Salmon Fillets with Pommes Duchesse Crust

Wednesday 16 October

We are now getting Saveur magazine, and they had an article about the return of old-fashioned Pommes Duchesse.

So Holt had the terrific idea of using the piped potatoes to make a crust for baked salmon fillets.

Instead of baking the potatoes as Saveur advised, we went along with the simpler New Joy recipe.  We should have peeled them, but luckily the peels were held back by the ricer. 

We thickened the mash with an eggyolk and added a dash of cream, butter, salt, white pepper, and a twist of nutmeg.  Holt piped the potatoes around each salmon fillet portion, topped them with fresh thyme leaves, and then piped potatoes to cover them over; leftover mash in the bag made extra puffs on the same baking sheet. 

The pan went into a 375º oven for around 15 minutes until firm on the inside and golden on the potato ridges.  

And it worked like a charm - golden brown puffy potatoes encasing firm, sweet fish and the zest of fresh herbs.