Gustatory Circuit » Fish

Olive Oil Poached Salmon

Yvonne — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 05:45:03 +0000

I have wanted to try poaching something in olive oil ever since Season 6, Episode 1 of Top Chef, when Kevin Gillespie made his Arctic Char with Salsa Verde of Turnips. The idea of poaching something in olive oil was totally new to me and it sounded delicious.

Fast-forward to this week, when the latest Fine Cooking landed in my mailbox. In it:

brioche (I really need to start baking my own bread)
a method for developing your own cheesecake recipes (guess what my mom and I will be doing when she comes to visit!)
artichokes (love them, never tried cooking them)

…and poaching seafood in olive oil!

The basic method itself is very easy. The total prep time is about 90 minutes, but the active prep time is less than 10.

Season the seafood (more on that later) and let stand at room temperature for about an hour.
Place rack in center of oven and preheat to 225 degrees F.
Pour extra-virgin olive into a straight-sided sauté pan to the same depth as the seafood. Choose a pan that will just hold all the fish in a single layer. Heat the oil to 120 degrees F.
Place fish into pan with heated oil, then put the pan in the oven for 25 minutes. Small white droplets will have formed on the surface of the fish.
Remove fish from pan (carefully!) and place on rack to drain for a few minutes.
Serve.

Once you’re done poaching, you can strain the leftover oil through a coffee filter and re-use it once or twice. Keep it covered in the fridge for up to three weeks.

The sample recipes in the magazine included a couple of rubs (one for shrimp and one for halibut) and a couple of pastes (for salmon and tuna). I opted to make my own. This is a common flavor profile for salmon, but since I was playing it by ear I double-checked the combination in The Flavor Bible:

1 tsp. Kosher salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
Zest of half a lemon
1/3 tsp. dried thyme
2 sprigs fresh dill, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, smashed through a garlic press

This makes enough to season 4 6-oz. salmon fillets. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl, then drizzle in just enough olive oil to make a paste. Rub the paste all over the fish.

Tasting notes:

The texture of the fish was buttery-soft and silky. Delicious. And I think I may have even overcooked the fish a bit, judging from the amount of floaty white bits on the fillets. I was supposed to pull it when there were “a few” small white droplets on the fish, but I let it go for the full 25 minutes which produced the result shown above.

Recipe notes:

I didn’t have enough extra-virgin olive oil, so I just used regular. It came out fine, but I bet it would be even tastier with extra-virgin. Next time I do this, I’m springing for the better quality fish.

I don’t have a pan the right size, so I stuck a 9-inch baking dish into the oven when I preheated it, warming the oil in a non-stick pan on the stove. When the oil reached the right temperature, I took the baking dish out of the oven, poured in the warm oil, laid in the fish fillets, and stuck the baking dish back in the oven. It worked just fine.

I served it over a bed of steamed white rice with asparagus, which I quickly sauteed in olive oil with salt and pepper and then hit with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice at the end.

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Crispy Catfish Curry

Yvonne — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 03:20:39 +0000

Prep time: 30 mins
Cook time: 30 mins
Serves: 4

So I went grocery shopping yesterday, all proud of myself that I’d remembered our re-usable grocery bags. I happily loaded stuff into my cart, despaired over the lack of shiitakes and garam masala, and then headed for the checkout.

Only to discover I’d forgotten my wallet. I put everything back, sniffing that maybe I didn’t want to buy a roast chicken anyways. We had frozen gyoza for dinner last night.

Today’s grocery shopping was a bit more successful, not least because I went to a different store that does carry shiitakes (but still no garam masala). Got home, whipped the stuff into the fridge/pantry, and set to work making dinner.

This is based an Emeril recipe. Now, I find his on-screen persona to be as appealing as the love child of a walrus and a woodpecker, but his food is really good. But I still took it upon myself to change up the recipe a little.

