When a method works consitantly, I find I don't like to deviate from it. For example, I roast chickens at 425 degrees without basting, and am inherently suspicious of recipes that ask me to do otherwise. I cook bacon in the oven, burgers in my cast iron skillet, and salmon in a hot pan, flesh side down until crisp, then flip it and finish in (the apparently ubiquitus) 425 degree oven. I like my salmon about medium inside, and I've cooked it this way enough that I can sort of sense when it gets there, rarely letting it coast to well-done.
A few weeks ago, I came across some wild salmon with flesh so moist and pink, so well-marbled, it seemed unfortunate to subject to blistering hot stainless, too harsh, like slapping a kitten. I rembered a lovely dish I had last summer at Plouf where the salmon was poached in olive oil and served with succotash. It highlighted the salmon's buttery texture in a way I was anxious to emulate.
I poked around a little, looking for information on how to correctly oil-poach fish. I settled on the manner Anna Hesser describes in Cooking for Mr. Latte. She tells you to pour olive oil to almost cover the fish, put it over low heat, and to spoon warm oil over the top of the fillet once it begins to cook. She says it is almost impossible to overcook this fish. Ha-hah. My results were less ideal.
But first, let me brag on my succotash a little. It rocked. I think it was rather superior to the succotash at Plouf, a slightly blander version with as much olive oil as vegetables that didn't, I think, make the sweetness of the fresh corn sing like the dish ought. My fish, however, left something to be desired.
Despite frantic oil spooning, the top of my fish was not cooking at all. None. This may be my fault for not putting enough oil into the pan. I put it a smidge more than halfway up, like I would if poaching in liquid. So the bottom is cooking, the top (and thickest part of the fillet) is still quivering raw. I splashed warm oil all over the stove, neglected my succotash, and still it would not cook. So I squeezed a spatula into the narrow pan, splashing more oil, and turned the fillets over. Of course, now that the raw side was down, I couldn't tell how done it was. When I pulled it out, it was a smidge overdone to my taste, maybe not totally well-done, but lacking the soft, coral interior I like.
Still, for overdone fish it was quite moist, a testament to sound theory behind the technique. It tasted like pure salmon, delicate and unctuous, because it hadn't been exposed to direct heat, and the oil bath gave it a silky mouthfeel I enjoyed I have an idea for how to do better, and have a less greasy kitchen, next time that I've outlined below.
I served this with a dollop of my homemade roasted tomatillo salsa on top. The acid and heat cut through the richness of he salmon and sweetness of the corn in that really benefitted the dish.
Oil-Poached Salmon with Herbed Succotash
Succotash:
Serves 2 veggie nuts like me, or 4 regular people, particularly with another side dish, salad, or bread. I happened to have all the herbs in the house when I made this, so I used them. Almost any substitution would work, marjoram, chervil, or tarragon would be nice, or just use extra basil and nothing else.
2 ears corn, kernals cut off and cobs scraped
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1-1 1/2 cups blanced and peeled fava beans (or substitute lima beans, fresh chickpeas, or edamame)
2 shallots, minced
1/2 medium tomato, diced (optional)
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme
1 tablespoon minced parsley
1 tablespoon basil chiffonade
1 tablespoon minced chives
1 bay leaf
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon lemon zest
Saute the shallot and bell pepper in butter until they begin to soften. Add the corn, favas, thyme, and bay leaf, season with salt and pepper, and saute until they heat through and the corn is just tender. Add the lemon zest, cream, and tomato. Bring to a boil and stir until the cream thickens. Remove the bay leaf, add the basil, chives, and parsley and taste for salt, pepper, and lemon.
Salmon, done with technique that didn't quite work, but in the interest of full disclosure, here it is:
Season salmon fillets with coarse salt and pepper and place into the smallest pan you have that will hold them without touching. Pour in oil (preferably olive, but I used a mixture of extra virgin olive oil and canola because I was low on olive) until it comes almost all the way up over the fish. Put it over medium-low (or low) heat. When it heats, spoon warm oil over the fish to cook the top.
Next time, I think I'll cover the fish with oil completely and put it into the over at maybe 325 degrees. I think this will be more gentle and even and harder to overdo.
Your succotash looks mouthwatering. I'm putting aside your recipe to try this weekend.
Your usual method of cooking salmon sounds delicious. The oil cooking method for cooking salmon doesn't sound as appealing.
The succotash does indeed like quite good, but on the fish just a slight suggestion, as you said you always cook your salmon flesh down, and then flip it over finally, but i've always been taught that it's actually best to cook the fish skin side down and the top as last really short, cause the heat will fly through and that way i always produce a nicely cooked fish without it being dry or over cooked.