Chef Tom Franz Offers Festive Salmon Recipe for Holiday Meals

Chef Tom Franz is reintroducing a popular salmon recipe, dubbed "Salmon Fan," for the upcoming holiday season. The dish, which previously garnered over three million views online and inspired many home cooks, has been updated into individual portions. The updated recipe features a salmon fillet with crosswise cuts creating a fan-like appearance, filled with a rich confit cream of garlic and shallots. This is complemented by a mixture of mayonnaise, chili, and honey.

Franz describes the final dish as festive, delicious, and visually impressive, suitable for holiday tables. The preparation time is estimated at 15 minutes, with a total cooking time of 60 minutes, and the recipe serves 4-6 people. It is certified kosher pareve.

The preparation involves making a confit by gently cooking peeled garlic cloves and shallots in olive oil over very low heat until tender and golden, ensuring the oil does not boil. Most of the oil is drained and reserved, while the softened garlic and shallots are mashed into a paste. This paste is then mixed with mayonnaise, chili flakes, salt, and honey to create the confit cream.

For the salmon, a whole fillet is placed skin-down, and cuts are made across its width without cutting all the way through. The fillet is seasoned with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and the confit cream is drizzled into the cuts. The salmon is then arranged to resemble an individual fan before being baked until cooked and served immediately.