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Christmas Baked Salmon: Easy & Make-ahead

duration50 mins
difficulty_levelMedium
meal_typeDinner
taste_typeSavory

Ingredients

  • 1.5 kg skin on, bones removed
  • 2 1/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • HONEY BUTTER GLAZE:
  • 150 g unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 3 garlic cloves finely minced (garlic press or knife)
  • CREAMY DILL SAUCE:
  • 1 1/2 cups sour cream full fat (low fat is too watery)
  • 1/2 cup fresh dill finely chopped (lightly packed cup)
  • 1/2 eschallot (French onion)
  • 1 1/2 tbsp lemon zest
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • HOLIDAY "TAPENADE":
  • 1 cup dried cranberries
  • 1 cup orange juice
  • 1 cup slivered almonds
  • 1/3 cup parsley
  • 1/4 tsp salt and pepper
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • FINISHING:
  • Pomegranate seeds
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley
  • 3 tbsps lemon juice

Steps

  1. Mix ingredients in a bowl until smooth. Keep refrigerated until required.
  2. Plump cranberries: Heat orange juice in a saucepan over high heat until hot. Turn stove off, add cranberries, cover. Stand 15 minutes, then drain in a colander (discard liquid). Cool.
  3. Mix: Mix cranberries, toasted almonds (see Note 3), parsley, salt and olive oil in bowl. Use at room temp.
  4. Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (all oven types).
  5. Prepare salmon: Place a large sheet of foil on a tray (double layer for safety is recommended), then top with baking/parchment paper. Place salmon on paper, then fold up the foil sides a bit to cup them so glaze won't run onto tray.
  6. Glaze: Place ingredients in a saucepan over medium high heat. Once it started foaming, turn down to medium, let it foam for 2 minutes then remove and pour straight over the salmon.
  7. Season: Sprinkle salmon with salt and pepper, putting most of the salt on the thicker part of the salmon.
  8. Wrap: Cover salmon with a smaller piece of paper, then foil. Fold and seal up sides to enclose salmon in a parcel – it doesn't need to be 100% tightly sealed.
  9. Bake 15 minutes. Remove salmon from oven.
  10. Uncover / fold excess paper – Remove paper and foil and paper cover. Fold/scrunch paper and foil sides down to expose salmon surface. Tucking paper down also ensures it won't catch fire when broiling.
  11. Grill/broil to brown: Switch oven to gill/boiler on high. Place salmon on middle shelf in the oven and broil 7 to 10 minutes until you get caramelisation mostly on the edges, a bit on top. Don't put it too close to the heat element otherwise paper might catch on fire! Check to ensure salmon is cooked – either pry open in middle to check or use a probe to check internal temperatures.
  12. Transfer to plate: Use foil overhang to transfer salmon onto serving platter straight away (otherwise it keeps cooking). Slide the foil then paper out from under the salmon (see video at 1 min 24s or step photos in post), allowing juices to pool on platter (it's gold stuff!).
  13. Cool: Loosely cover with foil, then leave to cool for at least 15 minutes, up to 1 hour or longer
  14. Dollop then thickly spread with Creamy Dill Sauce (~0.8cm / 1/3" thick layer).
  15. Pile over Holiday Tapenade, scatter generously with pomegranate seeds, and then remaining parsley. Squeeze over lemon juice.
  16. Serving: Serve with extra lemon wedges so people can add more to taste. Cut into pieces – I use a cake cutter for serving. Encourage people to slop up some of the honey-butter sauce that will be mixed with semi melted Creamy Dill Sauce – it's so good! This dish is best served slightly warm, not piping hot, also excellent at room temp.
Please be mindful of any allergies you and/or your family may have before you try out this recipe.