Olive Oil Poached Salmon with Salted Citrus Gremolata

Exotic & luxurious sounding, but quick and easy to cook — any night of the week.  Served with a mixed rice pilaf and a small side salad, we were feasting on rich, moist (but not oily) salmon in under an hour…

Pull skin-on salmon fillets out the fridge and allow to rest while you start the rice.

 

Once the rice is started, rinse some preserved citrus peel well, and cut into julienne strips.  (I used tangerine, Meyer lemon and sweet limes.)  Add to olive oil in a non-reactive saucepan, along with coarse salt and a few whole peppercorns.  You need enough olive oil to cover the fillets completely, and a big enough pan to cook the salmon in a single layer.  Bring the olive oil up to a VERY STEADY 175-180° F (80-82° C) over med heat.

To make the gremolata, finely mince more salted citrus peel, and toss with minced flat parsley, a little lemon or lime juice, minced garlic, coarse salt and freshly cracked pepper.

When the oil is to temperature (and the rice is cooked and resting), season the salmon with s+p and add to the oil.  Poach until 1 or 2 small white droplets appear on the surface of the salmon (medium rare)  (see **tip below).  Remove from the oil immediately, and drain on paper towels.  Rest for a couple of minutes while you get a small salad together.

I don’t have a pic of our salad, but it was a handful of fresh spring greens, a couple of sorrel leaves from the plant on the deck, some tender dandelion shoots and some cherry tomatoes, all tossed with a red wine vinaigrette.

Serve the salmon on top of a mound of rice, and garnish with the gremolata.  Enjoy!

** Tips:

• Cooking time will vary with the thickness of the salmon — our relatively thin fillets took 5-6 minutes — if you have thicker fillets, you may want to increase the heat slightly just after you add the salmon to bring up the temperature of the oil.  Use a thermometer to monitor the oil temperature, and do not allow it to go above 180° F (82° C).  Inch thick fillets will take approx. 10-12 minutes to cook to medium rare.
• Fresh lemon, lime and orange peel can be substituted for the preserved.  Use a zester on the fresh citrus and ensure you avoid using any of the white pith that lies beneath the peel.
• To reuse the oil to cook more fish, strain through cheesecloth, and store covered in the fridge for up to 1 week.