seafood main

This elegant, gluten-free main is special enough for a dinner party, yet simple and quick to make for no fuss entertaining

Baked sea bass with lemon caper dressing

sea bass fillets

olive oil,

tbsp extra virgin olive oil

tbsp capers

Dijon mustard

tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley,

To make the dressing, mix the oil with the lemon zest and juice, capers, mustard, some seasoning and 1 tbsp water. Don't add the parsley yet (unless serving straight away) as the acid in the lemon will fade the colour if they are left together for too long.

Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Line a baking tray with baking parchment and put the fish, skin-side up, on top. Brush the skin with oil and sprinkle with some flaky salt. Bake for 7 mins or until the flesh flakes when tested with a knife. Arrange the fish on warm serving plates, spoon over the dressing and scatter with extra parsley leaves, if you like.

Recipe video above. Have you ever seen a Baked Salmon that looks so festive? What&#039;s more, it&#039;s DEAD EASY! Featuring a honey butter-glazed side of salmon baked in foil, slathered with creamy dill sauce and finally topped with a glittering Holiday &quot;Tapenade&quot;, this Salmon Tarator inspired dish pays extremely high dividends for very little work.See notes for alternatives for many of the ingredients - even the salmon!

Christmas Baked Salmon

salt (, cooking/kosher (Note 2))

tsp black pepper

butter (, unsalted)

honey

garlic (, finely minced (garlic press or knife))

sour cream (, full fat (low fat is too watery))

fresh dill (, finely chopped (lightly packed cup))

eschallot (French onion) (, finely grated)

lemon

tsp salt (, cooking/kosher (Note 2))

cranberries

orange juice

almonds (, toasted (Note 3))

parsley (, roughly chopped)

salt and pepper

pomegranate (, only the seeds)

lemon juice

Mix ingredients in a bowl until smooth. Keep refrigerated until required.

Creamy Dill Sauce

Plump cranberries: Heat orange juice in a saucepan over high heat until hot. Turn stove off, add cranberries, cover. Stand 15 minutes, then drain in a colander (discard liquid). Cool.

Mix: Mix cranberries, toasted almonds (see Note 3), parsley, salt and olive oil in bowl. Use at room temp.

Holiday Tapenade

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (all oven types).

Prepare salmon: Place a large sheet of foil on a tray (double layer for safety is recommended), then top with baking/parchment paper. Place salmon on paper, then fold up the foil sides a bit to cup them so glaze won&#039;t run onto tray.

Glaze: Place ingredients in a saucepan over medium high heat. Once it started foaming, turn down to medium, let it foam for 2 minutes then remove and pour straight over the salmon.

Season: Sprinkle salmon with salt and pepper, putting most of the salt on the thicker part of the salmon.

Wrap: Cover salmon with a smaller piece of paper, then foil. Fold and seal up sides to enclose salmon in a parcel - it doesn&#039;t need to be 100% tightly sealed.

Bake 15 minutes. Remove salmon from oven.

Uncover / fold excess paper - Remove paper and foil and paper cover. Fold/scrunch paper and foil sides down to expose salmon surface. Tucking paper down also ensures it won&#039;t catch fire when broiling.

Grill/broil to brown: Switch oven to grill/broiler on high. Place salmon on middle shelf in the oven and broil 7 to 10 minutes until you get caramelisation mostly on the edges, a bit on top. Don&#039;t put it too close to the heat element otherwise paper might catch on fire! Check to ensure salmon is cooked - either pry open in middle to check or use a probe to check internal temperatures (Note 4).

Transfer to plate: Use foil overhang to transfer salmon onto serving platter straight away (otherwise it keeps cooking). Slide the foil then paper out from under the salmon (see video at 1 min 24s or step photos in post), allowing juices to pool on platter (it&#039;s gold stuff!).

Cool: Loosely cover with foil, then leave to cool for at least 15 minutes, up to 1 hour or longer (for room temp serving - Note 6 for serving notes).

Cooking salmon

Dollop then thickly spread with Creamy Dill Sauce (~0.8cm / 1/3&quot; thick layer).

Pile over Holiday Tapenade, scatter generously with pomegranate seeds, and then remaining parsley. Squeeze over lemon juice.

Serving: Serve with extra lemon wedges so people can add more to taste. Cut into pieces - I use a cake cutter for serving. Encourage people to slop up some of the honey-butter sauce that will be mixed with semi melted Creamy Dill Sauce - it&#039;s so good! This dish is best served slightly warm, not piping hot, also excellent at room temp.

Assembly and serving

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Christmas Baked Salmon

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Baked sea bass with lemon caper dre...

Christmas Baked Salmon

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