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Herb Encrusted Salmon
We
had a luncheon guest Friday who doesn't ...
- drink alcohol
- eat meat on Friday
- eat shellfish
I have an extensive list of Test Kitchen videos
saved on DVR, so I
perused them for fish recipes. The first three I came across were
for salmon, a fish I'm not terribly fond of because .. well, I'm just
not. However, this Herb-Crusted
Salmon
(there were two) looked properly good, so I trotted off to the fish
monger and took pains to get a center cut Atlantic Salmon that passed
muster. Two pounds (over-kill) skinned and
boned cost $34. This
turned out to be the 2nd best fish I have ever had—the
first was poached bass at some hole-in-the-wall French restaurant in
Manhattan 30 yers ago. Here's how good it is. Both MoSup
and guest said holy crap
at first bite. I was even more impressed, and had a leftover slab
for
dinner and some other leftovers for breakfast yesterday. Most
importantly; I used fresh
thyme and tarragon, instead of the usual dried stuff, and it made a
huge difference.
There was another upside: the Panko crust recipe. I've used Panko
for
several years and swear by it, however; I usually just put it on top
of, say baked chicken breasts, topped with a pat of butter.
Last
night we had chicken breasts and I used a variation of the salmon
recipe for the Panko. Perfectly crunchy.
You're
welcome. Here's
the video (if it works without a subscription)
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For the
fillets
to cook at the same rate, they must be the same size and shape. To
ensure uniformity, we prefer to purchase a 1 1/2- to 2-pound center-cut
salmon fillet and cut it into four pieces. Dill or basil can be
substituted for tarragon.
INGREDIENTS
- Salt
and pepper
- 4(6-
to 8-ounce) skin-on salmon fillets
- 2tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2cup panko bread
crumbs
- 2tablespoons
beaten egg
- 2teaspoons
minced fresh thyme
- 1/4cup
chopped fresh tarragon
- 1tablespoon
whole-grain mustard
- 1
1/2teaspoons
mayonnaise
- Lemon
wedges
INSTRUCTIONS
-
1. Adjust
oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Dissolve 5
tablespoons salt in 2 quarts water in large container. Submerge salmon
in brine and let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. Remove
salmon from brine, pat dry, and set aside.
2. Meanwhile,
melt butter in 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Add panko and 1/8
teaspoon salt and season with pepper; cook, stirring frequently, until
panko is golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to bowl and let cool
completely. Stir in egg and thyme until thoroughly combined. Stir
tarragon, mustard, and mayonnaise together in second bowl.
3. Set
wire rack in rimmed baking sheet. Place 12 by 8-inch piece of aluminum
foil on wire rack and lightly coat with vegetable oil spray. Evenly
space fillets, skin side down, on foil. Using spoon, spread tarragon
mixture evenly over top of each fillet. Sprinkle panko mixture evenly
over top of each fillet, pressing with your fingers to adhere. Bake
until center of thickest part of fillets reaches 125 (I did 122º)
degrees and is
still translucent when cut into with paring knife, 18 to 25 minutes.
Transfer salmon to serving platter and let rest for 5 minutes before
serving with lemon wedges.
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I have never cared for shellfish or the rich gamy fish species. My favorite
ReplyDeletefish are the mild varieties of whitefish like Cod and Halibut.
When I was younger, I spent some time at the bottom of the U at the horseshoe
pier in Redondo Beach. There was this seafood restaurant with hundreds of
seats located outside. The sounds were what you would expect from hundreds of
Asians chattering away like chickens on cocaine and the constant hammering of
wooden mallets cracking crabs. Finally, there was the odor. Imagine something
so foul it would drive the maggots off a Civil War gut wagon.
Someone once told me "If it smells bad, don't eat it." But I think that was in
an entirely unrelated context!
The best Salmon is no doubt the Sockeye Salmon from the Copper River in Alaska. Much milder flavor than the typical Salmon from the Atlantic. Generally only available in late May through June. $18.00 per pound but worth it. I usually buy the whole fish and have the butcher save the trimmings and bones to make fish stock for Lobster Bisque.
ReplyDeleteI'd have offered my luncheon guest a peanut butter sammich, and said the hell with it. Which is why I have few luncheon guests
ReplyDelete"We had a luncheon guest Friday who doesn't..."
ReplyDeleteCan they take a hint? How about a beating?
DonM, de gustibus non est disputandum, but I don't know where you get that sockeye is milder than Atlantic salmon. Atlantic salmon (all of which available commercially is farm-raised) is by far the mildest and tenderest. People don't usually buy wild-caught salmon for its "mildness". They buy it for its stronger, "wild" flavor (and often because they're elitists about farmed salmon).
ReplyDeleteWhy would you bother paying for Copper River salmon and then slather it with all kinds of crap that corrupts its natural flavor?
I soak my salmon filets or portions (whatever variety) in lime juice and sautee 'em in olive or canola oil, and season 'em in the pan with a sprinkle of the late Chef Paul's Salmon Magic (it's not really magic -- the first ingredient is sugar! -- but it does a great job. The only "exotic" ingredient is the mustard seed).
I start 'em skin side up (even when skinned) so that after I turn 'em they're skin side down/presentation side up. I give 'em just a couple of minutes per side on a medium flame, seasoning both sides, and I serve 'em as soon as they yield to the spatula, rare like a prime rib or chateaubriand; they melt in your mouth.
Hint: Artic Char puts any available salmon in the cat-food category. Especially when the Char is fresh-caught and then smoked in a smoker made out of a shipping crate, an element from a stove, refrigerator racks, and using the oak skids from other crate for the smoke...heh, heh, heh.
ReplyDelete