Conti's inspired baked salmon

Do you ever randomly come up with an inspired idea while going about your daily routine? Today, in the shower, I suddenly thought of making my home-cooked version of Conti's famed Baked Salmon. I really didn't have any idea what could be in that cream sauce but I was confident there was someone out there in the virtual world who's had the same idea in the past and have probably tried recreating the same dish at home. True enough, there were a couple of helpful blogs, like this,this and this, that got me started.

I got excited when I found out that the base for the cream sauce was just mayonnaise. One recipe used a mayo and cream cheese combo while the other used mayo and parmesan cheese. The one with the cream cheese seemed very promising but unfortunately I didn't have any cream cheese so I opted to do my version of the mayo and parmesan combo. The recipe was surprisingly simple and easy to do for such a decadent dish.

Ingredients:

2 salmon fillets
1 lemon wedge
salt and pepper
butter

for the creamy topping:
4 (heaping) tbsp mayonnaise
1 lemon wedge
2 cloves of garlic
parmesan cheese

for the vegetable siding:
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables (thawed)
butter

Season the salmon fillets with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Pan fry the salmon with some olive oil and butter until it is half cooked. We don't want to overcook the fish when we bake it with the cream sauce so take it out of the pan when the bottom half of the fish starts to change color then move it to a baking dish.

In the same pan where you cooked the fish, add more butter and saute the mixed vegetables. Once cooked, transfer vegetables to the baking dish with the fish.

Prepare the cream sauce by mixing together the mayo, garlic and lemon.


Smother the salmon fillets with the cream sauce. Be as generous with the cream as you wish. Then sprinkle as much parmesan cheese as you want on top of the cream.


Bake uncovered for 10-15 mins or until topping is sizzling and golden brown. That should be enough time to cook the fish through without drying it out. As for the oven temperature, I suggest 400f. I actually baked my dish in our oven toaster in toast setting for 20 mins just because I had prepared it in advance and put it in the refrigerator. Otherwise, 15mins would have been fine.


Verdict: This version of Baked Salmon is delectable on it's own but not as rich and bold if you compare it to Conti's Baked Salmon. Will probably try to add some garlic powder to the topping mixture next time. Or better yet, try it with cream cheese. Nevertheless, I was pleased that P found it palatable, in fact he said it was good, despite his seeming distaste for salmon.