Delia Smith Salmon Steaks With Creme Fraiche Sauce

Delia Smith’s salmon steaks with creme fraiche sauce is cold foil-baked salmon served with an avocado and creme fraiche sauce sharpened with sherry vinegar. It serves 6 and takes 20 minutes at 180C, plus cooling. The recipe comes from Delia’s Summer Collection.

Delia uses this foil method in her Winter Collection too, swapping avocado sauce for hot parsley sauce. The technique is identical: herbs, bay, lemon and wine in foil at 180C for 20 minutes. She says you can “line up steaks in any number you like.”

The make-ahead element is why this works for entertaining. The salmon cooks, cools in its foil without opening, and waits. The sauce blends in minutes and chills separately. Nothing needs last-minute attention, which is exactly what Delia promises.

Delia Smith Salmon Steaks With Creme Fraiche Sauce

Recipe by Pinch PerfectCourse: DinnerCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy

Servings

6

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

20

minutes

Calories

525

kcal

Total time

35

minutes

Cold foil-baked salmon with a green avocado sauce made from blended avocado, garlic, sherry vinegar and creme fraiche. Delia says it scales to 12 or 24 steaks for buffets and celebrations.

Ingredients

• For the salmon:

• 6 fresh salmon steaks, 175g (6 oz) each

• 6 small sprigs of fresh tarragon or parsley

• 6 small bay leaves

• 1 small lemon, thinly sliced

• 6 dessertspoons white wine
  

• Salt and freshly milled black pepper

• For the sauce:

• 1 good-sized avocado

• 200ml (7 fl oz) creme fraiche

• 1 small clove garlic, peeled

• 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar

• Salt and freshly milled black pepper

• To garnish:

• 1 bunch watercress or mixed salad leaves

• Freshly milled black pepper

• Equipment

• Large sheet of foil, 60 x 90cm (24 x 36 inches)

• Shallow baking tin

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 180C (350F), gas mark 4.
• Lay the foil in a shallow baking tin. Wipe the salmon steaks with kitchen paper and place each one on the foil.
• Put a small sprig of tarragon or parsley on top of each steak, along with a bay leaf and a slice of lemon. These are there to perfume the salmon without altering its flavour.
• Season with salt and pepper. Spoon a dessertspoon of wine over each steak.
• Wrap the whole lot loosely in the foil, making a pleat in the top to seal it. Place on a highish shelf in the oven for exactly 20 minutes.
• Remove the tin from the oven and let the salmon cool inside the foil without opening it.
• For the sauce, halve the avocado, remove the stone, then divide into quarters and peel off the skin. Place the flesh in a liquidiser or food processor.
• Using a teaspoon, scrape the avocado skin to remove the last greenest part and add it to the rest. Add the garlic, sherry vinegar, salt and pepper. Blend until smooth.
• Remove the puree to a mixing bowl and fold in the creme fraiche until thoroughly blended. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding a drop more vinegar if needed. Cover with cling film and chill.
• To serve, undo the foil and ease off the strip of skin around each steak with a sharp knife. Remove the herbs and lemon. Transfer to a serving dish and decorate with watercress in the hollow centre. Hand the sauce round separately.

Notes

• Make the sauce only a few hours ahead to keep its green colour at its best. In winter, Delia says this works equally well served with her English Parsley Sauce from the Winter Collection.

FAQs

Why does Delia cool the salmon inside the foil without opening it?

The residual heat inside the sealed foil continues cooking the salmon gently as it cools. Opening it too early lets the steam escape, and the fish stops cooking before the centre is done. The sealed parcel also keeps the salmon moist.

By the time the foil is cool enough to handle, the fish is perfectly cooked through and juicy. Delia uses the same principle for her whole poached salmon in Complete Cookery Course. She turns off the heat and lets the fish cook in cooling water. Both methods use falling temperature to finish the job gently.

Why does Delia scrape the greenest part from the avocado skin?

The darkest green flesh sits directly under the skin. Most people discard it when they peel, but it has the strongest flavour and the best colour. Delia scrapes it out with a teaspoon because it makes the sauce a brighter green.

This is a small step that makes a visible difference. Without it, the sauce looks pale and slightly grey. With it, you get the rich green that looks good against the pink salmon. Delia warns to make the sauce only a few hours ahead. Avocado oxidises and turns brown over time, even with the vinegar to slow it down.

Can I use salmon fillets instead of steaks?

Fillets work, but they cook faster because they’re thinner. Reduce the oven time to 12-15 minutes for fillets at the same temperature. Delia specifies steaks because they hold their shape better when served cold on a platter.

Steaks also have the hollow centre where Delia tucks the watercress garnish. Fillets don’t have that natural well. If you’re making this for a dinner party, steaks look more impressive. For a weeknight meal, fillets are easier to eat because there’s no central bone to navigate. salmon in champagne sauce uses fillets and a hot cream sauce if you want a comparison.

How far ahead can I make this?

The salmon can be baked and cooled in its foil up to 24 hours before serving. Keep it in the fridge, still wrapped. Unwrap and remove the skin and herbs just before plating.

The sauce is more time-sensitive. Delia says a few hours at most, because the avocado discolours. Pressing cling film directly onto the surface helps, but even so, a sauce made the night before will be brown by lunchtime. For a buffet, make the salmon the day before and the sauce on the morning. summer fruit compote works well as a dessert with the same make-ahead approach.

What does the sherry vinegar do in the sauce?

Sherry vinegar adds a mellow acidity that lifts the richness of the avocado and creme fraiche. It’s sharper than lemon juice but softer than white wine vinegar, sitting in a middle ground that doesn’t overpower the avocado.

One teaspoon sounds small, but it’s enough to stop the sauce tasting flat. Delia says to taste and add “a drop more” if needed. If you can’t find sherry vinegar, red wine vinegar is the closest substitute. White wine vinegar works but gives a thinner, less complex flavour that lets the creme fraiche dominate.

Why does Delia say this scales to 12 or 24 steaks?

The foil method needs no pan space, no poaching liquid and no last-minute cooking. You just lay steaks on foil in rows, seal, bake, and cool. Adding more steaks doesn’t add complexity, only foil and baking tins.

The sauce blends in one batch regardless of quantity, and avocados are cheap enough to scale up. This is what makes it a genuine buffet recipe rather than a dinner-party dish stretched thin. asparagus with nearly hollandaise has the same scalable logic for a starter course.