Poached salmon salad

With the holiday season fast approaching, I thought I would share this easy and tasty brunch salad. It can easily be made a day before a party and makes a terrific entrée item or side dish to bring to a potluck as well. I like to serve it with a large side salad and some fresh rolls. To add extra punch, make a compound dill butter to serve with the warm rolls.

Serves six.

Ingredients

1 pound salmon filet
4 cups cooked elbow macaroni
¾ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup sour cream
¼ cup chopped onion (optional)
¼ cup white wine
3 Tablespoons capers with juice
4 Tablespoons fresh chopped dill plus 4 plushes
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
Salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

Method

First poach the salmon. Simply place the salmon (skin side down) in the pan and cover with white wine. Add water to completely cover the fish. Add the chopped onion and salt and pepper. Poach at 170 degrees until firm (about 10 minutes). Make sure the water only simmers, and never boils. Remove salmon from poaching liquid, cool, and pat dry.

Next, make the dressing. Combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, capers (including some juice), dill, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Wisk until fully combined.

In a large bowl combine the pasta and ¾ of the dressing. Flake the salmon and add.

Let sit at least one hour or up to one day.

Before serving, remoisten with the reserved dressing and garnish with the dill plushes.

Serve at room temperature.

Tips

Poaching fish gives excellent flavor and texture, but it is important to not over cook the fish, nor to cook it in liquid above 170 degrees. If desired, you may cover the pan with a bit of parchment paper to keep it extra moist. Use an instant read thermometer to monitor the temperature, or simply make sure that the water is slightly moving but that no bubbles are breaking the surface of the liquid.

Make sure to add some kind of acid to a poaching liquid. I like to use white wine, but a bit of white wine vinegar or lemon juice works as well. Additional aromatics such as onion, herbs and citrus zest will also enhance the flavor of the final product.

Cook the pasta to just al dente (to the tooth, is the literal translation). This will ensure that the final salad is not too mushy and will add an additional mouth feel to the product.

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