Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Broiled Salmon with Mustard and Crisp Potato Crust


This is probably the best fish I've ever had/ made and I'd venture to say that Noah would agree with me. It's from my now favorite cookbook (which everyone should own), The New Best Recipe.
Broiled Salmon with Mustard and Crisp Potato Crust:
  • 3 Slices high-quality sandwich bread, such as Pepperidge Farm, crusts removed.
  • 4 oz high-quality potato chips, crushed into rough 1/8-inch pieces (about 1 cup)--I used Kettle chips and they were fantastic
  • 6 Tbsp chopped fresh dill
  • 1 whole side of salmon fillet (about 3 1/2 lbs), pinbones removed and belly fat trimmed
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • ground black pepper to taste
  • 3 Tbsp Dijon mustard
  • Heavy duty 18" wide foil
  1. Adjust one oven rack to the uppermost position (about 3 inches from the heat source) and second rack tot he upper-middle position; heat the oven to 400 degrees.
  2. pulse the bread in a food processor until processed into fairly even 1/4-inch pieces about the size of Grape-Nuts cereal (you should have about 1 cup), about ten 1-second pulses. Spread the crumbs evenly on a rimmed baking sheet and toast on the lower rack, shaking the pan once or twice, until golden brown and crisp, 4-5 minutes. Toss the bread crumbs, crushed potato chips, and dill together in a small bowl.
  3. Increase the oven setting to broil. Cut a piece of heavy-duty foil 6 inches longer than the fillet. Fold the foil lengthwise in thirds and place lengthwise on a rimmed baking sheet; position the salmon lengthwise on the foil, allowing the excess foil to hang over the baking sheet. Rub the fillet evenly with the oil and sprinkle with the salt and pepper to taste. Broil the salmon on the upper rack until the surface is spotty brown and the outer 1/2 inch of the thick end is opaque when gently flaked with a paring knife, 9 to 11 minutes. Remove the fish from the oven, spread evenly with the mustard, and press the bread crumb mixture onto the fish. Return to the lower rack and continue broiling until the crust is deep golden brown, about 1 minute longer.
  4. Transfer the salmon to a cutting board, remove the foil and serve the salmon from the board.

I like to serve salmon with asparagus and herb roasted potatoes

2 comments:

Kaila said...

They sell baked potato chips--see how that turns out, besides it's not like you're emptying out an entire bag of Lays and dumping them on the fish. Trust me, the few extra calories are worth it!

Bruce Young said...

Anticipating how good that "broiled salmon with mustard and crisp potato crust" will be, I've been checking what ingredients we have and which we still need.

Let's see: we have the olive oil, salt, and peppercorns--we'll have to figure out some way to grind them.

I don't think we have any high quality sandwich bread or potato chips (there are high quality potato chips??). No fresh dill, as far as I know, or Dijon mustard (that's the grainy brownish kind, right? from France?). And we'll probably need to get the salmon at Costco.

I guess we'd better start working on it. And yes, the cheese cake and chocolate sauce (dark please) would be great too.