Dan Can Cook: Poached salmon salad

Apology: I forgot to take a picture of the subject dish — a poached salmon salad. The photo with this post is borrowed from some other amateur chef. But don’t let that stop you from trying this at home. This is my favorite way to enjoy salmon.

I make this dish on the stove; others poach the salmon in the oven.

I use a long poaching pan — if you use a smaller pan, just cut the filet into two or three pieces — and I place the whole salmon filet on a bed of lemon and orange slices. I then cover it with a combination of simple white wine and salted water, then add a generous amount of dill, a couple of cloves of garlic and some leftover leek greens that I’ve frozen and saved for soup or poaching.

The poaching lasts about 10 minutes on medium heat.

Remove the salmon from the poaching pan and let it cool.

To make the salad: Break the salmon into shards, as in the photo above.

For the sauce: Mix mayonnaise, dill, drained capers, chopped shallot and celery, and lemon juice. For a four-pound salmon, I used close to a half-cup of dill, a whole jar of capers, one cup chopped celery, two medium-size shallots and two tablespoons of lemon juice. I use mayonnaise sparingly — too much will overwhelm the flavors created in the poaching — and in the past added a drop of Greek yogurt. I made this dish once with tzatziki and it was also quite good. Instead of lemon juice, you could use an equal amount of lemon zest. Salt and pepper to taste.

Refrigerate for at least one hour. Serve chilled with sliced baguette. A Chardonnay is good with this dish.

Next time I’ll get a photo.