Let me say up front that this was damn delicious. So delicious in fact, that I wished I had doubled the recipe. Even better, it comes togetehr fairly quickly. . .so quickly that it would be great for a weeknight meal.
This recipe uses a cooking technique for salmon that I was unfamiliar with - the shallow poaching method. Essentially you make the sauce, place the salmon in the sauce, cover, and cook. The salmon is very moist and flavourful. In this case we are shallow poaching the salmon in a sauce consisting of onions, tomatoes, white wine, and capers.
The tomato onion caper sauce hits all the notes—sweet from the tomatoes and onions, salty from the capers, tang from the tomatoes, lemon juice, and wine, and a dash of bitter from the lemon zest.
You make the sauce first, then rest the fillets on top of it, partly submerged, simmer, cover and cook. The dish takes maybe 10 minutes to prep and only 25 to cook.
Because fresh tomatoes are no where to be found right now I used a 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes. Other than that the recipe was followed as written.
Enjoy.
Salmon with Tomato, Onions, and Capers
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and diced
2 large fresh tomatoes, diced
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped
2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice<
2 tablespoons of capers, drained
1 teaspoon of chopped jalapeño peppers (no seeds, no stem, no ribs) either fresh or pickled
1/3 cup white wine
1/4 cup water
Salt and pepper
2 fresh salmon fillets, 1/2 pound each
In a large, wide (at least 12 inches wide) saucepan (one that comes with a cover), heat olive oil on medium heat.
Add the onion and cook, stirring regularly, until just beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Raise the heat to medium-high and add the tomatoes, thyme, lemon zest, lemon juice, capers, and jalapeño peppers.
Simmer for 10 minutes, adding a little water if needed to prevent the sauce from getting too dry. Salt and pepper to taste.
Add 1/3 a cup of white wine - a simple Chardonnay will work. Add 1/4 cup of water. Bring to a simmer.
Place the fillets in the pan on top of the sauce, skin side down, if the fillets are still in their skin. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low.
Cook for 4-7 minutes, depending on how thick the cuts of fish are. Poke the fish with a fork and look for doneness. The fish should still be a little rare in the middle, but not raw.
Serve immediately, with tomato sauce generously applied.
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