A simple show stopping salmon dish that is perfect for weeknights!!
Hi friends!! It’s citrus season!! And I can’t get enough citrus right now. Cara Cara oranges are my absolute favorite, satsumas make me smile, and blood oranges are always the show stoppers.
When it comes to citrus, we mostly think of baking, but there are so many savory ways to use citrus too! I love adding them to salads, they’re wonderful additions to crostini’s with goat cheese, and they can really balance out the flavors in many of my favorite asian sauces.
This very simple, yet elegant roasted salmon fillet is another great use for your favorite citrus! I love shallots with it too because when cooked they are very mild and sweet.
Many friends tell me that they avoid fish because it can seem kind of tricky. But fish can actually be one of the easiest weeknight meals. It cooks super fast and there doesn’t have to be much prep. What’s most important is the quality…when you start with quality fish it doesn’t take much to have a fabulous meal.
For this dish, I simply placed the salmon fillet on a sheet pan (layered with parchment paper) and topped with freshly ground salt, pepper, sliced shallots, and slices of Cara Cara and blood oranges.
I completed this dish with homemade compound butter medallions. A compound butter sounds super fancy but it’s simple to do. It is made by taking a stick of room temperature butter and whipping it with other ingredients such as herbs, spices, garlic, or other flavors. Once whipped you can roll the butter into a tube shape (in parchment paper) and place in the refrigerator. Once chilled, it is very easy to slice into this medallion shape.
This compound butter incorporates the same main ingredients on top of the salmon: shallots and citrus. I finely chopped the shallots, added some fresh Cara Cara orange juice, lemon zest, and parsley. I didn’t add salt or pepper to my butter because I like to be able to have more control over the amount of salt and pepper I’m including in a dish.
How pretty is this?? Just love all the specs of color in the butter.
If you are short on time, it’s not a must. It’s fantastic, but definitely not a must. 🙂 Instead, you could add dollops of plain unsalted butter which would still be delicious. You can also make the butter a few days ahead of time so that it’s ready when you need it! And you’ll definitely have extra to use for other things (like baguettes…mmmm).
Once the salmon is prepped, it goes into the oven for anywhere from 17-21 minutes depending on how cooked you like it. I wouldn’t go more than 21 minutes because then you’ll reach an overcooked dry stage which is really the only way to ruin your fish.
I finished off the salmon with sprinkles of sumac (you can see the red spice sprinkles in the photo above). Sumac comes from sumac berries and is very popular in Middle Eastern cooking. It has a tart lemony flavor so is a wonderful addition to any cooked chicken, meat, or fish. It is best sprinkled after cooking, but can also be used in rubs.
The best part about this dish is that it is a show stopper with minimal effort. You could also prep in the morning and then just place in the oven to bake when you are ready for dinner! I hope you enjoy this dish friends!! And as always, thanks so much for reading!!
Valerie
- 1.5 lb salmon fillet
- 1 blood orange, sliced
- 1 Cara Cara orange, slice a little more than half and then leave the rest of the compound butter recipe below
- 1 shallot (slice half of the shallot, and dice the other half for the butter recipe below)
- For the compound butter:
- 1 stick of room temperature butter (8 tablespoons)
- 2 tablespoons of diced shallots
- 1 tablespoon of chopped flat leaf parsley
- 2 teaspoons Cara Cara orange juice
- 1 teaspoon of Cara Cara orange zest
- Sumac spice to finish when the salmon has baked (optional)
- Make the compound butter by taking the stick of butter and whipping with all of the ingredients. Place in some parchment paper (about the size of a paper towel) and shape into a roll (like a large tootsie roll). Twist the ends of the parchment paper and place in the refrigerator and let chill for at least 20 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees, cover a sheet pan with parchment paper, and place the salmon fillet on the pan.
- Top the salmon with freshly ground salt and pepper
- Top the salmon with the slices of oranges and then with the sliced shallots.
- Remove the butter from the refrigerator and slice. Place 5 slices on the salmon filet and place the rest in the refrigerator to use for anything you wish 🙂
- Place the salmon in the oven and cook for 17-21 minutes, depending on how cooked you like it.
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