Storing and repurposing poached salmon - Advice sought

[toomuchfat]

I bought a fillet of salmon with the intention of sauteeing for one meal (there are only two of us and this is a 2 1/2 lb filet) and poaching the rest to serve with the old yogurt-dill sauce.

Here's the timing.

Purchased and poached - Sunday The salmon was fresh...no fishy smell at all.

Sautee two portions from raw yesterday....still very fresh

We will eat one meal of poached salmon tonight.

Then we are out for two nights so the next time we could eat the poached salmon would be Thursday.

Can I freeze the poached salmon? If so, how will it be to eat as poached salmon after thawing? I'm considering repurposing into salmon cakes or salmon salad.

HELP!

[mamachef]

I think the best thing would be to cook the salmon right away and make a salad out of it, with some mayo or vinegar (or lemon) in the dressing, wrap it very well, and put it in the coldest part of your refrigerator. I probably don't need to tell you this, but the acid or mayo will act as a bacterial retardant.
Do you have a nice recipe for salmon cakes? (For me, I mean.....?)

[toomuchfat]

Should I make crab cakes before freezing or freeze the poached salmon then flake and make cakes later?

katecm....sounds like a great dish...I will try.

[toomuchfat]

Thanks all!.

I will freeze when we get home, then make cakes or a pasta dish.

[katecm]

I highly recommend this salmon with vodka-lemon-dill pasta. I think the creamy sauce will help to make up for any textural issues that might result from freezing: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...

[SherBel]

You can and should freeze it immediately, and your idea of salmon cakes or similar is excellent, because you will have some texture issues. But it will be fine as long as it still smells sweet when you freeze it.

[C. Hamster]

I agree. If its already cooked I'd freeze it and use it for cakes. I think it might make a mushy salad, but that could work, too.

[toomuchfat]

Sorry, as a point of clarification, I poached ALL of the salmon (except what I saved for sautee) on Sunday (day of purchase).

It has been sitting in a cold part of the fridge since then.

We will eat one meal tonight (~48 hours post poaching).

Then, the poached salmon waits for at least two days before it is eaten again.

I'm thinking about freezing the leftover poached salmon tonight, then doing something else with it (cakes or salad) where, if the texture gets goofy from freezing, it won't matter as much.

[Indy 67]

You don't mention whether you expect to poach all the remaining salmon or simply poach meal-sized the fish nightly. I recommend you poach everything this evening. Then, you can use the poached salmon in a pasta dish or as a topping for a dinner salad.

If you go to Epicurious and plug in the words "salmon" and "pasta" you'll pull up 24 hits. Most call for smoked salmon, but poached salmon can be subsituted successfully although you'll probably have to add some salt not called for in the smoked salmon recipes. Also, if the recipes call for fresh fish just improvise and add the already-poached fish near the end of the sauce prep time. You only want to heat the fish through; you don't want or need additional cooking.

This is different advice from the other poster, but my experience has been different. If I've poached properly, the fish retains its moisture. Besides, putting the salmon into a sauce over pasta or dressing it in a salad will deal with any loss of moisture.

And for the next time... Consider buying less fish. I stress out if I don't eat fish the day I purchase it! I'll make a trip to the store nightly rather than buy fish in advance for two nights.

[CocoTO]

Love salmon - it really is my "beef" - I eat it 3 - 4 times per week (so it's great to see someone who enjoys the same!). But to me, it really needs to be cooked and eaten rather than stored after being cooked - it really loses all its moistness.

I've held fish over three to four days (without freezing), so I would say, as long as it still smells fresh on Thursday, cook it from raw. Wash the surface of the fillet with fresh cold water and pat dry, both tonight and when you go to serve it, and it should be fine.

[C. Hamster]

I have to disagree about cooking 5 day old raw fish. I would simply never do that. Fresh fish needs to be very fresh when cooked.

I'd poach it immediately and hold it until Thursday.