My go-to method for cooking salmon or any other fish is to fire-blast it in a cast iron pan and get the skin dark and crispy. I rarely ever roast it because I cannot figure out how to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pan while cooking. By placing the fish on top of sliced fruits with a little oil keeps it from sticking to the bottom.
Alison Roman's recipe for her Citrus Salmon from her cookbook Dining In calls for 1.5 cups of oil. I disagree with using that much oil, especially on a fish that is already as fatty as salmon. I drizzled maybe a tablespoon and a half over the citrus fruits at the bottom of the pan and then maybe another tablespoon, at the most, on top of the salmon.
Slow roasting salmon at 300 degrees can prevent you from overcooking it. Between the citrus fruits and oils, the fish won't dry out.
Alison's recipe calls for 2 cups of herbs such as parsley, cilantro, dill and tarragon. I used just dill because my indoor garden is flourishing with fresh dill and also I do not like my salmon to have a strong herbal flavor.
Ingredients
1 piece of salmon fillet
1 lemon or lemon juice
1 blood orange, mandarin orange or regular orange, grapefruit, limes (sliced)
2 tbsp oil
Fresh herbs of your choice
Sea salt flakes (regular is fine too, I just prefer this kind)
1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
2. Prepare a glass baking dish by lining the bottom with your citrus fruits and about a tablespoon of oil.
3. Rub salt into the skin of your salmon, if you keep the skin on. Place the fish in the baking dish, sprinkle a pinch more salt on top and drizzle another little bit of oil.
4. Cook the salmon for no more than 35 minutes.
Serve hot or room temperature with brown rice and a vegetable of your choice. I served this dish with an adapted version of Alison Roman's Green Beans and Tahini Sauce. Find my recipe here.
