Anchovy salmon with chive butter from Dinner: Changing the Game (page 117) by Melissa Clark

Where’s the full recipe - why can I only see the ingredients?

Always check the publication for a full list of ingredients. An Eat Your Books index lists the main ingredients and does not include 'store-cupboard ingredients' (salt, pepper, oil, flour, etc.) - unless called for in significant quantity.

Notes about this recipe

  • katryna on March 07, 2026

    Didn’t have chives so substituted green onion. Skin got really crispy but probably should have plated it with the skin on top for more attractive plating and to keep the skin crisp. Relieved I did not overcook the salmon. Flavor was good. However I was concerned bc the butter the fish is cooked with in the beginning got quite dark and I also worried I was burning the items added to the butter. I also felt like the capers burnt in the oven as well but luckily didn’t taste bad.

  • bernalgirl on February 18, 2025

    Classic Melissa Clark — a brief investment of time yields a delicious main—I wondered if anchovy with salmon would be too fishy for my tween but he loved it! The anchovies are mashed with chives, garlic, and butter, and capers are added to simmer in the sauce while the salmon cooks. My salmon was skinless so this came together even more quickly with one side gorgeously browned. Next time I’d cook the skinned side up for presentation’s sake, so that when the fish is flipped to serve, it’s the “pretty” side. Id also add 2/3 of the butter mixture to the pan so there’s more for basting.

  • Happykikkers on October 17, 2024

    This was amazing and very easy. No other comment, just really yummy!

  • ezwriternc on September 06, 2023

    I had skinless salmon and did not feel like using two pans. I roasted the salmon on a bed of red bell pepper slices that i coated with some of the butter then cooked first for 15 minutes at 400. Then I put the salmon on top and cooked for 15 minutes. Added the rest of the butter when it came out and squeezed in the lemon. Great dish. Everyone loved it.

  • SpatulaCity on February 01, 2023

    My husband avoids salmon usually because he thinks it is so boring, but even he perked up with an “Oh wow - this is really good!”. We are big chive fans, and for me the herbal note to offset the buttery richness makes it absolutely worth adding. I used salted butter, so didn’t add any additional salt to the dish and it turned out lovely.

  • meduff on February 04, 2019

    I have made this several times all with different results - always excellent and always so very easy. This should be a required dish that every novice in the kitchen could/should to learn make. It comes out looking great, has some complex flavors, and is impressive to serve. My only comment - I could not get the skin to crisp the first several times, which Melissa Clark mentions as one of the goals of this dish. It was always great - but no crispy skin to be seen. So today I added a very small bit of oil, put the skin side down and let it crisp. It took 3 minutes. I added ½ of the butter, threw in the capers and put it in the oven. After 8 minutes I started to smell this rich buttery aroma - but it smelled almost burnt I panicked for a few seconds, pulled the fish out and breathed a sigh of relief - no burnt anything. Yeah for me. What I did have is a beautiful piece of fish with crispy skin, bits of brown butter, capers, anchovies and chives. Total yum.

  • hughb on November 27, 2018

    Winner. Flavorful and easy.

  • Jane on August 07, 2017

    I liked this though preferred the anchovy butter with a boneless skinless chicken breast the next night. Because the directions are to melt the butter in a hot pan then cook the salmon skin-side down for 3 minutes, by the time the pan goes in the oven the butter was very brown. On the second night I pan-fried the chicken breast in olive oil first, only adding the butter and basting it shortly before it went in the oven. It had plenty of flavor but wasn't burnt. I served it with Green beans with caper vinaigrette (lots of capers!)

  • TrishaCP on May 21, 2017

    A solid treatment for salmon- it was flavorful. I agree that the chives aren't essential-in fact this recipe was first published in the NYT but omitting chives.

  • westminstr on April 17, 2017

    Excellent way to cook salmon, flavorful and very good. Chives not essential (though nice if you have them). Next time remember to cut larger pieces of fish into portions for quicker cooking. Everyone liked this. The skin was very crispy and did not stick in my cast iron skillet.

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