What is a good sauce for salmon?

I am making baked salmon steaks for a church youth group Christmas banquet, trying to widen their food horizons!

I am using a rub on the salmon steaks that consists of thyme, brown sugar, paprika, cinnamon, orange peel & se salt. It is really good, but I would like opinions on a simple sauce that would look and taste good poured over the top, and not compete with the spices.

I not only feel that it needs a sauce, but that also steps up the presentation a bit. These youth are used to eating family style, passing bowls of food, but I will be serving restaurant style, so presentation is more important than usual.

Notice I did mention "simple". I need a quick and easy sauce. We are serving Italian green beans with the salmon, and some sort of potato, not sure which yet.

I will try to check back once a day, in the evening. Thanks for your help!

BTW, if you haven't already seen it, I have a website of Chicago postcards, with many old restaurants featured.

Why don't you make a compound butter and put a dollop of it on top of the salmon when you serve. That's one of my favorite presentations.

I like Steve's idea. How about a garlic or roasted garlic compound butter? I don't see it included in your marinade and it certainly would compliment the Italian green beans and any potato dish...

A chestnut puree would go especially well with the winter spices and orange peel in your rub. Just simmer some jarred or canned chestnuts* in stock, then puree in a blender and season with salt and pepper.

*I actually use freeze dried chestnut chips which you can find at the Green City Market from Hillside Orchards, but the canned or jarred stuff are easier to find.

npchicago wrote:
Notice I did mention "simple". I need a quick and easy sauce.

Orange marmalade simmered in orange juice (or concentrate).

Additions, depending on how simple you want to go, include some habenero sauce and sauted onions & garlic.

Ron

LynnB recommended a roasted garlic sauce. I've had this recipe for years.

Salmon with Roasted Garlic

4 Servings

1 garlic head, broken into separate cloves, peeled
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 salmon fillets, about 6-7 ounces each
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place garlic in ramekin. Pour enough oil over to cover. Wrap ramekin in double thickness of foil. Bake until garlic is very tender, about 35 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer garlic and 1/2 tablespoon cooking oil to food processor. Add butter to processor; puree. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place salmon on baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle each fillet with 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice, then spread 1 tablespoon garlic puree over each. (Can be made 1 day ahead; chill.)

3. Bake salmon uncovered until just cooked through, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle rosemary over and serve.

If you want something a little more upscale, but still not difficult and time consuming, this is a recipe from George Blanc

George Blanc's Salmon with Tomato-White Butter Sauce

4 Servings

4 salmon fillets
9 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup creme fraiche
2 tablespoons grainy (or dijon) mustard
1 pound tomatoes, concassed(peeled,seeded,chopped)
2 tablespoons fruity olive oil
1/8 teaspoon crumbled leaves of thyme
1 tablespoon shallots, minced
2 tablespoons white wine
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1. With 1 1/2 Tbls. of the butter, grease a heavy baking sheet, and place the salmon fillets on the sheet, allowing 3-4 inches between them. Sprinkle salmon with salt. 2. In a small bowl, blend 1/2 cup of the creme fraiche with the mustard. Coat each portion of the salmon with this mixture. Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator until ready to cook. 3. To make the sauce: Heat the olive oil in a small skillet; add the concassed tomatoes and saute over moderately high heat, stirring, until thick and well reduced, about 7-8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and crumbled thyme leaves. Set aside. 4. Cut remaining 8 Tbls. of butter into small bits and set aside. In a small saucepan cook the shallots, white wine, and white wine vinegar until reduced to about 1 Tbls. liquid. Over medium-high heat, whisk in the remaining 1 1/2 Tbls. creme fraiche and reduce again to about 1 Tbls. Over very low heat, whisk in the chunks of butter a few at a time, whisking constantly to create an emulsion. 5. Pour or strain (to remove shallots) the sauce into the sauteed tomatoes. Correct the seasoning and set sauce aside in a warm(but not hot) place until ready to serve. 6. Heat oven to 450 degrees about 10 to 15 minutes before serving. Bake the salmon fillets briefly-2 to 5 minutes, depending on thickness and desired doneness. Place a fillet on top of the tomatoes. Nap with sauce and serve.

I have made an avacado sauce with lemon juice and thickened with potatoes. It was very good, and the green sauce contrasted well with the pink salmon. In Seattle I once had a sauce made with sour cherries that nice. I have also had salmon with a wild blueberry sauce that was tasty but a little sweet for my liking, but kids might enjoy it. I once made a green grape sauce for Halibut, for some kids that didn't like fish. They loved it, but it required peeling the grapes which was a total pain.

Thanks for the great ideas so far. Looking forward to even more. I do like the idea of the butter, since we did test taste the beans and they were best with a bit of garlic.

Given your mention of brown sugar and other compatible ingredients, I'm inclined to recommend my go-to sauce (or is it a glaze?) for salmon, which contains brown sugar, butter, ginger, dry mustard, honey, and ... what else? A dash of soy sauce, I think.

I like the compound butter with garlic and dill. The garlic ties the dishes together and the dill gives it the false taste of acidity since you'll relate it to pickles. It really does work well.

In the avacado sauce I mentioned above, I forgot to mention butter, garlic and dill as ingredients. As I recall it was avacado, garlic, butter ,lemon juice and soft boiled potatoes mashed or blended together, with some dill stirred in. The garlic was crushed with sea salt and the side of a knife blade. I know potatoes sound weird as a thickener, but it was quite tasty. The potatoes gave the sauce a nice stiff texture, but had a neutral flavor without being overly starchy. Plus like I said, the green contrasted well with the pink salmon. I wish I could remember where I found the recipe. I made it a few times, but it was many years ago. I have all the ingredients in the kitchen. I am tempted to try to replicate it. If I am successful, I will post the recipe. If I am not, I will post a warning.

Thanks for all the help. I have enough to chose from, but if anyone wants to keep this "salmon sauce" thread going, feel free to add recipes!

Dill is classic with salmon. I would like a nice dill sauce. Don't really have any recipes for it but I bet there are some good ones on line.

Has anyone mentioned pesto? All kinds work well with salmon, from traditional basil to cilantro or tomato.

Oh, and if you don't want to make your own dill sauce, Ikea sells a pretty good one in jars, as well as a nice if mild Swedish horseradish sauce that's also good on salmon. For something with more oomph, a mixture of prepared horseradish and whipped cream or mayo works as well. Any kind of flavored mayo goes well with salmon. You could also do something like Greek tzatziki, or some other cucumber sauce.

When it comes down to it, salmon is pretty versatile and just about anything works with it. Beurre blanc, hollandaise, bearnaise, you name it. Gary's chili oil, even.

To RonJS, I used your orange sauce for the salmon at the banquet, and it was a hit! Thanks to all for your help.

Instead of a sauce, you can also top a salmon with a tomato relish. My wife is a big fan of this recipe, and its not too difficult to make. It goes particularly well with a fish that has had a glaze on it, as the bright citrus-y notes complement a glaze sweetened salmon really well.