Sous Vide Mi-Cuit Salmon with Avocado and Dill Crème Fraiche

This dish looks a little fancy, but it's actually fairly easy to make, which makes it great for entertaining — although admittedly there are quite a few steps involved. The salmon is brined before being cooked sous vide and then refrigerated for 6 hours, which firms up the texture and makes it silky smooth.

Author

Christina Wylie

Christina Wylie is an award-winning writer, author, editor, food stylist, recipe creator, entrepreneur and radio host whose work has been featured in The Times & The Sunday Times, Time Out (Melbourne, Sydney, Hong Kong and Dubai), Traveler’s Digest, Fah Thai Magazine, Broadsheet, Wining & Dining and many other internationally renowned publications. In 2013, after almost a decade of working as an international journalist, Christina founded the online lifestyle magazine The GAB Magazine, for which she now leads a team of 60 writers based all across Australia. She then founded Samui Life Magazine in 2016. After working as a recipe creator for Anova Culinary for over a year, she signed a cookbook contract with the American-based, international publishing company Quarto. Her cookbook, titled The Sous Vide Kitchen: Techniques, Ideas, and More Than 100 Recipes to Cook at Home, was published worldwide in 2017. She wrote, styled, and photographed everything that you see within that book. In 2017 she opened her first restaurant, Bootlegger, in Koh Samui, Thailand. She is currently in the initial stages of launching Bootlegger 2 in Phuket in 2018, and is looking to open Bootlegger 3 in Bangkok in 2019. She is currently working towards stepping into the world of food and travel presenting. As an entrepreneur herself, Christina co-founded the charity initiative Project Gen Z in 2015 to teach orphaned Cambodian children entrepreneurial skills. A British expat born and raised in Hong Kong, Christina has worked across the globe, and has lived in Thailand, London, Hong Kong, Australia and South Africa over the years.

Prep Time: 07:00

Recipe Time: 01:00

Temperature : 113F / 45C

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 (6-ounce) skinless salmon fillets
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 avocado
• 1/4 cup crème fraiche
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped dill
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions

1. In a large bowl, whisk together water, sugar, and 1/4 cup salt until dissolved. Add the salmon, cover, and refrigerate for 45 minutes.
2. Set the Anova Sous Vide Precision Cooker to 113ºF (45ºC).
3. Remove the salmon from the brine and pat dry. Place in a large zipper lock bag with olive oil and seal using the water immersion technique. Place the bag in the water bath and set the timer for 1 hour.

Finishing Steps

1. When the timer goes off, remove the bag from the water bath and immediately transfer to an ice bath. Let cool to room temperature.
2. Remove salmon from the bag sand slice into pieces approximately 1/4-inch (5 mm) square. Slice avocado into the same size pieces.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together crème fraiche, 1 tablespoon dill, mustard, vinegar, and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Line each cup of a muffin pan with plastic wrap. Spread a layer of the crème fraiche mixture on the bottom of cup. Top with the salmon and then avocado. Cover with plastic wrap.
5. Refrigerate for 6 hours or up to overnight. Carefully overturn muffin pan to release salmon stack. Garnish with chopped dill. Serve.