Jalapeno Poached Salmon

This recipe is from two weeks ago but my original post magically disappeared so this is my redo.

Two weeks ago when Aaron and I “discovered” the Ardmore Farmer’s Market for ourselves, I became entranced with the salmon filets at the fish stand. But at $13.99 lb. it was not a college-friendly option. In comparison, a pound of ground turkey usually comes in at about $4.60 which can either make seven burgers or a casserole to feed us for the next week.

Dying for some fish, I settled with a .45lb. filet coming in at $6 to satisfy Aaron and myself for a meal. If you don’t already know, that’s a very small piece of salmon.  Believe it or not, eating primarily different forms of poultry for every meal can get old so occasionally I have to “splurge.”

Despite this being the equivalent of a bite of salmon as far as I’m concerned, with the entire meal we were full enough. Salmon is a hearty fish so you don’t need too much to feel full.

Call it an experiment with molecular gastronomy for the economically-challenged.

Or a poor college student trying to eat fish. Whichever you prefer. But hey, dinner was still about $5 a person with couscous and asparagus.

Many people will say that wild salmon is the only way to go, but being that farm-raised is cheaper and actually better for the environment I always go for farm-raised. If I ever make it to Washington state or Alaska, I will definitely try fresh wild salmon, but for now, I like my less-expensive farm-raised.

Now you might be wary of my use of jalapenos…don’t! My surrogate-sister Amanda gave us a huge bag of her homegrown jalapenos and at first I didn’t know how to utilize them. I don’t like things too hot so I sautéed the peppers and cooked it in chicken broth in order to tone down the spiciness while keeping the flavor. If you find yourself in possession of one of these little green peppers, give it a try, trust me.

If you are less economically challenged than me or are cooking more people, get more salmon and simply double the recipe. I recommend one pepper for each ½ of salmon. Some people use water to poach but chicken broth is SO MUCH BETTER!

Jalapeno Poached Salmon: 1-2 servings

Ingredients:

½ lb. of farm-raised salmon filet

1 fresh jalapeno pepper

2 cups chicken broth (Swanson broth is gluten-free)

½ cup dry white wine

1 tbsp. butter

1-2 garlic cloves, minced

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Slice the seeded jalapeno into small strips.

In a pan, begin to brown butter on medium heat.

Add sliced jalapenos and garlic, lightly sautéed.

Add 1 cup of chicken broth to the peppers with the lid on until the peppers have absorbed the chicken broth.

Once peppers are done, add the rest of the chicken broth and the white wine. Bring to a light boil.

Once boiling, add salmon skin side down. Spoon the jalapenos on top of the salmon along with some of the broth.

Turn heat to low and simmer with the lid on for about 20 minutes or until salmon is cooked to desired. (You want to cook salmon pretty well but not too much so watch your filet.)

I served mine with sautéed asparagus and couscous but for a gluten-free option try rice. You should find that the jalapenos hardly give off any spice but rather a savory almost smoky flavor without masking the natural flavor of the salmon.

Enjoy!

Love,

The College Cuisiner

Aaron likes to eat the skin, ewww! Do you eat the skin of fish or do you toss it out?