Recipe of the Moment - Poached Salmon with Shallot Lemon Butter Sauce

I'm finally back! Sorry for the hiatus, I haven't had much opportunity to cook with all of our traveling and recovering and such. This recipe comes from our trip to San Diego. My two girls, Francine and Suzanne, came up for Memorial Day weekend and France wanted salmon for our dinner. Being me, I wanted to find a new way to cook salmon that was going to be all fancy and such.

I found a blog that posted a recipe for shallow poached salmon that looked like a fun technique. I modified it a little bit, but followed it mostly. The idea of poaching has always intrigued me, but I always figure it would be a bit difficult. Not so. This salmon was cooked perfectly, still creamy and flaky without being overdone at all. I made an asparagus risotto on the side to go with it. Paired with a bottle of Orfila's Lotus Viognier, it was a perfect girl's san diego weekend meal.

Poached Salmon with Shallot Lemon Butter Sauce

Ingredients

2 lemons, zested and cut into 1/2 inch slices, zest reserved

4 5 oz salmon fillets

2 shallots, minced

1 T marjoram

1 c dry white wine (I used a cheap Pinot Grigio)

1 c chicken stock

2 T butter, cut into cubes

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions

1. Rinse fillets and pat dry, season with salt and pepper

2. Arrange lemon slices in a pan large enough to place all four fillets comfortably, top with half of the minced shallot and some of the marjoram sprinkled on top

3. Place each fillet on top of the lemon slices skin side down, making sure no part of the fillet touches the pan

4. Fill the pan with the chicken stock and wine, using enough so that the liquid just comes up past the bottom of the fillets

5. Turn the pan to high heat and bring the liquid to a simmer

6. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan, and cook about 10-12 minutes until the salmon is done

7. Remove the fillets to a plate and wrap with foil to stay warm

8. Turn the heat back up in the pan to high

9. Add the lemon zest, the rest of the shallots, and the rest of the marjoram to the pan and reduce, stirring frequently, till the mixture has thickened

10. Swirl in the butter and serve, pouring the sauce over the salmon fillets

Enjoy!