Recipe: White Wine Poached Salmon with Dill and Lemon

This is a really simple recipe and is a great way to cook salmon and meaty fish in general.  You can use any white wine you want but I went with Barefoot's Pinot Grigio because it was cheap ($4.95) and as it is a citrusy white wine I knew it would compliment the fish and lemon.  If you want to add a bit of heat to cut the citrus you could throw in some red pepper flakes into the wine/butter sauce or deseed and devein a jalapeno all allow to steep as the poaching liquid reduces.

You will need:

One 4oz salmon fillet per person served
1 cup white wine
2 teaspoons butter
1 lemon
4 Tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
Salt
Pepper
*Pinch of red pepper flakes, jalapeno* optional

Add the cup of white wine and butter into a large saucepan.  Set over medium heat and allow to reduce by about half.  Salt and pepper the salmon fillets on both sides.  When the sauce is mostly reduced add half of the chopped dill.  Add the salmon to the liquid skin side down and cover the pan.  Let poach for 3 minutes then flip the fillet, recover, and cook for 3 more minutes.  When the salmon just barely is able to flake turn off the heat add the remaining dill over the salmon and squeeze half of a lemon over the entire pan.  Serve immediately.

 If you wish to use the poaching liquid as a sauce on the plate create a slurry of corn starch and cold water and add to the pan, turn on over high heat and bring to a boil and simmer until it reaches the desired thickness.  Satisfaction may vary here as this is not a step I felt the dish needed.

For leftovers, I chose to leave the salmon cold but gave it an extra squeeze of lemon over the top.

Side suggestions: asparagus, rice pilaf, wild rice mix, squash, mixed salad