There’s Nothing Fishy about this Protocol

We’re always looking for a good protocol.  In the lab, a proper technique can be the difference between a successful or a failed experiment.  In the kitchen, it may be the difference between a moist, delicious piece of salmon or a dry, tasteless hunk of pink stuff.

That’s why when a good friend of mine, Bill Macaitis, first showed me how to use a digital infrared kitchen thermometer to cook salmon, I knew my life would never be the same…

As he stood near the stovetop carefully monitoring the temperature of the pan while talking about oil flashpoints, it was clear Bill was a scientist at heart, if not by trade.  It was also clear he needed to share this protocol with a group of people that would appreciate the precision and care he put into developing it.

Below is the recipe for “Perfect Submission Salmon” in Bill’s own words.  It’s broken into two parts intentionally.  While the technique for cooking the fish should be fairly consistent meal-to-meal, the sauce is meant to inspire further experimentation based on personal tastes and creativity.

Bill’s Perfect Submission Salmon

(‘cause after you eat this salmon, you’ll tap out to nirvana)

Ingredients

Fish

• Wild-caught salmon fillet
• Grapeseed oil
• Salt
• Pepper

Sauce (optional)

• Chardonnay
• Heavy cream
• Vinegar
• Garlic
• Shallots
• Mushrooms

Part 1: Cooking the salmon

1. Get good salmon – not the farm crap.  It should have a nice red color that comes from actually swimming in the ocean and rivers.
2. Go for a mid-section piece.  It will be juicier then a tail piece.
3. If you’ve frozen the fish, make sure it’s thawed before starting. If you need to defrost the fish fast, a little trick is to put the frozen fish in a bowl of water in the sink.  Then turn the faucet on to a very small drip of cold water.  It will defrost much faster than if it was just out on the table.
4. Preheat oven to 450
5. Pat dry the salmon. This is an absolutely critical step.  You will not get a good sear if this salmon is frozen and/or wet.
6. Salt and pepper the fish and sprinkle a little grapeseed oil on it. I use grapeseed oil because it has a very high flash point (degree at which the oil will start smoking).
7. Get out a big anodized pan. Do not use a non stick cooking pan.  You want the fish to leave a little crust (French call it “fond”) behind for the eventual deglazing.
8. Put the grapeseed oil on the pan and heat up the pan to 450 degrees.
9. I use a digital heat thermometer to test how hot the pan is but with grapeseed oil you could also just wait until it starts smoking (around 450 degrees).
10. Put in the salmon skin side up.  Cook on high heat for about 3 minutes until you get a good sear.  Flip over and do 3 minutes on the skin side.
11. Put the salmon in the oven to finish off cooking.  You can use an oven thermometer here or do the finger test for doneness.  I would shoot for about 150 degrees cooking temp or the skin should bounce back a little when touched.  Probably about 10 minutes in the oven.

Part 2: Creating the sauce.

1. Using that same pan add in some white wine (preferably chardonnay).  Fill the pan up about a half-inch.
2. The pan will steam like crazy and this is when you “deglaze” it.  Using a spatula scrape up all of the little bits of heavenly goodness (french call it “fond”) and work it into your wine.
3. Add in some chopped garlic, shallots and mushrooms.
4. Add in some heavy whipping cream (roughly 1/4 amount of the wine you added)
5. Add in some vinegar (roughly 1/4 amount of the wine you added)
6. Add in some fresh ground pepper.
7. So after all this crap is in there just stir it up and let it reduce on medium heat.  Basically during the 10 minutes the salmon is in the oven you are reducing down this liquid to it gets down into a thicker sauce format.
8. Take out salmon, pour sauce over top and garnish with some fresh basil.

(Separately prepare some vegetable side dishes of your choice)

Serve with glass of remaining Chardonnay and get ready to submit…Bon appetit!