Herb Crusted Salmon

Herb-Crusted Salmon by Cook's Illustrated

Ingredients:

Salt and Pepper

4 (6-8 ounce) skin-on salmon fillets

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs (or 3/4 cup - see Mark's Updates)

2 tablespoons beaten egg

2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme (or 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoons dry)

1/4 cup chopped fresh tarragon (or 4 teaspoons dry)

1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard

1 1/2 teaspoons mayonnaise (or 2-3 teaspoons - see Mark's Updates)

Lemon Wedges

Basil or Dill can be substituted for the Tarragon.

The recipe calls for fresh tarragon and fresh thyme.

To convert from fresh herbs to dry, the general rule that I've found online in 1 tablespoon fresh  = 1 teaspoon dry.

1.  Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.

2.  Dissolve 5 tablespoons salt in 2 quarts of water.

3.  Submerge salmon in brine for 15 minutes.

4.  After 15 minutes, remove salmon from brine, pat dry, and set aside.

5.  Melt butter in 10-inch skillet over medium heat.

6.  Add panko bread crumbs, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and season with pepper.

7.  Stir frequently until panko mix is golden brown - 4 to 5 minutes.

8.  Transfer panko mix to bowl and cool completely.
9.  While panko mix is cooling, in a second bowl, stir together the tarragon, mustard, and mayo.

10.  Once panko mix is cooled, stir in egg and thyme into panko mix until thoroughly combined.

11.  Set a wire rack in a rimmed baking sheet and cover with foil.

12.  Spray foil with vegetable oil spray.

13.  Using a spoon (or butter knife), spread the tarragon mix over the salmon.

14.  Sprinkle the panko mix over the tarragon mix.

15.  Press panko mix down with fingers to adhere.

16.  Place salmon in pre-heated oven.

17.  Cook for 18-25 minutes or until salmon fillets reach a temperature of 125 degrees.

18.  Transfer salmon fillets to serving platter and let sit for 5 minutes.

19.  Serve salmon fillets with lemon wedges.

20.  Enjoy.

Mark's Notes:

This is a recipe from Cook's Illustrated.  Please note that the conversions to dry herbs - I added those myself from some online research and did not come from the original recipe.

The first time I made this, I went to the store and bought fresh thyme and fresh tarragon.  I had to look up online how to prepare fresh herbs as I have never cooked with fresh herbs before.  I learned you peel the leaves off and chop those up.  You don't use the stems.  So, that was new for me.  Also quite tedious.  The first time Trish and I ate it, I didn't quite cut the herbs up fine enough and several bites were quite potent.  

Given the tedious time consuming nature of cooking with fresh herbs, I made this a second time and went through the trouble of looking up online conversions for fresh herbs to dry herbs.  It is generally 1 tablespoon fresh = 1 teaspoon dry.  It turned out just as well.  Also, in the second recipe with dry herbs, I used dill instead of tarragon.  Trish liked both versions very much.

If I have the time and if I'm in the mood, I'll cook with the fresh herbs; otherwise, I'm okay using the dry herbs.

Here is a link to the Cook's Illustrated video of how to prepare this.  It is free for 4 months:

http://www.cooksillustrated.com/june13

Mark's Updates 9-17-13
After making this quite a few times, it didn't seem the panko crumb mix was quite enough to cover the four 7 ounce salmon fillets I had. So, I increased the amount of panko bread crumb to 3/4 cup.  I also increased the amount of butter to 3 tablespoons  - 1 tablespoon of butter for every 1/4 cup panko bread crumb.  I also increased the amount of mayo used to 2 to 3 tablespoons.  Then use a butter knife to spread the tarragon-mustard-mayo mix.