I was watching an episode of All-Star Academy on the Food Network this weekend and saw one of the contestants make this incredible dish featuring a salmon filet with crispy skin. As a result I got motivated to make something using the same technique the contestant used on the show to get that crispy skin. This dish is simple to make, packed with flavor, and looks beautiful. Happy Monday to everyone… enjoy our recipe for Crispy Skin Salmon on the Big Green Egg!
Crispy Skin Salmon on the Big Green Egg
To make the jalapeno crème fraiche is simple. Just roughly chop a cup of Cilantro, 3 cloves of garlic, and a jalapeño pepper (deseeded if you want less heat). Add that to a half cup of Sour Cream and juice from a half of a Lime. Add a little salt and pepper then blend using a hand mixer or Food Processor.
Next measure out 2 Tbls of Canola Oil, 2 Tbls of Butter, 4 Garlic Cloves (whole), and your salmon filets.
One of the tricks to getting that crispy skin is to remove as much moisture from the salmon before cooking. If the hot oil in the pan is greeted with too much moisture than the skin will pull away from the meat and you will not have the desired effect. I used paper towels on the filets below to get as much moisture out of them as possible.
Preheat the Big Green Egg to 450° and place your Lodge Cast Iron Pan on the grate. Once preheated add the oil, butter, and garlic. Once the butter has melted add the Salmon skin side down.
Once the salmon goes down press the filets in to the pan with a fish spatula so that skin crisps up and does not stick to the pan. Do this for a minute before you begin to braise the salmon with that garlic butter.
Continue to cook for 5 – 10 minutes using the garlic butter to baste the salmon filets. Once the salmon gets to 140° internal temperature pull them off and place skin side down on paper towels to remove excess butter and oil.
Smear the jalapeño crème fraiche on the plate and serve the salmon filet on top. Bon Appétit!
Crispy Skin Salmon on the Big Green Egg
Ingredients
- For the Crème Fraiche:
- 1 cup cilantro rough chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 jalapeño pepper deseeded if you want less heat
- ½ c of Sour Cream
- ½ Lime juice
- Salt & Pepper
- For the Salmon:
- 2 Lbs salmon Filet Skin on
- 2 Tbls of Canola Oil
- 2 Tbls of Butter
- 4 Garlic Cloves
Instructions
- To make the jalapeno crème fraiche is simple. Just roughly chop a cup of Cilantro, 3 cloves of garlic, and a jalapeño pepper (deseeded if you want less heat). Add that to a half cup of Sour Cream and juice from a half of a Lime. Add a little salt and pepper then blend using a hand mixer or Food Processor.
- Cook the Salmon:
- Next measure out 2 Tbls of Canola Oil, 2 Tbls of Butter, 4 Garlic Cloves (whole), and your salmon filets.
- Preheat the Big Green Egg to 450° and place your Lodge Cast Iron Pan on the grate. Once preheated add the oil, butter, and garlic. Once the butter has melted add the Salmon skin side down.
- Continue to cook for 5 - 10 minutes using the garlic butter to baste the salmon filets. Once the salmon gets to 140° internal temperature pull them off and place skin side down on paper towels to remove excess butter and oil.
- Smear the jalapeño crème fraiche on the plate and serve the salmon filet on top.
I definitely will be making that green jalapeno creme fraiche to accompany dinner tonight.. I make salmon regularly so this is just perfect.
Thanks Thalia! This sauce compliments salmon perfectly. Add in a nice Sauvignon Blanc and you will have a perfect meal 🙂
I just made this with some wild caught frozen salmon filets from Costco and they turned out great! The creme fraiche was fantastic. We had to add some extra sour cream to fight back an extra spicy jalapeño, but that worked well.
FYI the ingredients list is missing the cilantro! We almost missed it at the grocery store.
I’ll fix that today. Thanks for the update!