Sautéed Salmon With Leeks and Tomatoes

I use frozen copper river from Costco. "Fresh" salmon bought in most places is one to five weeks old. Frozen is flash frozen on factory ships when caught and I find it far superior.

This is an absolute French delight. It reminds me of a beautiful meal I had in Paris with a view of Notre Dame in the early 1990's.

I'm not a fan of torturing tomatoes, so I don't blanch, peel and seed. There's nothing wrong with a whole tomato, diced finely. And with the addition of leeks, it's heaven.

For those who find this boring, just move along to a spice bomb recipe. This is classic and fabulous.

Fantastic. Try with Blitva - the Swiss chard/garlic/potato dish traditionally served with fish on the Dalmatian coast, and very easy to make. A very healthy and delicious combination.

http://www.food.com/recipe/blitva-croatian-swiss-chard-dish-144344

I used to follow Pierre Franey's recipes slavishly. I still love his ideas. but, living alone now, I simplify. For this recipe I dumped the sliced leeks and chopped (unpeeled) tomatoes in a big pan with a little heated olive oil, and threw a piece of salmon filet on top, (with the ginger matchsticks one reader suggested). a little salt and pepper, covered the pan and poached the fish in the vegetables. Delicious. Served with baby boiled potatoes and steamed broccoli.

We like our salmon "cooked through but not dry" and for me, at any rate, it's hard to saute a nice thick fillet. So have cooked under the broiler with rimmed baking pan covered with aluminum foil. Skin side (not skinned) down, 10 minutes per inch (Canadian method) and does not need to be turned. The veggies can be cooked separately.

Would this work with poached salmon fillets?

We prepared this recipe with Roland capers marinated in balsamic vinegar, excellent.

We have been making this recipe for many years. key is to not cook the veggies too long, lest they become soggy and stew-like. Especially like it with basil. Works well with frozen salmon fillets from Ikea.

I think I missread the recipe and instead of putting aside the fish, I left it in the skillet while I added the tomatos and leek... It turned out absolutely delicious! I guess I like my salmon well done.

This recipe is so simple and straight-forward, you could vary it in many ways to suit your taste. Just make sure you don't over-cook the salmon, and be sure the fish is the freshest possible. Pierre Franey was an absolute master of the simple-is-better school of cooking.

Made this the first time as written. It was excellent! Repeated it tonight with branzino fillets, which worked just as well. Even through in some frozen artichoke hearts. Yum!

Substituted a tablespoon of white vermouth after cooking tomatoes and leek and substituted parsley for the basil. Delicious!

This was good - although I would use less tomato next time. (For three fillets I used two medium-sized tomatoes and one leek.) And I agree that you need to cook the leek more than just 1 minute - I cut mine into half-moons and sauteed them for about 5 - 6 minutes before adding the tomato and lemon juice.

I might even live dangerously and add a little anchovy paste next time. Just a smidge for umami.

A version of this recipe is one of my go-to recipes when I find very fresh fish. It's the same except I include a piece of ginger cut into matchsticks.

This is great and simple! I bbq'd the salmon on a cedar plank and sauteed the leek and tomatoes briefly with fresh basil on top. Yum!