Slow Salmon

Karen Barnaby is a local chef whose cooking I enjoy.  During the unforgettable, unexpected and scrumptious salmon run of 2010 she gave out her recipe for perfect salmon.   When I first read what she proposed, I was dubious.  It went against my fish-cooking instincts.   But she's a chef.  She's famous.  And she's a good cook.

Like I said, I didn't believe it but I gave it a try anyway and Paul and I were  delighted with the results.  I was so impressed that I sent her an email telling her how great it was – and she answered me back.   I was very excited to hear back from culinary royalty! She says that the low temperature keeps the texture tender and succulent and brings out the taste. The salmon remains a glistening orange and may look like it's not cooked but it flakes readily.

When cousin Lorna and her Mr. Beau came over the other night, I decided to cook a side fillet of salmon for them because I know Mr. B is an avid fisherman.  They had never heard of cooking salmon this way and politely agreed that it was a success.

So without further ado and thanks to Ms. Barnaby – and with no photos because I didn't take any – here's the scoop on salmon.

Slow-oven Salmon

1 side fresh, wild B.C .salmon, 2-3 pounds (1-1.5 kg), boneless and with the skin left on


.
(The steelhead fillets at Costco work perfectly for this)

Place the salmon on a cookie sheet lined with parchment

Arrange the oven racks so there is one placed in the middle of the oven and one on the bottom. Place the salmon on a parchment-lined, rimmed baking sheet.

Sprinkle with salt.

 (I didn't)

Preheat the oven to 200°F (100°C).
Place a 9 x 13-inch (22 x 33 cm) baking dish half full of boiling water on the bottom rack.

Place the salmon on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 20 minutes.

Turn the oven off and let the salmon rest for 20 minutes if you have a gas oven, 10 minutes for an electric oven.

Do not peek!
 (This is the hardest part for me)

Don't use the convection setting on your oven.