Clare's Cooking Blog

6-8 servings

The Poached Salmon

• 3 cups Chardonnay
• 3 cups water
• 1 lemon, sliced
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 12 juniper berries, crushed (the hardest ingredient to find, but I DID find them at Whole Foods, in the spice section)
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 stem fresh basil
• 3 fronds fennel
• 1 (2 1/2 to 3 pound) salmon fillet, skin on
• olive oil
• 2 lemons, sliced, for garnish
• 1 bunch dill, for garnish, and/or
• thin slices of cucumber, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Put the Chardonnay, water, lemon, peppercorns, juniper berries, bay leaves, basil and 2 of the fennel fronds into a large saucepan.  Put the pan over high heat and bring the liquid to a boil.  Reduce the heat to low and simmer for ten minutes.  Remove from heat, discard fennel and basil, and let the liquid cool.

Line a large pan (a roasting pan, or even a foil pan) with a double layer of foil.  Lay the salmon in, top it with the remaining fennel frond, and pour the poaching liquid over it.  Cover the pan with foil and seal it as tightly as you can.  Place the pan in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.  At 10 minutes, remove the foil and baste the salmon, reseal, and finish poaching (I confess I didn’t do this - the liquid level was high enough that it didn’t seem necessary, and nothing bad happened!).  Remove the pan for the oven, remove the foil and brush the top of the salmon with the poaching liquid to remove any white bits.

When the pan is cool enough, carefully lift the salmon out on the lining foil, and drain off any remaining liquid.  Drain the pan as well, then put the salmon back, brush it with olive oil, cover it with foil again, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours - or even overnight.

To serve, slide the salmon from its foil onto a platter (yes, easier said than done, but possible), fan the lemon slices out along the top and garnish the sides with fronds of dill, thin cucumber slices, or both.  Serve with Dill Dijon whipped cream on the side:

Dill Dijon Whipped Cream:

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 3 teaspoons chopped dill (or more, to taste)
• salt and pepper

Pour the cream into a large bowl and, using an electric mixer on high, beat until soft peaks form.  Add the mustard and continue to beat until it is just blended in (don’t let it get too hard).  Fold in the dill and season with salt and pepper, to taste.