Skip The Oven: Cook Salmon Like This For A Tender Cut In Half The Time

We are suckers for a fillet of fish, and they don't come much better than juicy, pink forkfuls of salmon. The wild-caught kind packs an essential vitamin punch alongside all that omega-3, and you can cook salmon all ways from Sunday. However, for a truly tender fillet, poaching it in whole milk or cream is the only way to go. Oven-baked salmon can be yummy, but that requires time and patience we sometimes don't have. Poaching the fish in whole milk or cream gets the job done quicker and helps retain more of salmon's nutrients.

All you need to do is pour some milk or cream into a skillet, then set the heat to a gentle simmer (you should see very tiny bubbles forming around the edge of the pan). Place your salmon fillet in the liquid, spooning it over so the top of the fish cooks, and in a handful of minutes you should have a creamy, tender fish. "But why poach it in whole milk or cream and not a broth or white wine?" you may wonder. The answer is the fats in the dairy.

Fats are brilliant at soaking up the flavor of whatever aromatics added to the liquid, be it garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, or thyme, which are then infused into the salmon as it cooks. You can use skim milk or half-and-half and you'll still get a tender fillet of fish, but the flavor may be dialled down just a touch. Lactose-free milk or other alternatives to cow's milk will also work fine when poaching salmon.

There is an art to poaching salmon and many other types of fish, and it's all to do with the balance of temperature and time. We love the hiss of a beef steak as it hits the grill, but fish is an altogether more delicate form of protein and can be overcooked almost in seconds. Letting the milk or cream boil is all but certain to doom your fillet, as well as erase any nuance added by your aromatics — not to mention potentially making a mess of your stovetop!

Instead, keep the liquid at between 160 and 180 degrees Fahrenheit and keep an eye on the clock. Depending on the thickness, a salmon fillet should be poached to perfection in 10 to 12 minutes. Poaching salmon in milk or cream doesn't just give you a delicious, tender fillet — you also get a ready-made, incredibly tasty sauce.

You can spoon a little over the salmon as you serve it or, if you're making mashed potatoes, add a splash to give those tubers more depth of flavor from the fish and the herbs and spices. We like adding a little corn starch to thicken the poaching liquid and turn it into a rich sauce for a fish pie. If you have any leftovers, pop them in a container and freeze them, ready for the next time you're having fish for dinner.