Crispy Catfish Curry
Adapted from Emeril Live

1/4 c. all-purpose flour
Kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper
Cayenne pepper
Dried thyme
Garlic powder
Paprika

1 – 1 1/2 lbs. catfish fillets
1/2 c. grapeseed oil
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
3 medium cloves garlic, minced
2-3 T. red curry paste
2 T. soy sauce
2 c. low-salt chicken broth
1 c. cherry or grape tomatoes, optionally cut in half
1 8-oz. can bamboo shoots, drained
1/2 c. basil, chopped
1 15-oz. can straw mushrooms, drained

Season the all-purpose flour to taste with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, dried thyme, garlic powder, and paprika. Dredge the catfish fillets in the seasoned flour, shaking off the excess.

Heat the oil in a 12-inch, straight-sided sauté pan until it shimmers. Fry the catfish fillets until golden brown, about 4 minutes per side. Use a slotted spatula to transfer the fillets to a plate lined with paper towels. Pour out all but 2 T. of the fat and return the pan to the heat.

Add the bell peppers and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds. Add the curry paste and soy sauce, stirring to combine. Pour in the stock, scraping up any browned bits with a wooden spoon. Bring to a boil. Add the tomatoes. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add the bamboo shoots and straw mushrooms and stir to combine. Season the curry to taste with salt. Add the catfish fillets, using the spatula to break each fillet into 6-8 pieces. Cook until everything is heated through, about 1 minute. Turn off the heat and stir in the basil.

Serve over steamed white rice.

That’s the way I made it tonight. I like the tomatoes for a little extra color and nutrition. In the past I’ve also added a can of drained chunk pineapple for some sweetness.

I use the pre-made red curry paste from Thai Kitchen, mostly because it’s easy (to use and to find in a grocery store). But once I made my own curry paste from scratch using the recipe from Emeril, and oh man, does it make a difference. I’m going to have to do that again one of these days.

This meal comes to about $6 per serving. Here’s the budget breakdown:

Item	Price
1.3 lbs catfish fillets	$8.33
1 yellow bell pepper	$1.79
32 oz. package low-salt chicken broth	$1.99
1 8-oz. can bamboo shoots	$1.19
1 15-oz. can straw mushrooms	$2.19
1 package cherry tomatoes	$3.99
1 package basil	$3.89
Total	$23.37

Pantry ingredients: Garlic, oil, spices
Leftover ingredients: Basil, chicken broth

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Roasted Salmon & Asparagus w/Lemon Oil

Yvonne — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 02:00:27 +0000

Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Serves: 4

This one rates pretty high on my effortless-but-tasty dinner list. The salmon here is half the giant fillet I bought during my day of gluttony at Costco.* As usual, I was too lazy to portion the salmon so I served it family style.

Roasted Salmon & Asparagus w/Lemon Oil
Adapted from The Best of Fine Cooking: Roasting

2 – 2 1/2 lbs. salmon fillet, about 1 inch thick
2 T. olive oil
1 bunch asparagus (about 2 lbs.), preferably thin stalks, trimmed
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 t. dried dill
1 lemon
2 T. extra-virgin olive oil

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees.

Spread asparagus stalks on one side of a heavy, rimmed baking sheet. Toss with 1 T. olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Take the other T. olive oil and oil the other half of the baking sheet.

Season the salmon fillet with salt and pepper (both sides, if using a skinless fillet). Lay the salmon (skin side down, if using a skin-on fillet) on the other half of the baking sheet. If necessary, tuck the tail end under the fillet to help it fit on the baking sheet and to make the salmon a more even thickness throughout. Rub the top side with a little more oil and sprinkle with dried dill. Roast salmon and asparagus 10-13 minutes or until the interior temperature is 140 degrees and the asparagus is tender. If the salmon finishes cooking before the asparagus, transfer the salmon to a platter (use two large spatulas to move the salmon to avoid breaking the fillet), tent with foil, and return the asparagus to the oven until it’s done.

While the salmon is roasting, zest the lemon. Combine the lemon zest with the extra-virgin olive oil. Cut the lemon into wedges.

Arrange the asparagus on a platter and layer the salmon on top. Drizzle everything with the lemon oil and serve with lemon wedges.

Today I served the salmon and asparagus with a simple salad—mixed greens, toasted walnuts, and grated pecorino romano (left over from Pasta alla Norma)—for a very nice low-carb meal. I whipped up a quick vinaigrette with balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, salt and pepper, a bit of dried dill, a pinch of lemon zest, and extra-virgin olive oil. If you don’t like low-carb, it’s also good with rice.

