Chef critique
Maple-Dijon Coho with Autumn Sides
This elegant autumn salmon dish features great flavors and thoughtful prep flow, but needs salted potato water and adjusted apple roasting times to ensure ideal textures.
Score: 7/10
Suggested fixes
- Add approximately 1 tablespoon of fine sea salt to the potato cooking water in step 3 to achieve 2% salinity.
- Reduce the finishing salt stirred into the mashed potatoes in step 7 to 1/4 teaspoon (or to taste), and update the total salt quantity in the ingredient list accordingly.
- Adjust step 4 to roast the Brussels sprouts alone for the first 15 minutes. Toss the apples with the sprouts when turning them, so the apples only roast for the final 12-15 minutes.
Issues
- high / flavor: The potato cooking water is unsalted. Relying only on finishing salt in the mash leaves the potatoes underseasoned internally. The water should be seasoned to approximately 2% salinity.
- medium / cookability: Roasting Honeycrisp apple wedges at 425°F for 27-30 minutes alongside the Brussels sprouts will overcook them and cause them to break down into mush. Apples cook much faster and should be added later in the roasting process.
Strengths
- Perfectly targeted salmon doneness at 125°F, which guarantees a tender, optimal texture.
- Excellent timeline management, utilizing the vegetable roasting time to prepare the glaze and brown butter.
- Smart technique in warming the milk directly in the brown butter skillet to avoid dirtying another pot.
- Proper formatting of the four-ingredient glaze mixture with surrounding blank lines.