Herb Oil Poached Salmon

I bought a piece of wild-caught sashimi grade salmon at the market. I clipped some herbs from the garden and dropped them in a pot of olive oil, which I put on a low flame. I checked the temperature with a thermometer and when it reached 140 degrees I eased the fish into the oil, letting it seep for about twenty minutes.

While that was going on I melted some butter, whisked an cage-free organic egg yolk with a squirt of lemon juice and ground mustard. I slowly added the butter to the egg yolk, whisking until I had a passable hollandaise. I set this aside on a warm part of the stove and cooked some Georgia organic stone-ground grits, smoked some yellow tomatoes with applewood chips, and blanched stalks of asparagus.

I cut up a couple of kumato tomatoes and sliced disks of organic raw mozzarella balls. I stacked these alongside some sunflower sprouts and grilled some whole wheat bread slices, which I cut into sticks. Then I sprinkled the salad with Pink Bolivian salt and aged Balsamic vinegar.

I scooped the grits onto two dinner plates and made a small well, filling it with the hollandaise. I laid out a raft of the asparagus, piled the smoked tomatoes next to the grits, and topped with the poached salmon. The advantage of poaching in the oil is that the flesh remained beautifully orange-pink but was cooked through, flaking away but with the flavor and moisture intact. I’d like to try this with a really red piece of sockeye salmon or ahi tuna. I wish the picture had come out better, showing the bright colors.

Substituting olive oil in the diet has many health benefits, including lowering blood pressure, reducing cholesterol in the bloodstream, leveling out blood sugar, and inhibiting cancer cell growth. Salmon is rich in Omega-3 fatty acid, and wild caught salmon has a higher percentage of Omega-3 than farmed salmon. Asparagus is known to be a blood cleaner and detoxifier, it contains viatmin K and folic acid, is a renowned aphrodisiac, and reduces inflammation. Tomatoes are also viewed as an aphrodisiac, the French called them “pomme d’amour”. They are high in vitamin C, lycopene, and contain 7percent the RDA of iron for women.