Budget:

Item	Price
2.25 lbs salmon	$14.77
1 bunch asparagus	$4.43
1 lemon	$0.50
Total	$19.70

Pantry ingredients: Olive oils, salt and pepper, dried dill

Yeah, you’re not going to be able to get salmon in a restaurant for $5 a serving.

*Speaking of Costco, we were there today and I picked up a double-pack of The Best of Fine Cooking: Fresh and The Best of Fine Cooking: Comfort Food for just over $9. A steal.

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Pan-Seared Salmon w/Spinach & Mushrooms

Yvonne — Thu, 28 May 2009 02:00:37 +0000

Active prep: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Serves: 3

This recipe supposedly serves 4, but despite using more of pretty much everything, we’re barely going to eke out two meals from this. So I’m going to say it really serves three. I also opted to serve it family style because I’m lazy. Bonus: my husband did not abscond with the entire platter the second I snapped one photo.

This is another recipe from Fine Cooking‘s “Make It Tonight” (formerly “Quick & Delicious”) section and whips up in about 30 minutes. The original recipe calls for shiitakes but the grocery store was out so I substituted creminis instead.

I also swapped in dried thyme for fresh since I hate buying a whole pack to use one sprig and we have yet to add a thyme plant to the balcony herb garden.

Pan-Seared Salmon w/Spinach & Mushrooms
Adapted from Fine Cooking Apr/May 2009

3 1/2 T. olive oil
2 medium shallots, finely chopped
1/2 lb. cremini mushrooms, stemmed and cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/2 c. heavy cream
Heaping 1/4 t. dried thyme
Kosher salt and black pepper
2 c. lightly packed baby spinach (approximately half of a 5-oz. package)
1 1/2 lb. boneless, skin-on salmon, either portioned into 6-oz. fillets or cut into several large pieces so it’ll fit into the skillet
3 T. lemon juice

Heat 2 T. of the olive oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the shallots until golden brown, stirring often, about 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook until softened, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes more.

Stir in the cream, thyme, 1 t. salt, and 1/8 t. black pepper. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring often, until thickened, 1-2 minutes. Turn off heat and stir in the spinach to wilt it. Transfer spinach and mushroom mixture to a shallow serving dish, cover, and set aside.

Clean out the skillet and return to stove. Heat remaining olive oil over medium heat. Season salmon liberally with salt and pepper. Place salmon in single layer in skillet, skin side up, and cook for 5 minutes. Turn salmon over. Cook an additional 2-4 minutes or until interior temperature reaches 140 degrees. Transfer salmon to serving dish, layering it on top of the spinach.

Add lemon juice and 1 T. water to the skillet. Stir until the sauce thickens slightly, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan, about 30 seconds. Drizzle sauce over the salmon.

An instant-read thermometer is a must-have for this recipe. I have the Thermapen and I’m not sure how I ever cooked without it. My salmon fillets were quite thick so they took an extra 4 minutes to reach the correct temperature. Without my thermometer, I would have served undercooked fish.

This is not the most budget-friendly meal, though you could make it more budget-friendly by getting less expensive salmon and non-organic produce. I bought the Atlantic farm-raised salmon because it was noticeably fresher than the least expensive salmon the store had in stock, but not quite as expensive as the wild-caught sockeye (though the sockeye looked really delicious).

Item	Price
1 5-oz box organic baby spinach	$3.99
1 8-oz container heavy cream	$1.39
1.71 lbs salmon fillets	$22.21
1 small bag organic shallots	$1.99
0.58 lbs cremini mushrooms	$2.78
Total	$32.36

Pantry ingredients: Lemon juice, thyme, salt, pepper
Leftover ingredients: Spinach, shallots, heavy cream

Divided by 3 servings, that comes out to $10.79 per person per meal (divided by 4, it’s $8.09). Still less than what you’d pay in a restaurant for an equivalent dish, but not cheap. Buying the least expensive salmon instead would have saved me almost $9 overall.

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