin as its flavour was quite mild.

Summary

Tray at middle position. 200 degrees C.  Top and bottom grill with fan.

Thin salmon slice – cooking time 15 mins

Capsicum strips – needs 20 mins