Salmon with Wild Rice & Scallion Oil
It’s the double infusion that gives this elegant dinner its oomph: Scallions are gently warmed in oil, creating a rich, unctuous sauce that’s then used to bathe the salmon as it poaches slowly over low heat.
Yield: All recipes serve 2 people
Chef Notes: When fish-shopping, make sure your two fillets are as uniform as possible in thickness, to ensure even cooking. It’s all too easy to over-bake fish, even at a low temperature, so watch carefully! If you’re watching your budget, steelhead makes a great (and affordable) substitute for salmon, and its milder flavor is a natural foil for the deeply aromatic scallion oil.
Components
Scallion oil
Vegetable-rice mixture
Salmon
Gremolata
Mise
Make scallion oil: Place sliced scallions in a small sauce pan, cover with ½ c neutral oil, and gently warm over low heat to infuse oil with scallion flavor, approximately 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Sauté leeks: In a deep sauce pan, sauté leeks in remaining 1 T oil until soft, about 5–7 minutes.
Simmer rice: Add chard, rice, chicken or vegetable stock, and a pinch of salt to sauteéd leeks. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and reduce to a simmer. Cover saucepan and cook according to package instructions until rice is tender. Remove from heat and keep covered.
Bake salmon: While rice is cooking, preheat oven to 300˚F. Place salmon in shallow baking dish and season generously with salt on both sides. Pour scallion oil over fish and bake for 10–15 minutes, until salmon is medium-rare.
Make Gremolata: Add minced parsley, lime zest, toasted pistachios, and ¼ t salt to small bowl and massage with clean hands until well mixed.
Finish
Spoon rice mixture onto plate, top with baked salmon, and garnish with gremolata.