Poached salmon with herb dressing

For a simple, foolproof way to poach salmon, follow Adam Byatt’s instructions and enjoy restaurant-quality cooking in your own home. Here’s why cooking fish with confidence has never been so...

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About Recipe
Poached salmon with herb dressing

For a simple, foolproof way to poach salmon, follow Adam Byatt’s instructions and enjoy restaurant-quality cooking in your own home. Here’s why cooking fish with confidence has never been so easy…

Ingredients :
  • 1 carrot, peeled and very finely sliced (see Don’t Waste It and Know-how)
  • 2 celery sticks, peeled and sliced on the diagonal
  • ½ fennel bulb, very finely sliced
  • 1 leek, outer layer removed and sliced
  • ½ lemon, finely sliced into wheels
  • Large dill sprig
  • 10g salt flakes
  • 4 x 250g salmon fillets (you can also use trout – ChalkStream is good)
  • 100g white wine
  • 100g white wine vinegar
  • Extra-virgin olive oil to drizzle
  • 10g soft herbs (such as chives, tarragon and/or dill), chopped
  • For the dressing
  • 3 medium egg yolks
  • 20g dijon mustard
  • 8g sea salt flakes
  • Finely grated zest and juice 1 lemon
  • 10g chardonnay vinegar
  • 300g cold-pressed rapeseed oil or vegetable oil
  • 20g crème fraîche
  • 30g chives, finely chopped
  • 30g tarragon, leaves picked and finely chopped
  • 30g dill, fronds picked and finely chopped
Directions :

  1. Put the sliced vegetables, lemon, dill sprig and salt in a medium saucepan and sit the salmon fillets on top. Add the white wine, vinegar and 100g cold water. The liquid should just cover the fish (don’t worry if it’s sticking out a little). Add a drizzle of the olive oil.

  2. Cover the saucepan with a cartouche (a disc of baking paper that sits directly on the contents of the pan). Put the pan over a low-medium heat and gradually bring it to a simmer. As soon as the liquid is bubbling, remove the pan from the heat and leave the fish to cook in the residual heat for 10 minutes.

  3. While the salmon cooks, make the dressing. Whisk the egg yolks and mustard together in a large bowl (see Adam’s introduction). Whisk in the salt, then add a squeeze of lemon juice and the vinegar. While constantly whisking, steadily stream in the oil. The mixture should emulsify and thicken. Finish by whisking in the crème fraîche, the lemon zest, another squeeze of lemon juice and some freshly ground black pepper, then stir in the finely chopped chives, tarragon and dill. It should be looser than a mayonnaise but still holding itself as a dressing; you can add 2 tbsp of the salmon poaching liquid to loosen it further if you like.

  4. Carefully lift the salmon fillets out of the pan and onto a plate, skin-side up. Discard the dill and lemon slices, then transfer the vegetables to a bowl. Season them with salt, pepper and drizzle with the olive oil, then add around 3 tbsp of the liquid used to poach the salmon and stir to combine. Stir in the 10g chopped herbs.

  5. Gently peel the skin off the salmon; it should come away with little resistance. Use a spoon to carefully scrape off the grey fatty layer underneath the skin to expose the pink meat below. Plate the salmon fillets with the vegetables alongside, then spoon the dressing over the top of the fish. Finish with a little more of the olive oil, then serve.

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