Poached Salmon with Herb & Caper Vinaigrette

The making of this dish was demonstrated to us aboard a Holland America Cruise we took in January, 2017. "America's Test Kitchen" is in partnership with Holland America and provide cooking demos on most of their voyages. This one intriqued me, so I tried it out as soon as we got home and was very much impressed with the results...as were my guests!

Jan 16, 2017

INGREDIENTS (serves 4)

  • 1 lemon
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves, stems reserved
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon leaves, stems reserved
  • 2 small shallots, minced (about 4 tablespoons)
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 4 salmon fillets
  • 2 tablespoons capers, rinsed and roughly chopped
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • Salt and ground black pepper

METHOD

Cut top and bottom off the lemon; cut into 8 to ten 1/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange lemon slices in single layer across bottom of 12-inch skillet. Scatter herb stems and 2 tablespoons minced shallots evenly over lemon slices. Add wine and water.

Place salmon fillets in skillet, skinned-side down, on top of lemon slices. Set pan over high heat and bring liquid to simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until sides are opaque but center of thickest part is still translucent (or until instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest part registers 125 degrees), 11 to 16 minutes. Remove pan from heat and, using spatula, carefully transfer salmon and lemon slices to paper towel-lined plate and tent loosely with foil or place in warm oven while preparing the vinaigrette.

Return pan to high heat and simmer cooking liquid until slightly thickened and reduced to 2 -3 tablespoons, 4 to 5 minutes. Meanwhile, combine remaining 2 tablespoons shallots, chopped herbs, capers, honey, and olive oil in medium bowl. Strain reduced cooking liquid through fine-mesh strainer into bowl with herb-caper mixture, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Whisk to combine; season with salt and pepper to taste.

Season salmon lightly with salt and pepper. Place salmon on serving platter or individual plates and spoon vinaigrette over top. Serve immediately.



 


CHEF's NOTES:

  • If the skin is on the fillets when you get them at the market don't worry. You can leave them on; but its a nicer presentation with them removed..which is very easy to do after the fish is cooked. Simply run a knife or sharp metal spatula underneath the fillets, and the skin will come right off.
  • To ensure the fish is at the proper temperature, you should invest in a good quality digital instant read thermometer. If using farm raised salmon (pictured here, and which is perfectly OK), heat to 125 degrees. Wild caught salmon will have a bit less fat and can be cooked to 120 degrees.
  • The one ingredient that I found a bit confusing was the "honey". Well, it turns out that its not used to apply a sweeting agent, but more so to offset the acidity of the lemons and capers. It can be described as that "umami" element that serves to balance the flavors.
  • At first I questioned the requirement to "roughly" chop the capers, but after tasting the finished product realized that by doing so extended the flavoring provided by the capers.
 
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