Salmon with Lemon and Dill

I was once afraid of making fish.  Very, very afraid of making fish.  I was even afraid of buying fish (unless at a restaurant of course)!  It seemed like such a mystery!  But then my daughter, who was a super picky eater, starting ordering salmon in restaurants (She was about 6, and shunned most kid foods)  I cannot count the number of strange looks we got from waitstaff.  As you can imagine, this got expensive fast.  At about the same time I bought a cookbook (sense a recurring theme here?) that had a salmon orzo salad in it that looked amazing.  This was all happening around the time that I was just learning to cook and I have to admit, I was initially at a loss.  But all roads pointed to learning to cook salmon at home, so that is what I did.

Turns out salmon is actually pretty darn easy to cook.  There are about a hundred different methods to cook it, but I usually stick with the way that I did it for the salad-broiling.  It is quick, easy and usually produces a moist, perfectly cooked piece of fish.  Its just a matter of what you want to do with your salmon.  Pesto salmon?  Easy.  Maple-Mustard Salmon? Going to have to include that on the blog this summer.  Salmon with Lemon and Dill?  Perfect for a 60 degree March day in Minneapolis (seems like an oxymoron, but in fact has been a beautiful reality this year!).

I served this beauty with my new favorite side dish: Roasted Broccoli with Lemony Beans and Bacon which is a collaboration  between local bloggers Amanda Paa of HeartBeet Kichen and Brenda Score of A Farm Girl’s Dabbles.  The ingredients for this awesome side dish can be found here.  The instructions for putting it together can be found here.  It is well worth your time to visit both of the sites and throw together the recipe, because despite taking some ribbing for adding beans to our broccoli, once I added the bacon, everyone in my family decided it was a huge hit…and a perfect companion to the salmon with lemon and dill.  Try it, maybe your kids will be salmon-lovers also!

The initial salmon orzo salad recipe that helped to convince me to attempt salmon at home: Salmon, Asparagus and Orzo Salad with Lemon Dill Vinaigrette, can be found here.

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Salmon with Lemon and Dill

A perfect spring salmon, great for entertaining and SO simple!

Cuisine seafood

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Servings 4 -5 servings

Author Lane

Ingredients

• 1-1.5 pounds of salmon try to buy fresh if available
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt divided
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 medium sized shallot chopped finely
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 3 Tablespoons chopped dill
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• a pinch of red pepper or more to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat the broiler
2. Place the salmon on a baking pan, skin side down
3. Salt the salmon with 1 teaspoon of salt (more if the piece of salmon is more than 1 pound)
4. Broil the salmon for approximately 15 minutes (check with a fork after 10). The amount of time needed to broil the salmon will depend on the thickness of your salmon fillet. Remove from the oven when just slightly undercooked. Be careful not to overcook.
5. Allow the salmon to rest for at least 5 minutes (fish keeps cooking).
6. While the salmon is broiling, combine shallots and wine in a small saucepan.
7. Cook down until the wine has been reduced by more than half.
8. Turn the heat to low and whisk in the butter until it is completely melted.
9. Remove the sauce from the heat and add lemon juice, dill, remaining 1 teaspoon of salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.
10. Move your salmon to a serving plate with edges or a bowl.
11. Pour sauce over the salmon (you may not need all of the sauce).
12. Serve and Enjoy!