Go Back
Print

Cider-Cream Sauced Salmon

From Molly Wizenberg's book A Homemade Life. I have tweaked it quite a bit, including the cooking method.
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Author Debi Simons

Ingredients

  • 3 pounds salmon or 8 oz. per person
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1-2 shallots diced as finely as humanly possible
  • 1/2 cup cider syrup or 3/4 cup apple juice concentrate plus more for brushing on the salmon
  • Oil for brushing salmon anything but olive oil is fine; I don't think the flavor of olive oil goes with the flavors in this recipe
  • 1 cup heavy cream Yes, heavy cream. If you don't want to use that, make something else!

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. While that's going on, brine your salmon in a glass or ceramic baking dish (I have a nice big Pyrex one) with two tablespoons of salt to one quart of water. I just mix it right in the dish and then slide the salmon in, skin side up. Let sit for 15 minutes. Since it's such a short brining time you don't need to refrigerate it. When the 15 minutes are up, dump out the brine, pat the fish dry with paper towels, and flip it over so that it's skin side down. (Pat that side dry, too.) Brush it with oil and then with some of the cider syrup or concentrate. Bake for 15 minutes or so—it may need a bit longer. I don't like rare salmon! If you'd like more of a glazed top, you can broil it for a couple of minutes, but be sure you keep track of the time. Use your trusty instant-read digital thermometer to test the thickest part of the fish; I would recommend 130 degrees, but if you like your salmon on the rarer side you could go with 125 degrees. It will continue to cook some after you take it out.

  2. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium frying pan and saute the shallot until soft. Then add your cider syrup and cream and simmer while the salmon is cooking. Since the apple component is already reduced, you're just blending the flavors. If you're using the apple juice concentrate you might want to add that to the pan first and simmer a few minutes just to get it down a little, and then add the cream. When your salmon comes out of the oven there will be some nice juices in the pan; pour those into your sauce and whisk in.

  3. Put the salmon on a platter and the sauce in a gravy boat or bowl and serve.

Recipe Notes

 Very, very good with plain sliced sweet potatoes that have been baked or microwaved until soft. You don't need to gussy them up. Some type of green vegetable or just a big salad will go great. If you wanted to carry out the apple theme you could make your salad dressing with apple cider vinegar.