Crispy Salmon with Butter Poached Apples

This was one of the first successful dishes of mine (By successful, I meant that it got basically a rave from Pauline!).

It is also very simple to make this dish.

Make sure you get a salmon fillet with skin as the skin is meant to be pan fried until crispy. Season generously on both sides and score the fish. Insert a few sprigs of thyme in the slits.

Heat up a pan until it is piping hot and add some olive oil. Use your hand to place the salmon, skin side down and press down on it for a few seconds. To cook a perfect fish, always only turn the fish once during the cooking process.

Once the fish is about two-thirds cooked, turn it on the other side. Add a knob of butter and base the fish by taking a teaspoon and continuously showering the top of the fish with the melted butter. Let it cook for another 2 mins or so and then set aside. As with all meats, let it sit for at least 5 mins in order for the fish to finish cooking on its own and the juices are sealed in.

Slice an apple and in the remaining juices in the pan, add some lemon juice and the apple slices and let it poached until the liquid has reduced by half or until the sauce is syrupy. As a side, you can add some mash potatoes with chives to complement the salmon and the apples, or alternatively you can pair with some ratatouille veggies of your choice.

The salmon should be cooked just right, with the center still fairly pink and tender and the skin absolutely crispy. The nice sweetness from the apple slices and apple sauce will provide a nice counter balance to the salmon meat.