Best Poached Salmon With Potatoes Cucumber And Buttermilk Dill Dressing Recipes

MY ENGLISH FRIEND MAGGIE'S FAVORITE SIMPLE SUPPER: POACHED SALMON WITH DIJON DILL SAUCE, CUCUMBER AND DARK BREAD, NEW POTATOES WITH MINT

Steps:

• Place potatoes in a pot and cover with water. Cover pot and bring water to a boil. Add a generous amount of coarse salt to the water, a few healthy pinches. Reduce heat to medium and boil covered until tender, about 12 minutes.
• Place salmon fillets in a large deep skillet or divide between 2 skillets if you do not have a pan large enough to accommodate all 8 portions. The additional portions will provide the cooked salmon for salmon cakes on another night. Pour wine and water into the pan so that just the very top of the salmon is exposed. Add a bay leaf and a bouquet of a few sprigs each fresh tarragon, dill and parsley to the pan and set it down into the liquid. Place the pan or pans over high heat and bring the liquid to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and cover the pan. Poach salmon for 10 minutes or, until fish is firm and opaque.
• Drain your potatoes and return them to the hot pot. Add butter to the pot and turn potatoes to coat them lightly in the butter. Sprinkle the mint and sugar over the potatoes.
• Combine sour cream with Dijon mustard and chopped herbs in a small bowl.
• Remove salmon from the cooking liquid with a thin spatula. Reserve 3 portions of the salmon and place in the refrigerator or freeze for salmon cakes meal.
• To serve, place a piece of salmon on a plate and garnish with sauce. Serve pumpernickel squares, watercress and sliced cucumber along side the fish. Add minted red potatoes to the plate and serve.

WHOLE POACHED SALMON

Steps:

• Rinse fish under cold running water, washing away any blood around the gills, which would cloud the stock. Pat the fish dry inside and out with paper towels; place on a clean work surface. Trim the fins from the back, belly, and near the gills with a pair of kitchen scissors. If the fish is too long to fit in the poacher, remove the head and tail with a sharp knife; cut off the tail right below the tail fins.
• Cut a double thickness of cheesecloth 17 inches wide and 8 inches longer than salmon. Place the cheesecloth on a clean work surface. Lay the fish lengthwise on the cloth, and wrap the cloth around the fish. Tie the ends of the cheesecloth with kitchen twine.
• Place the rack in the bottom of the poacher, and fill with the cooled court bouillon. Using the ends of the cloth as handles, lower salmon into the poacher, adding water if necessary to cover the fish. Cover, and set the poacher over two burners. Bring the liquid to a simmer; reduce heat to very low. Cook at a bare simmer for 25 minutes (the water should not be boiling).
• Slide a wooden spoon through each handle of the poaching rack; lift out the rack, and prop the spoons on the edges of the poacher so the fish is elevated. Raise one of the spoons to lift the side of the rack that supports the head end, and expose the widest part of the fish's back. Insert an instant-read thermometer near where the fin was. The fish is fully cooked when the temperature registers 135 degrees. (For a larger salmon this may take up to an hour.) If the temperature is too low, return the fish to the liquid, and continue poaching, checking the temperature every 10 minutes.
• Using two wooden spoons as described in Step 4, remove the rack from the liquid, and prop it on top of poacher at an angle to drain, reserving court bouillon. When salmon is cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes, transfer to a clean work surface; let cool completely, about 45 minutes.
• To make the aspic glaze, pour the court bouillon through a fine sieve. Place 6 cups of the bouillon in a stockpot. In a separate bowl, whisk 6 egg whites until frothy, then whisk the whites into the bouillon. Whisk the mixture over medium heat until it comes to a simmer, about 10 minutes. The egg whites will draw all the cloudy particles out of the stock and begin to coagulate on top. Stop whisking, and simmer until all the foam has risen to the surface and the broth below is clear, about 15 minutes
• Using a slotted spoon, carefully lift out the foam. Soak a 12-by-12-inch piece of cheesecloth in ice water. Squeeze out any excess water, and line the sieve with the cold cheesecloth. Pour the broth through the sieve. Repeat, using fresh cheesecloth each time, until all the foam has been removed from the stock. Place 1/3 cup cold water in a small bowl, and evenly sprinkle the gelatin over the top. Let sit until gelatin is softened, about 10 minutes. Add the gelatin mixture to the clarified stock, and bring to a simmer over medium heat, whisking constantly, until all the gelatin has dissolved; do not boil. Remove from the heat.
• Unwrap the fish, leaving the cheesecloth in place underneath. If the head and tail are still attached and are in good shape, you may want to leave them on for decoration. If not, remove the tail with kitchen scissors. The head will pull off easily. Turn the fish over, so that the side that was on the rack faces up. Peel the skin off using a paring knife and your fingers.
• Using cheesecloth to support the fish, flip it onto a serving platter, skin side up. Remove the skin from the top of fish. Using the back of a paring knife, gently scrape off any brown fat.
• Decorate the salmon with your choice of garnishes. Arrange the garnishes on top of the fish; temporarily secure with toothpicks. Pour the aspic into a large bowl set over an ice-water bath. Stir the aspic until it begins to thicken, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the aspic from the ice bath, and ladle a coating over the salmon. Refrigerate the salmon 20 minutes. Repeat the glazing process, if desired. If the aspic becomes too thick to ladle, warm in a double boiler until liquid again. Remove the toothpicks. Keep the salmon in the refrigerator, uncovered, up to 24 hours, or until your guests arrive. (The aspic coating keeps the fish from drying out.)
• When ready to serve, clean away any collected aspic around the bottom of the fish; cut with a fish server. Start at the wide end of the fish; slide the server under or between the garnishes, rather than cutting through them. Cut down to the bone, working the server gently between the flakes. Lift a section of the fish with the garnishes on top, and transfer to a dinner plate. Continue cutting and serving as needed.

