Description
This Christmas Baked Salmon recipe features a succulent salmon side baked with a honey butter glaze, topped with a creamy dill sauce and a festive holiday tapenade of cranberries, almonds, and pomegranate seeds. Perfect for holiday celebrations, it is served warm or at room temperature with fresh lemon wedges for an elegant and flavorful main course.
Ingredients
Scale
Salmon
- 1.5 kg salmon side (skin on, bones removed)
- 2 1/4 tsp cooking/kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
Honey Butter Glaze
- 150 g unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup honey
- 3 garlic cloves, finely minced
Creamy Dill Sauce
- 1 1/2 cups full fat sour cream
- 1/2 cup fresh dill, finely chopped
- 1/2 eschallot (French onion), finely grated
- 1 1/2 tbsp lemon zest
- 1/2 tsp cooking/kosher salt
Holiday Tapenade
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1 cup orange juice
- 1 cup slivered almonds, toasted
- 1/3 cup parsley, roughly chopped
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Finishing
- 1 pomegranate, seeds only
- 1/4 cup parsley, roughly chopped
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 lemons, cut into 6 pieces each for serving
Instructions
- Creamy Dill Sauce: In a bowl, mix sour cream, fresh dill, eschallot, lemon zest, and salt until smooth. Refrigerate until needed.
- Holiday Tapenade - Plump Cranberries: Heat orange juice in a saucepan over high heat until hot. Turn off the stove, add dried cranberries and cover. Let stand for 15 minutes, then drain in a colander and discard liquid. Cool the cranberries.
- Holiday Tapenade - Mix: In a bowl, combine plumped cranberries, toasted slivered almonds, parsley, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Stir gently and set aside at room temperature.
- Prepare Oven and Salmon: Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Place a large sheet of double-layer foil on a tray, then place baking/parchment paper over it. Lay the salmon on the paper and fold up the foil edges slightly to contain the glaze.
- Make Honey Butter Glaze: In a saucepan over medium-high heat, melt butter with honey and garlic. Once it begins to foam, reduce heat to medium and let foam for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and pour immediately over the salmon.
- Season Salmon: Sprinkle salt and black pepper evenly over the salmon, placing most of the salt on the thickest part.
- Wrap Salmon: Cover the salmon with a smaller piece of parchment paper, then cover with foil. Fold and seal the sides to create a parcel that is not completely airtight.
- Bake Salmon: Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven afterwards.
- Uncover and Prepare for Broiling: Carefully remove the foil and parchment cover, folding the sides down to expose the salmon but keep the foil around the tray to catch drips and prevent fire risks.
- Grill/Broil to Brown: Set oven to grill/broil on high and place the salmon on the middle rack. Broil for 7 to 10 minutes until caramelized edges form and some browning appears on top. Monitor to prevent burning. Check salmon for desired doneness by prying open or using a temperature probe.
- Transfer to Serving Platter: Use the foil overhang to slide the salmon gently onto a serving platter. Remove foil and paper from under the salmon to allow juices to pool as sauce.
- Cool Salmon: Loosely cover the salmon with foil and let it cool for at least 15 minutes or up to 1 hour. This allows it to be served warm or at room temperature.
- Assemble and Serve: Spread the creamy dill sauce thickly (~0.8 cm) over the salmon. Pile the holiday tapenade on top, scatter pomegranate seeds and remaining parsley, and drizzle with lemon juice. Serve with extra lemon wedges so guests can add to taste. Cut into portions with a cake cutter or sharp knife and serve warm or room temperature.
Notes
- Use a whole side of salmon, skin on and bones removed, to ensure easy handling and even cooking.
- If using table salt instead of cooking/kosher salt, reduce the quantity by 25% due to finer grain size.
- Toast almonds in a dry skillet over medium heat for about 2 minutes until fragrant and lightly browned. Stir frequently to avoid burning.
- Cook salmon to preferred doneness: 43°C for rare, 49°C for medium-rare, or 54°C for medium.
- Substitute trout for salmon for smaller portions; adjust cooking times accordingly.
- Butter can be swapped with ghee or margarine for dairy-free options; honey can be replaced with maple syrup.
- Sour cream is best full fat; cream cheese can be used in a pinch but thin with olive oil to similar consistency.
- To serve at room temperature, ensure salmon is still warm enough so honey-butter sauce remains liquid. Rewarm gently if needed.
- Skin can be left on during cooking for handling but is usually discarded when serving due to lack of crispiness.
- Prepare tapenade, dill sauce, and glaze up to 24 hours in advance; store almonds separately and add before serving.
- Leftovers keep 3-4 days in the refrigerator; consume at room temperature without reheating in microwave or oven.
- Serving size is for 12 main course portions, which can stretch to 16-20 for smaller servings in a banquet setting.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 420 kcal
- Sugar: 7 g
- Sodium: 380 mg
- Fat: 28 g
- Saturated Fat: 10 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 15 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 10 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 35 g
- Cholesterol: 95 mg
