Grilled Wild Salmon Steak with Fennel Hash and Sweet Onion Sauce

Name: Grilled Wild Salmon Steak with Fennel Hash and Sweet Onion Sauce
Yield: serves 4
Ingredients: 2 Yukon Gold potatoes (about 1 pound), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes; Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper; 4 tablespoons canola oil; 2 tablespoons unsalted butter; 1 fennel bulb, top removed, fronds reserved, halved, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch dice; 1 medium white onion, cut into 1/2-inch dice; 2 garlic cloves, minced; Four 10-ounce wild salmon steaks, preferably sockeye, skin on, 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick; 1 tablespoon fennel seeds, toasted (see Note, page 52) and ground; 1 cup Sweet Onion Sauce (recipe follows); 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil; 1 large Vidalia onion (about 1 pound), sliced; 1 fresh thyme sprig; 1 small bay leaf; Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper; 1/2 cup vegetable stock, plus more if needed; (makes 2 cups)

December 9, 2011

Salmon steaks are shaped sort of like a horseshoe and have the bone left in the center. They’re really thick and meaty and don’t stick like fillets, which means they’re perfect for the grill. Wild salmon is preferable to that raised in fish farms, as it tends to be healthier for you and taste better. Be sure to remove all the little pin bones with a pair of tweezers or have your fish guy do it. With the bounty of produce on the planet, I gotta say onions are probably my favorite vegetable. They can be transformed in so many different ways. This onion sauce is so velvety you’d swear there is butter in it. The trick is to cook the onions low and slow so they don’t brown or caramelize. This fennel hash is also killer with steak or eggs in the morning.

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