Cold Glazed Salmon
Submitted by bkparmely
Whole cold glazed salmon baked in wine with fresh herbs, chilled overnight and finished with fish aspic and turnip flower decorations. A stunning centerpiece for buffets and celebrations.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
30 minCOOK
1 hrsREADY
3 hrsThis is the kind of dish that stops a buffet table dead in its tracks.
A whole seven-pound salmon gets baked in a fragrant white wine reduction with basil, tarragon, rosemary, shallots, and lemon, then chilled overnight until firm and ready for its grand presentation.
The real showpiece is the finish: a shimmering coat of fish aspic, decorative turnip flowers, and piped egg yolk filling that turns this into edible art.
It’s classic French entertaining at its finest, the sort of platter your grandmother’s cookbook dreamed about.
Kitchen Tips
- Crimp the foil tightly when wrapping the salmon. Steam is doing most of the cooking here, so you need a good seal.
- Remove the skin while the fish is still warm. It peels away cleanly when hot but becomes stubborn once cooled.
- Keep the aspic just barely liquid when spooning it over the fish. Too warm and it won’t set; too cool and it clumps.
- Soak turnip slices in ice water to keep them crisp and pliable for cutting decorative shapes.
Ingredients
Directions
In a small saucepan, combine the wine, basil, 3 tarragon sprigs, shallots, rosemary, lemon, and celery.
Simmer the mixture for 20 minutes or until the liquid is reduced to about 3 Tbsp.
Lay the salmon on a piece of heavy foil, twice as long as the fish.
Pick up edges of foil and pour the wine mixture over the fish.
Season with salt and fold the foil to enclose it, crimping the edges tightly to secure them.
Put the salmon on a large baking sheet or roasting pan and bake it in the middle of a preheated 375℉ (190℃). oven for 50 to 60 minutes or until the fish just flakes.
Transfer the package to a work surface, open foil carefully, and remove the skin from the top of the salmon below the head to the bottom of the salmon at the tail.
Scrape away any brown flesh, leaving head and tail intact.
Drain liquid from the foil, and using the foil as a guide, invert the fish onto a platter.
Remove foil and skin and prepare the other side of the salmon in the same manner.
Chill the fish, covered, overnight.
Peel turnip and cut into thin slices.
Trim each slice to ressemble a flower or cut with a flower cutter.
Place in a bowl of ice water to hold until ready for use.
Mash the egg yolk with the butter and reserve at room temperature.
Spoon a thin coat of cool but liquid fish aspic over the salmon and arrange the additional tarragon sprigs and turnip flowers decoratively on the fish.
Spoon a thin coat of liquid aspic over the whole.
Transfer the yolk mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a decorative tip.
Pipe the mixture into the centers of the flowers.
Chill the salmon for at least 2 hours or up to 6 hours.
Serve surrounded with the chilled aspic, chopped.
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