Poached Salmon and Caramelized Savoy Cabbage

"She hates salmon...he hates cabbage" should be the name of this post.  I really don't know what I was thinking on this one.  I have never been a big salmon fan despite my efforts to have a long term relationship with the fish.  I appreciate the health benefits but can't get past the often "fishy" taste that it has.  We have had some success with grilling salmon on cedar planks that has turned out pretty well so I thought...maybe I like salmon?  Well, I don't.  As a side note, my husband Matt hates cabbage as well but the recipe suggested pairing the salmon on a bed of caramelized cabbage which turned out to be a big mistake for our household.

As I began reading the poached salmon recipe, I realized I had one ding against me in that I don't own (nor really have a use for) a fish poacher.  However, the book is great at offering suitable suggestions for the cooking method if you are lacking the necessary equipment.  I began by making a court bouillon (check..  another recipe down from the book!) by simmering leeks, carrots, onions, wine, vinegar, and stock to make a quick vegetable broth.  The sachet you see is a cheesecloth wrapped in twine that has thyme, garlic, and peppercorns.  It is a method used quite often in the book to flavor dishes.  This is the court bouillon...

While the court bouillon was simmering, I set to work on the melted onion recipe (another check from the book!) which is used in the caramelized savoy cabbage recipe.  The recipe instructs you to slice 3 onions, sprinkle with salt, and cook in a sauté pan (no butter or oil) until the onions begin to release their juices.  I didn't use the full amount of onions and had a problem with the onions not releasing any juices.  I think my problem may have been lack of quantity but I hated to have a whole pan of melted onions when I was only using 1/4 cup in my recipe.  The pan was super dry and the onions ended up browning (almost burning) way too early.  You then cover the onions with a parchment lid, add butter which mine desperately needed, and simmer for about 30 minutes.  I think the onions were supposed to be creamy...mine looked more like those crunchy onion sticks that come in a can.  Here is a picture early on in the onion process, I am too embarrassed to post a picture of the finished melted onion. 

I have never worked with savoy cabbage before but it is described as a mild cabbage so I thought I could slip it in and maybe the taste wouldn't be too strong for Matt.  The cabbage was very leafy and had a combination of dark and lighter greens throughout.  Here is what the savoy cabbage looked like prior to blanching it...

After blanching the cabbage, I setup my homemade fish poaching station.  I basically used a large roasting pan that I was able to place the whole piece of salmon in the bottom of and submerged it completely with the court bouillon.  The recipe instructs you to keep the court bouillon at a temperature of 200 degrees until the center of the salmon reaches 120 degrees.  This is what the salmon looked like during the cooking process (it is hard to make out a lot since the court bouillon covers the fish).

Meanwhile, I set to work at caramelizing the cabbage until it had browned in a pan with canola oil.  After all of the cabbage had been caramelized, I added it to a large stock pan with chicken stock and the melted (crispy!) onions and added butter.


It was difficult to tell when the salmon was done in the poaching liquid.  It is hard to use a meat thermometer to test fish, especially fish that is completely submerged in liquid.  It was also quite a feat to lift the salmon out of the water with two large spatulas without the whole thing falling apart but I managed to do it.

I served the salmon atop the bed of caramelized cabbage, sat down for dinner, and we both said in unison "I don't like it."  I thought the cabbage was edible and the salmon was disgusting and Matt thought the opposite which tells me our review of the dish probably is due to personal taste rather than a flawed recipe.  However, I can't imagine there is a cookbook in print in which every recipe will be a smashing hit.  I will say the poached salmon was very moist and seemed to be cooked perfectly.  At the end of the day it was the fishy taste that got me on this one and the bitter cabbage that got my husband.  Sorry Mr. Keller but I don't think we will be making this one again!