Slow-Baked Salmon with Butter Potatoes and Green Beans
Low oven, whole side of salmon, and a window of twenty minutes where it is impossible to overcook. It looks like a centrepiece. It is a tray with fish on it.
- Cost for two
- $31
- Active time
- 25 min
- Done ahead
- 63%
- 1 hr 35 min before 7:30
- Hands off at
- 7:15
- T-15
Allergens: Fish (salmon) · Dairy (butter) · Mustard
The 7:30 Timeline
Read it bottom-up if you like; cook it top-down.
Done before she arrives
Aisle order
Shopping list
Fish counter
Salmon fillet, skin-on, one piece
Ask for the centre cut so it is an even thickness.
1 lb (450 g)
Produce
Baby potatoes
1.5 lb
Green beans
1 bag (about 300 g)
Lemon
1
Garlic
3 cloves
Dill
1 small bunch
Dairy
Salted butter
1 block (you use 4 tbsp)
Condiments
Dijon mustard
1 jar (you use 1 tbsp)
Pantry (you probably have these)
Olive oil, salt, black pepper
At the stove
Method
- 1
Heat the oven to 400°F / 200°C. Halve the potatoes and toss with 2 tablespoons olive oil and salt on a baking tray. Roast for 35 minutes until golden at the edges.
- 2
Meanwhile make the sauce: melt 4 tablespoons butter in a small pan over low heat with the sliced garlic for 2 minutes. Take it off the heat. Stir in 1 tablespoon Dijon, the zest of the lemon, and the juice of half of it.
- 3
Trim the green beans. Place the salmon skin side down on a second tray lined with foil. Season with salt and pepper.
- 4
When the potatoes are done, remove them and turn the oven DOWN to 275°F / 135°C. Add the beans to the potato tray with a splash of oil.
- 5
Spoon half the butter sauce over the salmon. Put both trays in the low oven for 25 to 30 minutes.
- 6
Check doneness (below). Rewarm the remaining sauce briefly.
- 7
Plate the potatoes and beans first, lay a piece of salmon on top, spoon sauce over, and finish with chopped dill and a wedge of lemon.
Is it done?
The check that needs no experience
Thermometer in the thickest part: 125°F / 52°C for silky, 135°F / 57°C if you prefer it fully firm. No thermometer: press the top with a fork. If it flakes into layers with gentle pressure and the centre is opaque pink rather than glassy, it is done. At 275°F the window is huge; you would need to forget it for half an hour to go wrong.
The #1 way to screw it up
White stuff (albumin) has seeped out of the salmon and it looks a bit pale and unexciting.
Recovery
Albumin means it is cooked, not ruined. Wipe it off with a paper towel, spoon on the warm butter sauce, cover with dill and cracked pepper. The sauce and herbs are the visual; the fish underneath is still perfect. If you want colour, 90 seconds under the broiler will bronze the top.
The reveal
Plating
Build the plate in layers so it has height: potatoes and beans first in a loose pile, the salmon laid across the top at an angle. Spoon the butter sauce over the fish so it runs down into the vegetables. Finish with a generous amount of dill and a lemon wedge on the edge of the plate, not on the food.
Vegetarian swap
Replace the salmon with two thick slabs of halloumi or a 400 g block of firm tofu, patted dry and scored on top. Same sauce, same low oven, 25 minutes. Halloumi browns; tofu wants the broiler for the last 2 minutes.
What to pour
- Wine
- An unoaked Chardonnay or a Chablis. Cold. Butter sauce and Chardonnay are old friends.
- Beer
- A Belgian blonde or a pilsner. Something clean.
- No alcohol
- Cucumber and lemon in sparkling water, or a good ginger beer over ice.
Take this to the supermarket.
The 3 Bulletproof Dinners as a PDF, with the timelines. Free.