Olive Oil Poached Salmon with Sorrel Butter Sauce

⏱ 45 min · Serves 4

Salmon cooked so gently in warm olive oil that it turns silky and almost translucent, draped in a bright, lemony sorrel butter sauce. It looks like restaurant cooking but the oven does the hard part — all you need is a thermometer and a little patience.

Per serving: 790 kcal · 37.0g protein · 21.0g carbs · 63.0g fat

Ingredients

• 4 x 150g salmon fillets, skinned and pin-boned
• 500ml mild olive oil (or half olive, half rapeseed)
• 2 strips lemon peel
• 2 garlic cloves, lightly crushed
• 1 sprig thyme
• 1 tsp flaky sea salt, plus more for seasoning
• 2 large banana shallots, finely chopped
• 100ml dry white wine
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 100ml double cream
• 150g cold unsalted butter, diced
• 80g sorrel leaves, stems removed, shredded
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• White pepper, to taste
• 400g new potatoes, to serve

Method

1. Season the salmon fillets all over with the flaky salt and leave at room temperature for 20 minutes, then pat dry.
2. Heat the oven to 120C/100C fan. Choose a small deep oven dish that holds the fillets snugly. Add the lemon peel, garlic and thyme, sit the salmon on top and pour over enough oil to submerge it completely.
3. Warm the oil on the hob to 45-50C, then transfer to the oven and cook for 20-25 minutes, until the salmon reaches 42-45C at the centre and flakes gently under light pressure. Keep it warm in the oil while you finish the sauce.
4. Meanwhile, boil the new potatoes in salted water until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and keep warm.
5. For the sauce, put the shallots, wine and vinegar in a small saucepan and simmer until reduced to about 2 tablespoons of syrupy liquid.
6. Add the cream and bring to a bare simmer. Lower the heat and whisk in the cold butter a few cubes at a time, never letting it boil, until you have a glossy emulsion.
7. Strain through a fine sieve if you like it silky, then return to the pan off the heat. Stir in the sorrel — it will collapse and turn olive green in seconds. Season with salt, white pepper and the lemon juice.
8. Lift the salmon from the oil with a slotted spoon, drain briefly on kitchen paper and set on warm plates. Spoon the sorrel sauce generously around and serve with the potatoes.