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Salmon Confit with Glazed Potatoes: A Luxurious Home-Cooked Meal
Few dishes feel as indulgent yet effortless as salmon confit. This gentle cooking method results in salmon so tender it practically melts in your mouth. Unlike traditional meat confit, which can take hours, salmon confit comes together relatively quickly, making it a fantastic choice for a luxurious yet approachable home-cooked meal. In this recipe, I pair it with beautifully seared and glazed potatoes. This is, without no exaggeration, one of the best potato dishes you’ll ever make. The combination is pure elegance, with flavors and textures that complement each other perfectly.
Perfect Timing: Cooking the Salmon and Potatoes Together
One of the best things about this dish is that, with proper timing, you can cook both the salmon and the potatoes simultaneously, ensuring everything is ready to serve at the same time. To achieve this, it’s essential to read through the instructions beforehand and preferrably watch the video linked in the recipe. This way, you can move seamlessly from curing the salmon to confiting it while working on the potatoes. With a little planning, you’ll be able to present both components hot and fresh, making for a stress-free cooking experience.
The Importance of High-Quality Salmon
Since salmon is the star of this dish, it’s crucial to choose high-quality fillets. Look for fresh, firm salmon with a vibrant color. Wild-caught salmon often has a richer flavor, but high-quality farmed salmon can also work well. When preparing the salmon, one important step is trimming off the thinnest parts. This ensures the fillets are evenly thick, allowing for uniform cooking. But don’t discard those trimmings! They are perfect for repurposing in other dishes; flaked into a salad, stirred into pasta, or even used in a creamy salmon spread. Minimizing waste while maximizing flavor is always a win in the kitchen.
Olive Oil: Choosing the Right One for Confit
The amount of olive oil needed for this dish will depend on the depth of your oven-safe pot or skillet. The key is to have enough oil to fully submerge the salmon fillets. However, you don’t need to use your most expensive extra virgin olive oil for this. Since you’ll be using a significant amount, opt for a good-quality but reasonably priced olive oil. The confit method enhances the natural richness of the fish, so there’s no need for the oil itself to be top-tier.
I personally love using a cast-iron skillet for this process. Cast iron retains heat beautifully, ensuring even cooking and maintaining a steady temperature throughout the confit process. If you’re looking for a high-quality cast-iron skillet, I highly recommend this one.
Another essential tool for this process is a cooking thermometer. Since confit relies on maintaining a precise low temperature, a thermometer ensures you don’t accidentally overcook the salmon. If you’re in need of a reliable one, this is a great option.
The Secret to Perfectly Glazed Potatoes
The potatoes in this dish are just as impressive as the salmon, if not more so. Their golden-brown seared exterior and buttery, rich interior make them a standout side dish. One trick I use to achieve the perfect presentation is trimming the edges for an even cooking surface.
To do this, I use a mandoline, but a sharp knife works just as well. The goal is to create a smooth, even surface so the potatoes sear beautifully in the pan. After trimming, I use a potato peeler to gently round off the edges, giving them a refined look. This extra step makes a big difference in presentation, making the final dish look truly restaurant-worthy.
Don’t throw away the trimmed potato pieces! Store them in water in the fridge, and you’ll have the perfect base for homemade fries or crispy hash browns. This small step helps reduce food waste while giving you a head start on another delicious meal.
Homemade Beef Stock: The Ultimate Flavor Booster
One of the ingredients that makes these potatoes so rich and flavorful is beef stock. While you can certainly use store-bought stock in a pinch, I highly recommend making your own. Homemade beef stock has a depth of flavor that can’t be replicated with store-bought versions, and it’s surprisingly easy to prepare.
The slow simmering process extracts all the natural collagen and flavor from the bones, resulting in a broth that enhances any dish it touches. If you’d like to learn how to make your own beef stock at home, check out the video below.
Bringing It All Together
Once the salmon and potatoes are ready, all that’s left to do is plate and serve. A few fresh elements help balance the richness of the dish: crisp lettuce or other greens add a refreshing bite, while lemon wedges provide a bright acidity that cuts through the richness of the salmon and potatoes.
The result is a restaurant-quality meal that you can make in the comfort of your own kitchen. Whether you’re cooking for a special occasion or simply treating yourself to something extraordinary, this dish delivers luxury without unnecessary complication.
So next time you’re looking for an elegant yet approachable recipe, give this salmon confit with glazed potatoes a try. With its melt-in-your-mouth texture, rich flavors, and stunning presentation, it’s sure to become a new favorite.
Few dishes feel as luxurious yet effortless as salmon confit. This gentle cooking method results in salmon so tender it practically melts in your mouth. In this recipe, I pair it with beautifully seared and glazed potatoes. This is, without no exaggeration, one of the best potato dishes you’ll ever make. The combination is pure elegance, with flavors and textures that complement each other perfectly.
Total Time:2 hours
Yield:4 portions 1x
Ingredients
Scale
For the Salmon
800 g (1.75 lbs) salmon fillet, skin removed
1 dl (7 tbsp) salt
½ dl (3.5 tbsp) sugar
1 tsp black pepper
4 sprigs of dill, roughly chopped
Zest from 1 lemon
1–1.5 liters (4–6 cups) olive oil
4 garlic cloves
2 sprigs of sage
4 sprigs of thyme
For the Potatoes
4 large potatoes
3 tbsp cooking oil
4 tbsp butter
6 sprigs of thyme
2 sprigs of sage
2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
2.5 dl (1 cup) beef stock
Black pepper, to taste
Salt, to taste
To Serve
Lettuce or other greens
Lemon wedges
Instructions
For the Salmon
Pat the salmon dry with a paper towel and cut it into 4 portions. Trim off any thin parts to ensure even thickness.
Mix salt, sugar, black pepper, dill, and lemon zest. Coat the salmon with the seasoning and let it cure in the fridge for 1 hour.
Rinse the salmon under cold water and pat dry with paper towels.
Heat the olive oil in an oven-safe pot or skillet to 65°C (150°F). Carefully submerge the salmon, adding more oil if necessary.
Add garlic, thyme, and sage to the oil. Cook in the oven at 150°C (300°F) for 15 minutes.
Heat some of the confit oil in a frying pan. Sear the salmon fillets on one side until golden brown.
Plate the salmon with the potatoes, lettuce, and lemon wedges. Enjoy!
For the Potatoes
Trim two sides of the potatoes so they have flat surfaces. Use a potato peeler to smooth the edges for a refined presentation.
Heat the cooking oil in a frying pan. Sear the potatoes on both sides until golden brown.
Add butter, thyme, sage, and garlic to the pan. Baste the potatoes with the melted butter.
Add the beef stock and bring it to a simmer.
Cover with a lid and bake in the oven at 180°C (360°F) for 20 minutes.
Baste and bake for another 10 minutes at 150°C (300°F).
Finish on the stove by reducing the sauce over low heat while basting the potatoes until they are glazed and the sauce has thickened. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
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