It’s hard to determine the best thing this dish has going on. It’s a great combination of rich salmon and crème fraîche, cut with a squeeze of lemon, and paired with a warm potato salad. Mushrooms for earthiness, celery for crunch, and totally worthy of being accompanied by candles and wine. Oh, and once you have the potatoes are boiling, you’re about 15 minutes away from dinner. Nice.
Alright, this one’s a quickie. Let’s get right in there and put these ingredients together. Get some skinny fingerling potatoes boiling and prepare the salmon.
Salmon is something I spent years thinking I hated. I think I was eating a lot of over-cooked, dried-out salmon. I still hate that. To keep the salmon nice and moist, I bake it in 1 large piece with the skin on and cut it into smaller servings once it comes out of the oven. Drizzle the fish lightly with olive oil, sprinkle with lemon zest, salt, and pepper. Pop it into the oven and bake until the outside is opaque and the center is still slightly translucent.
While the salmon is doing its business and the potatoes are cooking, get the other veggies going for the warm mushroom and potato salad. Slice a bunch of shiitake mushrooms and a couple of celery stalks.
Sauté the mushrooms until they’re golden and smell heavenly. Your potatoes should be ready at about the same time. Drain them and slice ’em up. Toss them in the pan with the mushrooms. Kill the heat and stir in thin slices of celery. I’ve been loving the combination of mushrooms and celery since I discovered this salad. Just be sure to use celery with plenty of snap, not those limp forgotten stalks in the bottom of the vegetable drawer. Stir in a dollop of crème fraîche and a squeeze of lemon juice.
Pull the salmon out of the oven. Divide the fish between a couple of plates and serve the warm potato and mushroom salad alongside. Pour the wine, light the candles, and relish the fact that this dinner was so quick and easy you actually have time to sit back and really enjoy it. Maybe that’s what I like most about it.
- ¾# Salmon Fillet, skin-on
- ½# Fingerling Potatoes
- ½# Shiitake Mushrooms, sliced
- 2 ribs Celery, very thinly sliced
- ¼ c. Crème Fraîche
- Lemon Zest & Juice
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Preheat oven to 400°.
- Place the potatoes in a medium saucepan filled with cold water. Bring to a boil and boil until the potatoes are tender when poked with the tip of a knife, about 10 minutes.
- Place the salmon on a piece of parchment in a small baking dish, skin-side down. Drizzle the flesh with a little olive oil, season with salt, pepper, and the zest of ½ a lemon. Bake until the outside of the fish is opaque, the inside remains slightly translucent, 10-15 minutes (depending on the thickness of your fillet).
- Meanwhile, heat about 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and sauté until golden and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Season with a pinch of salt.
- Drain the potatoes and cut into ¼ in. slices. Toss the potatoes into the pan with the mushrooms. Turn off the heat; add the celery and crème fraîche. Taste. Season with salt, pepper, and about 2 tsp. lemon juice.
- Your salmon should be ready. Pull it out of the pan and cut it into 2 portions, pulling the fish off the skin. Serve immediately with the warm potato salad.
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