Wild salmon baked whole in sea salt

12 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
8 pounds Whole wild salmon; such as Alaskan king
Maldon sea salt
Freshly-ground black pepper
1 bunch Fennel; washed
10 pounds Coarse sea salt -; (to 12 lbs)
=== SALSA VERDE ===
1 bunch Flat-leaf parsley leaves
1 bunch Basil leaves
1 bunch Mint leaves
⅓ cup Washed salted capers covered
With white-wine vinegar
6 Anchovy fillets covered in olive oil
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons Red wine vinegar
10 tablespoons Extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly-ground black pepper; to taste

Directions

Make the Salsa Verde: Place herbs on cutting board. Using a mezzaluna or large chefs knife, roughly chop herbs. Place in large bowl. Using mezzaluna or chef's knife, roughly chop capers and anchovies together and add to bowl with herbs. Add mustard and vinegar. Drizzle in olive oil. Season with pepper. Mix to combine. (Makes about 1-½ cups) Heat oven to 450 degrees.

Scale and clean salmon, season cavity with Maldon salt and pepper. Fill the cavity with the fennel. Fill the bottom of a large roasting or baking pan with a ½-inch layer of salt. Place the fish on its side, on top of the salt. Pile the remaining sea salt over the fish, completely covering it by at least ½-inch all over. If the head and tail protrude from the pan, place a double layer of heavy duty aluminum under tail and head to prevent salt from falling into your oven. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons water over the surface of the salt. Transfer roasting pan to oven, and bake salmon until cooked through, 45 to 60 minutes. To test if the fish is cooked, poke a metal skewer or kitchen fork through the salt and into the fish where the fish is the thickest. Pull the skewer out; if the skewer is warm to the touch, then the salmon is cooked. Transfer pan to a wire rack, and let rest until cool enough to handle. Using your fingers, break off the salt crust from the top of the fish; the skin should have stuck to the salt and will peel away as you do this. If the skin does not pull away when removing salt, use a paring knife to gently lift the skin away from the fillet.

Carefully lift the entire fish out of the pan. Peel away any remaining skin and salt stuck to the underside; place the fish on a cutting board. Cut the fillets off the bones, and serve at room temperature, garnished with Salsa Verde. Serves 12.

Cuisine: "Mexican" Source: "Martha Stewart Living - (www.marthastewart.com)" S(Formatted for MC5): "by Lynn Thomas - Lynn_Thomas@..."

Per serving: 102 Calories (kcal); 11g Total Fat; (96% calories from fat); trace Protein; 1g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 9mg Sodium Food Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 2½ Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates

Recipe by: Recipe from Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers Converted by MM_Buster v2.0n.

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