By Larry Levine –
The season for great, northwest wild caught salmon is just around the corner. I’m in Issaquah Washington as I write this and two nights ago our son John prepared a wonderful dinner of troll caught white king salmon on a bed of a spinach salad. He cooked the salmon the parchment along with portabello mushrooms, carrots and red bell pepper slices. Then he added some grape tomatoes and tangerine segment to the salad. There are so many way to cook salmon and have it come out delicious – baked, broiled, pan seared. One of my favorites is poached, which can be served warm or at room temperature. If you are cooking for a larger group you can use the following poaching liquid for a virtually unlimited amount of salmon. Just refresh the liquid as it evaporates.
POACHED SALMON
1 cup dry white wine
1 small onion, sliced
1 celery stalk (with leafs) cut in 1 inch pieces
several Parsley sprigs
½ tsp salt
1 laurel bay leaf
several sprigs of fresh dill
4 salmon fillets – 6 oz. each
Put all ingredients except the salmon and dill in a wide frying pan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, about 15 minutes. Place a sprig of dill on top of each fillet, wrap each piece of salmon in cheese cloth and tie the cloth closed. Place salmon in the liquid, adding water if necessary to just cover the salmon. Return to boiling, reduce heat and simmer, covered, 12 minutes, or until fish flakes. Remove the salmon from the pan with a slotted spatula. Place on a rack and allow to drain and cool. Remove the cheese cloth and place the salmon pieces on a platter. Serve warm.
You may cover the salmon platter with plastic wrap and refrigerate to serve later at room temperature. If you are doing this remove the salmon from the refrigerator about 20 minutes before serving. If you are going to refrigerate to serve at room temperature, poach the fish just 8 minutes.
Sprinkle fresh dill on the salmon when ready to serve.
Serves 4.
Serve with cucumber-tomato relish, a green side salad, steamed white rose potatoes, rice pilaf. You also may top the salmon with a cucumber sauce.
