A good piece of fish needs very little to make it perfect
A good piece of fish needs very little to make it perfect. Here, the brisk, anisey-tangy flavor of tarragon vinaigrette is a wonderful complement to the lushness of salmon fillets.
If you start with excellent salmon and super-fresh herbs, and don’t overcook the fish, you cannot mess this up. It’s a less-is-more dish.
The mix of orange and lemon juices in the vinaigrette provides a nice balance of sweetness and tanginess. If you are in possession of a Meyer lemon, you could use 3 tablespoons of that juice in place of the mix, and get similar results. Not exactly the same, but something else wonderful.
I love starting fish in a pan (make sure your fish is fairly thick, about 1 inch or even thicker) and then transferring it to a stove to finish cooking. Here are the three main reasons why: 1. You can use the oven to cook something else to go with the fish, whether it’s roasted potatoes or other vegetables. 2. If you are cooking the fish with the skin on, you can get that pan screaming hot before you add the fish, and when the skin hits the pan it starts to crisp up immediately. It then stays crisp and delicious and great to eat.
Soft fish skin: not good. Crisp fish skin: a fabulous counterpoint to a well-cooked, soft, delicate fish.
3. Perhaps best of all: You don’t have to flip the fish, which even for the most confident and experienced cooks doesn’t always end well.
Salmon is available everywhere because it’s so good and so popular. If you can get wild Alaskan salmon, do yourself (and the environment) a favor and buy it. It has a more pronounced flavor than farm-raised does, so you’re getting the full salmon experience.
And because the Alaskan seafood folks are vigilant about sustainability and harvesting practices, you know you’re eating salmon that has no growth hormones, artificial coloring, preservatives or added stuff that you might be wondering about in fish.
Serve this (maybe for Valentine’s Day?) with rice and a green salad, or a whole-grain salad mixed with some fresh or roasted vegetables.