Restaurant Quality Salmon

Perfectly cooked restaurant quality salmon fillet with seasoned crust and chive herb sauce

Snowbird Recipe:

Salmon Fillets, Restaurant Style

With herb sauce, blue cheese or fresh herbs

My husband and I never order salmon when dining out because our broiled salmon rivals any restaurant entree. For best results, you'll need a true classic broiler pan set, the kind with a lower tray for hot water and an upper unit with holes that allow steam to pass through. Broiler pan sets can be purchased for as little as $15 -- well worth it for amazing results with our salmon recipe. Once you've mastered broiling salmon fillets, there are endless marinades, sauces and enhancements to dress it up, so go ahead and experiment with your own finishes. This is how to cook perfect salmon fillets every time.

Snowbird meals tend to be much simpler, using fewer ingredients and a very limited selection of appliances and gadgets to prepare them. Choose the freshest, highest quality ingredients and find alternate ways to make your favorite recipes. Forget about what you don't have to cook with, instead focus on what you can accomplish with what you do have. - Midlife Snowbird

Ingredients:

1 to 1.5 pounds fresh salmon fillet, center cut is best (do not substitute frozen fillets or "steelhead trout salmon")

2 T. Canola oil, reserve half

1/2 t. garlic powder

1/2 t. Kosher salt

1/2 t. Creole salt

1/4 t. fresh cracked black pepper

1/4 t. crushed red pepper, optional

Garnishes: Lemons; butter; blue cheese crumbles or blue cheese sauce; fresh green herbs such as chives, sage, dill, rosemary

Key Notes:

Choose fresh center cut salmon fillets if possible.

Do not substitute "steelhead trout salmon," which is not salmon and it has pin bones. Do not ever substitute frozen salmon fillets.

There are many commercially prepared dry fish rubs in lieu of the above seasonings. The Fresh Market offers a very good private labeled salmon rub and marinade.

Suggested brands: Alouette® Blue Cheese Crumbles; Zatarain's® Creole Seasoning, The Fresh Market's Salmon Rub and Marinade®

Preparation:

NOTE: Read all directions carefully before beginning the cooking process if you are a novice and/or not familiar with broiling fish fillets.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. The top rack should be at least six inches from the top of the oven.

Pour hot tap water about one-third to one-half to the top of the lower broiler pan

salmon fillet, salmon recipe, broil salmon, best salmon recipe — Score the salmon fillet to the skin into equal portions for the nicest presentation. The broiled salmon will reduce in size by about 20 to 30%

Carefully place broiler pan filled with hot tap water into preheated 350 degree oven for ten minutes

Prep salmon fillet by patting it dry with a paper towel

Score fillet with a sharp knife down to the skin layer. Generally determine where to score by dividing the fillet into three or four equal portions of approximately 1/3 pound each

Oil the upper tray of the broiler pan set if it's not a non-stick pan

Place fillet on the upper broiler pan tray, skin side down

Brush remaining oil onto the top of the salmon fillet

Dust the top of the salmon fillet with seasonings

Place upper tray onto the hot lower broiler pan

Turn the oven off and turn on the broiler

Broil salmon fillet with oven door ajar approximately 10 to 12 minutes until salmon is no longer raw in the thickest part of the center

Do not overcook. After ten minutes, slide oven rack out far enough to check salmon with a meat thermometer (until just before it reaches 145 F degrees) or a knife. Insert knife into thickest part of the center to see if it's done.

The salmon fillets should not look dried out or raw. They should flake easily. If in doubt, remove fillets too soon rather than too late because they will continue cooking.

Turn broiler off

Carefully remove upper tray from lower broiler pan and place on a heat-resistant surface.

SAFETY WARNING: Do not remove lower broiler pan until the hot water has completely cooled.

Use lifter to remove fillets, without the skin, onto a serving platter.

Tent the fillets with aluminum foil for 3 to 5 minutes. The fillets are done at a temperature of 145 F degrees.

Serve warm with chilled herb sauce; or lemons; or blue cheese; or fresh herbs

Serve any leftovers chilled with a green salad and dressing

Servings:

Three to four portions

Serving Suggestion:

--Serve warm with herb sauce as a main entree OR

--Garnish with blue cheese or blue cheese sauce; lemons or fresh herbs such as chives, dill, sage, rosemary