Steamed Salmon and Potatoes

We made this very simple recipe for Oven-Steamed Salmon from the New York Times. The key was having excellent Wild Salmon, which we purchased from McCall's Meat and Fish. We steamed Little Potatoes to go with the salmon. We made a Sauce Gribiche to top the salmon. You can get the recipe for Sauce Gribiche from our blog of: June 4, 2016. Click the date to get the recipe.

Oven-Steamed Salmon

New York Times

This simple way to roast salmon brings spectacular results with hardly any worry on the cook's part. The Mediterranean cookbook author Paula Wolfert learned it from the French chef Michel Bras, and it rises and falls on the thinness of the sheet pan. A pan of water delivers enough moisture to steam the fish briefly at a low temperature, producing a final product that is soft and deliciously juicy. It adapts easily to almost any salmon fillet. Emily Kaiser Thelin, who includes it in her biography of Ms. Wolfert, "Unforgettable," says a center-cut of wild-caught Alaska king works best and suggests pairing it with a salad or cracked green olive relish.

Ingredients

8      ounces cracked green olives, pitted, rinsed and coarsely chopped

2      tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

¾     cup walnuts, finely chopped by hand

2      green onions, white and light green parts, minced

¼     cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

⅛     teaspoon mild red pepper flakes, preferably Aleppo or Marash, or more to taste

2      teaspoons pomegranate concentrate or molasses

1      tablespoon fresh lemon juice

 Flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

½     cup fresh or thawed frozen pomegranate seeds

Preparation

1.   Position an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and a second rack in the upper third. Heat the oven to between 225 and 275 degrees. Grease a thin sheet pan with olive oil.

2.   Carefully place a frying pan of just-boiled water on the lower oven rack. Arrange the salmon on the prepared sheet pan, season generously with salt and pepper, and place on the upper oven rack. Bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 110 degrees for rare, 115 degrees for medium-rare, or 125 degrees for medium. This should take 10 to 12 minutes for 5-ounce fillets or 20 to 25 minutes for a 2 1/2-pound fillet. (The color of the salmon will not turn dull, and the texture will be very juicy.)

3.   Transfer the salmon to a platter or one or more individual plates and season with more salt and pepper, if desired. Sprinkle with chives, if using, and serve.