To my palate, Salmon fillets are a delicate dish to prepare, especially if you’re cooking them in a sauce. A powerful sauce can overwhelm the salmon; but if you steam the salmon as we do in this recipe, it’s flavor and texture come through. In this case we serve it with herbs in a vinaigrette. This is a basic sauce that contains no butter or cream. It’s unique taste comes from a mix of parsley, scallions, chives, tarragon, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper.
For this dish, you need a steamer. If you don’t have a steamer, you can improvise by setting a can in large pot or saucepan, filling it halfway with water, placing the seasoned fillets on a plate, placing the plate atop the can, bringing the water to a boil, cover the pot or saucepan and thereby steam the fish. If you have a bamboo steamer, you can use that as well.
This is a wonderful summer dish that can be served hot or cold. This time around we served the dish with boiled potatoes enhanced with butter and dill. Or you can serve the fillets with your favorite side dish, be it a vegetable or a grain such as rice or couscous. As I’ve mentioned many times before, you’re only limited by your imagination.
Also, be aware that any leftover herb vinaigrette sauce goes good with chicken, veal, pork or beef. It’s an all purpose sauce that will enhance any entrée. Or you can serve it for breakfast over eggs and toast. Once you taste the sucker, I’m sure it’ll become part of your culinary routine.
STEAMED SALMON FILLETS
Ingredients:
½ cup chopped fresh chopped parsley
½ cup coarsely chopped scallions, including green part
4 tablespoons coarsely chopped chives
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
6 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 hard-boiled egg, sliced in quarters
4 boneless salmon fillets (about 6 ounces each) rinsed and patted with paper towels
16 large basil leaves
Instructions:
- Combine the parsley with the scallions, chives, tarragon, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper in the bowl of a food processor or blender. Process until mixture is chopped fine. Be aware that over blending will emulsify the texture.
- Add the egg and blend briefly until the egg is coarsely blended.
- Pour water into the bottom of a steamer. Place fillets on a serving plate that can fit the steamer rack. Season the fillets with salt and pepper. Place the plate on the steamer rack. Place 4 basil leaves over each fillet and cover. Bring the water to a boil and steam fillets for 4-5 minutes. Do not overcook. The fish can be served hot or cold.
- Transfer the serving plate to the table. Spoon the vinaigrette sauce over the fillets and serve.
Yield: 4 servings.