cold poached salmon...

[JoAnne427]

I am having some friends over for lunch - fairly new relationships of less than a year - and thought I would attempt poach a salmon - which I have never done before (I grill everything!) - I figure this could be done ahead of time, and stuck in the fridge - but don't know how to do it! Any input? I am nervous, as I have always been taught to not try new things on guests!

Served with salad of mixed greens with nuts, dried cranberries and gorgonzola, and a loaf of yummy, crunchy bread...any other suggestions? We will all have our babies with us, so simple is wonderful!

Have a look at www.seafoodrecipes.com - what a beautifully designed site! Even though it's American and the recipes are measured in cups, click a button and it will convert to UK or metric.

It says cook in a skillet (frying pan), I guess because it would be difficult to remove the boiled animal from a saucepan without it breaking up...

Joanne - I don't know about poaching, but I cook my salmon in the oven with a slice of lemon and a knob of butter and wrapped in foil - quick and easy! I think your menu suggestion sounds very yummy - can I come? My only tip is to throw in a couple of bottles of wine LOL, have a good time!

According to Delia, the best way is wrapped in foil.

She suggests cut the fish in half, wrap in two foil parcels, then after baking and cooling, the two halves can be put back together once the skin has been removed and the join hidden by a band of cucumber slices.

The oven temp is really low for this, Gas Mark 0.5, 250F, 120c. Add 2-3 bay leaves to the body cavity and some sprigs of fresh tarragon, season with salt and pepper. Then wrap in double sheet of foil, loosely but sealing it tightly, place on baking tray and bake in preheated oven for the following times:

For 700g salmon, 1 hr 10 mins
For 900g salmon, 1 hr 30 mins
For 1.35kg, 2 hrs
For 1.8 kg, 2 hr 30 mins
For 2.25kg, 3 hrs

She says you can leave it inside its parcel until you're ready to serve it, which will keep it moist and juicy.

Hope this helps! Good luck, it all sounds very yummy.

JoAnne427 - it couldn't be easier to poach a salmon but you do need a suitable pan in which to do it. Can you borrow a fish kettle from someone?. The way I do it is put the fish in the pan, add enough cold water or fish stock to cover it. Then add around a tablespoon of salt. Bring slowly to the boil and then let it boil for just one minute only. Immediately remove the kettle from the heat and make sure it is covered tightly (i.e. use tin foil if the pan cover is not tight fitting). Leave it in a cool place and then skin if necessary. It really is best to use a fish kettle as you can lay it out flat and the rack means you can lift out the fragile fish afterwards easly. Just remember that it will take a while to cool so its best to do it the night before for lunch. Really delicious served with aioli (a doddle to make) cold bearnaise or with cous cous and minted yoghurt. Good luck!

Is sounds like a lovely idea. Can I sneak in with the others aswell?

Having tried poaching and baking I would recommend the baking as the less worrisome option. All the flavour is there in the tin foil and you are less likely to worry about it breaking up. Talk over what you intend to do with the people you buy the salmon from and get them to do the filleting.

Scandavian way of serving is with cucumber salad (peeled cucumber, white wine vinegar and sugar) and a pile of boiled potatoes. Heinz Salad Cream is regarded as exotic foreign delicacy but in the UK you can serve it as retro kitstch.

Your salad sounds lovely. However, whatabout a gorgonzola free version for the potentially pregnant. It avoids situations like 'Malmomum, you went to JoAnne's and ate her salad and you were pregnant!' or 'Well, did you see? Malmomum refused the salad and it had blue cheese in it. And refused the wine. What do you make of that?' . Or worse still IMO, somebody picking each bit of the gorgonzola as they explain to you that they are pregnant, just a teeny bit and need to be everso careful, don't you know...etc... Yawn. And never telling you how nice the salmon was.

Thanks for the feedback! Lunch went well - I definitely over poached the salmon, but made a dill/cucumber/yogurt sauce and everybody smothered their fish in it. Served it with steamed, chilled asparagus and salad and bread.

MalmoMum - good point on the salad - I waited and asked before throwing it together (allergies to nuts, etc.) and they all said "go for it!" - and I must say - the salad was the best part! I toasted the almonds, and it brought in an amazing flavor - I ended up making another one as everyone wanted more, and had the leftover for dinner (did NOT share with DP!).

I am very excited about trying all of the ideas mentioned here - I have been eating more fish and less meat, and need alternatives to my basic fare.

By the way - I thoroughly overcooked the asparagus (playing with dd) and had to run out to buy more 1/2 hour before guests arrived! My sister laughed at me last night when I told her - she is always so prepared, she says she would get ulcers if she entertained the way I did (hmmm, what does she mean? doesn't everyone decide what to serve the night before?) - said I remind her of Bridget Jones (which I have neither read nor seen)...

I would have loved to have had you all here - so here is an open invite - anytime you can make it to Connecticut, my door is open ! Ah, that would be fun - open some wine, and all cook together! I love playing in the kitchen with friends...and MalmoMum, I will make sure to have sparkling water and cranberry juice for my expectant and non-drinking friends...

Joanne, I didn't get time to post here earlier but I've heard a chef recomend cooking salmon in the dishwasher!!!! Not that I've tried it myself, but you wrap it in foil and put it in on a hot cycle. I have visions of opening the door and finding the inside of the machine coated in pink flakes and I'm sure my cats would be most appreciative. I'm glad your lunch went well - we spent 6 weeks in NYC and upstate NY last summer and viewed Conneticut from Long Island!

Or Connecticut, even!

I had a friend who did that! I had forgotten about that - but now I remember clearly - we were on the subway, on the way to a Yankee game, and I wasn't sure I had heard them correctly - they had seen it on the food network, and tried it - said it was great, but I don't think I will be trying that anytime soon!

I just slice it and put it in a little bit of water and put in the microwave for 2-3 minutes. Has anyone ever tried poaching in citrus juice? R

I cut off the head and tail put the whole lot in a large plastic container (I have a tupperware one with lid) add, herbs, butter, bay leaves, any thing like that and then cover with boiling fish stock, put the lid on and leave overnight. It dosn't matter how long you leave it in the liquor. The skin just falls off when you remove it and it is so moist.

Waitrose will lend you a fish kettle and you don't have to buy your fish from them either

That sounds a brilliant idea Alibubbles, I will definitely try that one.

Ems, BTW I didn't believe it would work until I tried it! (Don't tell everyone, but I found out at a Tupperware demo about 10 years ago!!)