This incredible recipe quickly assumed the crown as our absolute favorite way to cook salmon.
It was moving week and we had 8 slices of salmon fillets in the freezer. We knew that freezer had to be cleaned out before moving, one way or another. So we decided to cook all the salmon. What we didn’t eat for dinner would go into salads and so on during our week of packing up. We doubled the recipe below and the salmon was unbelievably wonderful.
From Melissa Clark, The New York Times.
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
4 anchovy fillets, minced
1 fat garlic clove (or 2 small ones), minced
1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
4 (6- to 8-ounce) salmon fillets
2 tablespoons drained capers
1/2 lemon
fresh chopped parsley, for serving
Heat oven to 400°F. In a small bowl, mash together butter, anchovies, garlic, salt and pepper.
In a large ovenproof skillet, melt about half the anchovy butter. Add fish, skin side down. Cook for 3 minutes over high heat to brown the skin, spooning some pan drippings over the top of the fish as it cooks. Add capers to bottom of pan and transfer to oven. Roast until fish is just cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes.
Remove pan from oven and add remaining anchovy butter to pan to melt. Place salmon on plates and spoon buttery pan sauce over the top. Squeeze the lemon half over the salmon and garnish with chopped parsley. Serve.