If you’re not sure what to serve your family and friends this Christmas and are looking for:
This dish is a festive baked salmon with a Christmas medley on top. A creamy dill sauce pairs naturally with the salmon, while the sweet taste of the holiday medley both perfectly compliments the salmon dill combination and adds a level of flair that will have your guests wowed.
And it’s so easy to make (Overview)
1 – Bake and quickly broil salmon in honey glaze…
2 – Layer salmon with dill sauce and Christmas medley…
3 – Drizzle with lemon and Italian parsley…
4 – Serve and bask in the accolades.
Ingredients:
Salmon – approximately 3 pounds to serve 8 people
1 stick of butter
4 oz. of honey
3 cloves of garlic
16 oz. pint of sour cream
Cup of finely chopped dill
Juice from ½ lemon
1 shallot
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup slivered almonds
Seeds from 1 pomegranate
4 oz of apple juice
¼ cup of olive oil
Italian parsley
parchment paper
aluminum foil
Directions:
Prepare Salmon: Use a whole side of unflavored salmon with skin on and deboned. Thoroughly thaw overnight in the fridge if frozen and pat the fish dry before cooking. It’s important to cook and serve with the skin to hold the fish together. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil, place a sheet of parchment paper on top of the aluminum foil, place the fish skin down on top of the parchment paper.
Prepare Honey Glaze: Put butter, honey, and garlic in a saucepan and let simmer for a couple of minutes until the butter melts and the mixture is slightly thickened; stir.
Baking the Salmon: Preheat over to 350 degrees. Fold the foil sides to cup the fish a little so the glaze doesn’t spill and stays on the fish. Pour the glaze over the fish. Cover the fish with another sheet of aluminum foil. Fold and pinch the edges together to form a light seal. It doesn’t have to be perfect!
Bake for 15 minutes. Pull out the fish from the oven and uncover. Set your oven to broil. Put the uncovered fish back into the over on the middle rack and broil for 10 minutes. You will get a nice caramelization on the fish. Please don’t move the fish closer than the middle rack to the heat source. We don’t want the parchment paper to burn!
This is what it looks like when it comes out.
Pick up the edges of the parchment paper and transfer the fish to the serving platter. Do this as soon a possible as you don’t want the fish to continue to cook on the hot baking sheet. Pull the parchment paper from under the fish and let salmon cool for 10 minutes. Keep in mind; the salmon should be served slightly warm to room temperature.
While the fish is cooking – prepare the Dill Sauce and Christmas Medley.
Dill Sauce: Mix in a medium bowl sour cream, finely chopped shallot ½ cup of finely chopped dill, and juice from half lemon. Set aside.
Christmas Medley: This is a fantastic combination of color and flavor that perfectly complements the sweetness of the salmon and the texture of the dill sauce.
In a medium bowl, mix seeds from one pomegranate, almond slivers, a cup of dried cranberries, 4oz of orange juice, and ¼ cup of olive oil. Consider making this medley a few hours earlier. The orange juice softens the dried cranberries and makes them a bit sweeter.
Assembling
1. Smother the salmon with the dill sauce. Use the entire bowl, be generous!
2. Drain the juice from the Christmas medley and mix in ½ cup of chopped Italian parsley and mix. Sprinkle the medley evenly across the dill sauce, again be generous and use the entire bowl.
3. Squeeze half a lemon over the dish.
4. Present your salmon bake whole on a platter so your guests can admire how pretty it is.
Use a cake server to cut the fish into portions and serve.
Nutrition Info:
Salmon with Creamy Dill Sauce:
Serves: 8 | Serving Size: One 6oz Salmon with Dill Sauce
Per Serving: 740 Calories, 45g Fat, 47g Carbohydrates, 37g Sugar, 4g Fiber, 41g Protein
Recipe inspired by: recipetineats.com
