Slow-Roasted Salmon

with Sunchoke Puree and Sweet-Sour Onions

Makes 4 servings

Here’s a super-simple dish that hits all of the flavors you want. When slow-roasting salmon, you won’t see as much of a color change as when you use high heat—your salmon is cooked through when its color changes from bright rosy pink to a slightly dull pink.

Sweet-Sour Onions

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 large Vidalia onions, cut crosswise into ½-inch rings
• ¼ cup sugar
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup red wine
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon thyme leaves

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly caramelized, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the sugar and cook, stirring, until it melts into the onions, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and add the wine and vinegar. Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce the heat to a steady simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is syrupy, about 30 minutes. Turn off the heat and let cool, then stir in the thyme. The onions can be made up to a day ahead and refrigerated until ready to use.

Sunchoke Puree

• 1 pound sunchokes, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 cup water
• Kosher salt

In a medium saucepan, combine the sunchokes and water. Season the water lightly with salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and simmer until the sunchokes are just tender throughout when pierced with a knife, about 15 minutes. Drain the sunchokes, reserving the cooking liquid, and transfer to a blender. Puree the sunchokes, adding a splash of cooking water if needed to loosen it up. Season to taste with salt and keep warm.

For Serving

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
• Four 5-ounce salmon fillets with skin
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 thyme sprigs
• 1 cup Sunchoke Puree
• Sweet-Sour Onions
• 2 teaspoons thyme leaves
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped chives

Preheat the oven to 250°F. Brush the bottom of a baking dish with the olive oil. Season the salmon on both sides with salt and pepper. Arrange the salmon, skin side down, in the baking dish and slide a thyme sprig under each piece of fish. Cover the dish with foil and bake until the salmon is just opaque throughout, about 20 minutes.

Spoon a circle of sunchoke puree onto four serving plates (about ¼ cup per plate). Place the salmon, skin side down, on top (discard the thyme sprigs). Divide the onions over the fish, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with the thyme, and chives, and serve.

The Takeaway

At Manhattan’s Gramercy Tavern, which is around the corner from where I used to cook at Union Square Cafe and part of the same restaurant family, I was obsessed with the caramelized onions they served with filet mignon and mashed potatoes. Most of the time, caramelized onions are cooked down into mush, but these still had lots of texture, and a sweet-sour flavor that I couldn’t stop thinking about. The trick, I later learned, is to start with thicker rings of a large onion, which will cook down but are large enough to retain some texture.