MAINS/ SPRING/ SUMMER

White Wine Poached Salmon

Hello and welcome! An unintentional theme this week seems to be seafood recipes; we had the Lobster Rolls and the Mediterranean Tuna Salad, and today we have White Wine Poached Salmon. I suppose it’s appropriate for eating lighter as the weather begins to warm up. But also, it’s nice to break away from our usual proteins and go with something a little different. This recipe is pretty simple and it can be served with any sides you like. We are going with rice and salad today because I love to mix the salmon in with bites of peppery arugula salad and rice. Let’s get to it!

White Wine Poached Salmon with salad and rice

Cartouche

This salmon is poached under a cartouche, which is a circular piece of parchment with a vent cut in the center. This allows some steam to gently poach the salmon without the salmon getting too well-done when it goes into the oven. Because this will finish in the oven for a couple minutes, you will need to use an oven-safe skillet. To make the cartouche, fold a 12″ x 12″ square of parchment into a rectangle, then fold again into a square. Hold one corner of the square in the center of your pan to measure where you will make the circular cut.

Trim the outer edge to the shape of your pan, then cut the opposite corner tip off. After opening the parchment, you can see I need to trim off more of the outer edge to get a fit that will let the cartouche rest within the edges of the pan.

This salmon dish is heavy on the lemon flavor; we are using whole sliced lemons in the sauce, much like the Chicken Piccata we did recently. Additionally, we have shallot, scallions (white and light green parts, save the dark green parts for garnish) and thyme. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Sprinkle the skinless fillets with Kosher salt and pepper

White Wine Poached Salmon ingredients

Aromatics

We will start the recipe by simmering the aromatics in butter and olive oil. Melt the butter in the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the lemon slices and cook until the lemon flesh is bubbly, then flip the lemon slices. Add the scallions and the shallot. Cook and stir occasionally until the shallot has softened, about 2-3 minutes.

Add the thyme sprigs to the pan and top with the salmon fillets. Then add the white wine.

You can see the wine is pretty much instantly simmering. Cover this with the cartouche and place in the preheated oven for about 5 minutes. Salmon is cooked when it is slightly opaque and flaky. Transfer salmon fillets to a plate and cover with the cartouche.

Pan Sauce

Remove the thyme sprigs and return the skillet to the stovetop over medium heat. Bring the pan liquid to a simmer and add the remaining 1/4 cup butter and the halved grape or cherry tomatoes.

white wine pan sauce with butter

Let simmer until butter is melted and sauce is creamy and has thickened slightly. Taste for seasoning and add more Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper, if needed.

white wine pan sauce

Remove the sauce from heat and remove the cartouche from the resting salmon fillets. For the rice, I made Jasmine rice according to the package directions, and I added 2 teaspoons of Better Than Bullion Roasted Garlic base when I added the rice to the water in the saucepan. This made for a delicious, savory rice that went so well with this lemony wine sauce. For the salad, I just tossed some baby arugula and sliced radishes with olive oil and a little citrus vinegar, Kosher salt and black pepper.

White Wine Poached Salmon with salad and rice

On a rimmed plate, mound a heaping scoop of rice in the center. Add a serving of salad to one side. Lay a salmon fillet over the rice and spoon the pan sauce over the top. Garnish with bias-cut scallion greens. And there you have it! White Wine Poached Salmon with rice and arugula salad. Pin this recipe to Pinterest for this summer, because I think this is one to have on repeat! Substitute any mild fish you like. Swap the salad for in-season veggies all summer long! Swap the rice for smashed, roasted baby potatoes…you can really use this recipe for so many different combinations.

White Wine Poached Salmon with salad and rice

Let me know if you give this one a try – it’s quick and easy, and so delicious. Thanks everyone for joining me today, take care and be well. xo Kelly

White Wine Poached Salmon

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Dinner, Main Course American
By Adapted from Food and Wine Magazine Serves: 2-4
Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cooking Time: 15 Minutes Total Time: 25 Minutes

Poached salmon in a buttery, lemony white wine pan sauce is punchy and light. perfect for warmer weather and easily customizable to what's in season.

Ingredients

  • 4 6-oz. Skinless Salmon Fillets
  • 2 tsp. Kosher Salt, plus more to taste
  • 3/4 tsp. Fresh Cracked Black Pepper, plus more to taste
  • 2 tbsp. Olive Oil
  • 6 tbsp. Unsalted Butter, divided
  • 1 Lemon, thinly sliced into wheels
  • 1/4 cup thinly sliced Shallot
  • 1/4 cup thinly sliced Scallions, white and light green parts (cut the dark green parts on the bias for garnish)
  • 6 Thyme Sprigs
  • 1/4 cup Dry White Wine
  • 1 cup halved Grape or Cherry Tomatoes
  • Salad and cooked rice for serving

Instructions

Make a Cartouche

1

To make the cartouche, fold a 12" x 12" square of parchment into a rectangle, then fold again into a square. Hold one corner of the square in the center of your pan to measure where you will make the circular cut. Trim the outer edge to the shape of your pan, then cut the opposite corner tip off. If needed, trim off more of the outer edge to get a fit that will let the cartouche rest within the edges of the pan.

Poached Salmon

2

Melt the butter in the olive oil over medium high heat Add the lemon slices and cook until the lemon flesh is bubbly, then flip the lemon slices.

3

Add the scallions and the shallot. Cook and stir occasionally until the shallot has softened, about 2-3 minutes.

4

Add the thyme sprigs to the pan and top with the salmon fillets. Then add the white wine. Bring the wine to a simmer, cover with the cartouche and place in the oven for 5 minutes, until fish is cooked through (it will be lightly opaque and flaky).

5

Remove the sauce from heat and remove the cartouche from the resting salmon fillets.

6

Serve with desired sides and spoon sauce over portions of salmon fillet.

7

Transfer salmon fillets to a plate and cover with the cartouche.

8

Remove the thyme sprigs and return the skillet to the stovetop over medium heat. Bring the pan liquid to a simmer and add the remaining 1/4 cup butter and the halved grape or cherry tomatoes.

9

Let simmer until butter is melted and sauce is creamy and has thickened slightly. Taste for seasoning and add more Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper, if needed.

Notes

For the rice, I made Jasmine rice according to the package directions, and I added 2 teaspoons of Better Than Bullion Roasted Garlic base when I added the rice to the water in the saucepan. This made for a delicious, savory rice that went so well with this lemony wine sauce. For the salad, I just tossed some baby arugula and sliced radishes with olive oil and a little citrus vinegar, Kosher salt and black pepper.

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  • Terry
    April 22, 2021 at 10:35 am

    I’m with ya on eating Lighter foods during the summer. This dish looks really good although I don’t have any salmon right now I do have some great white fish that I can use. Thanks for this one I will make it ❤️Mom

    • Kelly Djalali
      April 22, 2021 at 11:49 am

      This would be great with a white fish, Mom. Let me know how it goes! xo Kelly

  • Pat
    April 22, 2021 at 11:09 am

    Love everything about this recipe, and the sides! My dinner tonight. Love your blog! Every dish you post is doable by most anyone, with ingredients easy to find. Thank you ?

    • Kelly Djalali
      April 22, 2021 at 11:50 am

      Thank you so much, Pat! I think you’ll find this one is versatile and you can substitute with the veggies you have on hand. Thanks so much for reading the blog, I appreciate your support 🙂 xo Kelly