Roasted Cape Salmon with Butter and Herbs

Serves 4 and is easily doubled

An amazingly effortless fish dish - no frying, no turning, no grilling, no garnishing. It’s astonishing that it can turn out so well when almost all that is required of the cook is the making of the butter - that and having in hand a perfect piece of thick, skinned salmon fillet weighing 500g. The dill and tarragon used in this recipe are dried, because all too often they are unobtainable fresh - either they’re out of season or the supermarket has run out. But dried herbs, freshly bought, make an excellent butter, and the flavour of this dish is lovely.

ingredients

60 g soft butter
1 ml (1/4 tsp) dried dill
1 ml (1/4 tsp) dried tarragon
15 ml (1 tbsp) finely snipped fresh chives
15 ml (1 tbsp) finely chopped fresh parsley
2 ml (1/2 tsp) finely grated lemon rind
500g skinless salmon fillet in one piece of even thickness
60 ml (1/4 cup) white wine (Sauvignon Blanc is good)
Sea salt

directions

1
First cream the butter with the herbs and lemon rind, mixing well. Roll into a sausage shape, wrap and refrigerate for about 1 hour, or until firm enough to slice.
2
To bake, place the fish in a baking dish - not a big one - it should fit fairly snugly with a bit of room to spare for the juices. Pour the wine in at the side and season the fish lightly. Slice the butter into 6 coins and place them on top of the fish.
3
Roast at 200 degrees C for 15 minutes, then remove from oven and spread any blobs of butter that have not melted over the fish, giving it a green coating. Give a quick baste with the winey juices and return to the oven for 5 minutes, or until the fish is just cooked through.
4
To serve, slice the fish into four and spoon some juices over each serving. Oven roasted potato wedges go well with this - simply scrub and cut the potatoes into wedges, season, roll in olive oil and place in the hot oven 30 minutes before the fish. For veg, a stir-fry is great: green beans, button mushrooms, julienned baby marrows and carrots, chopped leaks - all good.

notes

It was the "effortless" in the description of this dish that caught my eye and made me think I could possibly even manage it! It sounds yummy too. Ash

Source: With lots of love Ash