POACHED SALMON WITH POTATOES, CUCUMBER, AND BUTTERMILK-DILL DRESSING

Steps:

• Bring 1 1/4 inches of water to a boil in a large straight-sided skillet. Generously season with salt. Add salmon, skin-side down; return to a boil. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand until salmon is just opaque throughout, 15 to 17 minutes. Use a slotted spatula to transfer salmon to a plate, skin-side up.
• Meanwhile, bring 2 inches of water to a simmer in a large pot fitted with a steamer basket (or a metal colander). Place potatoes in basket, cover, and steam until easily pierced with the tip of a sharp knife, 12 to 15 minutes.
• Whisk together buttermilk and mayonnaise in a bowl, stir in dill, and season with salt and pepper. Remove skin from salmon; flake fish into large pieces. Divide salmon, potatoes, and cucumber among plates; drizzle with dressing, and serve with lemon wedges.

POACHED SALMON WITH CUCUMBER SAUCE

Steps:

• Grate cucumber and toss with vinegar and salt in a colander. Set aside for 30 minutes to drain. With your hands squeeze juices from cucumber. Combine cucumber in a mixing bowl with remaining sauce ingredients and season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Skin salmon fillets and remove bones. Fill a wide saucepan with water, about 3 inches deep. For one quart of water, add 2 teaspoons salt and 3 tablespoons vinegar; adjust proportions accordingly for more or less water. Bring to a boil. Carefully add salmon to pan and adjust heat until water is just below simmering -- it should shiver, and not quite bubble. Cook until fish has turned from translucent to opaque and feels springy to touch, about 8 minutes.
• Remove salmon with a spatula and drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Transfer to serving platter, garnish with sauce and decorate with dill sprigs.

POACHED SALMON WITH CUCUMBER-DILL SAUCE

Steps:

• For the salmon: Combine the wine, water, bouillon, peppercorns, dillweed, bay leaves, celery, and lemon in a skillet. Bring to a boil; cover.
• Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Add the salmon to the mixture in the skillet and cook for 10 minutes or until the fish flakes easily.
• To prepare Cucumber-Dill Sauce: In a medium bowl, mix together the cucumber, sour cream, yogurt, dill, and mustard.
• To serve: place the fillets on individual serving plates. Spoon the sauce evenly over the fillets. Garnish with fresh dill sprigs, if using.

POACHED SALMON WITH DILL SAUCE

Steps:

• In a large nonstick skillet, combine the water, wine, onion and celery. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; add salmon and poach, uncovered, for 5-10 minutes or until fish is firm and flakes easily with a fork., Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the sauce ingredients. Serve with salmon.

EASY SKILLET-POACHED SALMON

Steps:

• Generously season fish with salt and pepper. Transfer to a straight-sided skillet, saucepan, or shallow pot slightly larger than fish, skin-side down. Scatter leek, celery, bay leaf, lemon rounds, and peppercorns around fish. Add wine and enough water to submerge fish by 1 inch. Attach a deep-fry thermometer to skillet.
• Heat over medium until liquid reaches 150 degrees. Reduce heat to low to maintain temperature (remove skillet from heat briefly if it climbs above 150 degrees). Cook until fish turns opaque and is just cooked through, 6 to 10 minutes, depending on thickness. With a fish spatula, transfer to a plate, skin-side up. Let cool slightly; remove skin. Serve warm, room temperature, or chilled, with lemon wedges.

SIMPLE POACHED SALMON

Steps:

• In a large, deep, straight-sided skillet or heavy pot, combine carrots, celery, onion, lemon, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 6 cups water. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook 8 minutes.
• Season salmon with salt and gently lower into simmering liquid (liquid should just cover fish). Reduce to a very gentle simmer. Cover and cook until salmon is opaque throughout, about 5 minutes (longer for thicker fillets). Using a wide slotted spatula, remove salmon from liquid.

DAD'S POACHED SALMON WITH CUCUMBER SAUCE

Steps:

• Combine all poaching liquid ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring the poaching liquid to a very low simmer and cook 30 minutes. Skim the top as needed to remove any foam from the surface. Lay some cheesecloth over the top of the poaching liquid, making a bed for the fillets. Submerge salmon in poaching liquid and cook for 8 to 10 minutes.
• 1 English cucumber, unpeeled, roughly chopped
• Fronds from 1 bunch dill (about 1 cup)
• 1/2 small red onion
• 2 large lemons, juiced
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup yogurt
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Combine first four ingredients in a blender and puree. Gradually blend in mayonnaise, oil and yogurt and then season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
• Serve poached salmon with side of sauce.