Poached Salmon Steak

This was my first attempt at cooking a fish, and I must say it is a lot easier than I thought it would be. I had absolutely no idea how to tell if it was cooked or not, so I made sure I followed the times in the recipe as well as I could have. This dish doesn't take long at all! Once you have your, I'll call it broth, even though it's not really, boiling, it only takes another 10 minutes until it's ready. I'm really not a lover of seafood, but I'm thinking to myself the more I keep trying it, maybe one day, just one day, I might come to love the stuff. I tasted the result of this recipe from the book Cook With Jamie (the one I got for Christmas), and I did like it. Sure I could only eat a little bit of it, but it was a lot nicer than I expected. I didn't even pull a face.

looks like quite a lot of greenery

For the poaching liquor:
- 2 carrots, peeled and sliced

- 1 fennel bulb, sliced                                      
- 1 onion, peeled and cut into eighths
- 2 sticks of celery, peeled and chopped
- 2 tomatoes, halved
- 4 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves picked
- 2 bay leaves
- a few parsley stalks
- a small glass of white wine
- a glug of white wine vinegar (you just pour some in)
- a pinch of sea salt
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns

- 4x 200g salmon steaks, pinboned


1. Put all of your poaching liquor ingredients together in a large pot and fill it up with cold water. Bring this liquid to the boil.

2. Add the salmon steaks and turn the water right down. Simmer your salmon for 5 minutes.

3. After simmering your salmon for 5 minutes, turn the heat off and allow the steaks to rest in the liquid for another 5 minutes.

4. Drain off the poaching liquor and serve the salmon with the vegetables.

I made a quick salad to go with the salmon instead of serving  the vegetables with the dish.