Maple-Mustard Salmon Fillet on a Red Quinoa, dill, cucumber Salad

Maple-mustard glazed salmon on a red quinoa, dill, cucumber salad and a topping of crunchy skin, what else a Salmon lover could ask for? I’ve used the new technique my mom found which consist of marinating in a dry (salt+sugar) marinade the salmon and cook it at really low temperature, this way you get a salmon cooked to perfection, not dried up by the intense heat. It needs slightly more patience to do then the usual fish you do at 180°C (350F).

For the coccion, you’ll have to marinade a good 45 minutes, plus let the fish out of the fridge at room temperature for another 30 minutes before cooking. I know, it can be a pain in the … the process is quite long, but believe me, the result is unbelievable. The slow coccion will help cook the fillets to perfection and keep them moist. The dry marinade will help with the texture of the fish, and its color, turning to a slightly darker color and a firmer exterior, and boost the salmon taste. Then all you have to do, is mid-coccion adding a flavorful glaze to the fish, in this case I’ve used maple-mustard and voilà. A fabulous, cooked to perfection salmon fillet.

The bed of red quinoa is a simple salad of cucumber, radish and fresh dill to make it extra fresh. A touch of the leftovers of maple-mustard glaze from the fish mix with some extra olive oil for dressing. Nothing too complex, but surely tasty.

If you get the chance to buy the fillets with skin, it’s always a “must” to rapidly fry a piece of the skin in olive oil, until no more bubbles and then sprinkle some salt on it and voila! A great crunchy-salty bite to add to any of your salmon dishes. Be careful, do not forget to take off the scales at first, by scraping perpendicularly with the help of your chef’s knife or scraper with teeth, against the scales directions until they are all gone. This step is sometimes pre done or you could always ask your fishmonger/marchant to do it for you.

So let’s make this perfectly cooked Salmon fillet!

Maple-mustard Salmon filet on a red quinoa, dill, cucumber salad

Makes 2 portions

Ingredients

Salmon

• 2 salmon fillets (with skin preferably)
• 3 tbsp of salt
• 3 tbsp of sugar
• 3 tbsp of maple syrup
• 1 tbsp of white wine mustard (or with grains)

The quinoa salad

• 250g of red quinoa
• 20 cm long cucumber cut into cubes
• 2 radishes thinly cut
• a few branches of fresh dill finely chopped
• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Start by scraping and taking off the skin of the salmon, by holding the skin tight while passing a sharp knife between the flesh and skin.
2. Add the 3 tbsp of sugar and salt to the salmon + skin and let marinate 45 minutes in the fridge
3. When marinade is done, rinse off the salt and sugar away and path dry, leave at room temperature for 30 minutes
4. Bring oven to 120°C (250F) (yes… that low)
5. Cook the salmon filets for 20-30 minutes depending on their thickness
6. Mix the maple syrup and mustard
7. Glaze the fish mid-coccion and keep a bit for the quinoa salad dressing
8. When the fish is glazed, add olive oil to the leftover of maple-mustard and reserve
9. Cook the quinoa as indicated
10. When ready mix the maple-mustard dressing, quinoa, cucumber, radish, dill, salt and pepper and mix the salad
11. *optional -In a pan, add olive oil and fry the salmon skin until crisp, salt it when done, reserve
12. When the side of the salmon fillet comes right off with a fork it’s ready, serve the fillet on a bed of the quinoa salad and top with the crunchy skin

Enjoy!