salmon and gelatin

I have a question for you, I am doing some poached salmon with a lemon glaze for a entree line at a club restaurant and was wanting to incorporate the idea of a salmon mirror onto the plate. Using a broiled salmon loin then placing lemons onto the loin then putting a light coat of gelatin on top but the problem with this is the fact about the cooling time for the salmon, I would only have approx. fifteen- twenty minutes total prep. time for the plate which would not be enough time for the salmon to be cooked, then cooled and the proceeding to put the gelatin glaze on top, let it gel and send the plate out. Any suggestions??

[kuan]

If it's a cold dish then you can prepare it ahead of time. Have the plates already premade and a few salmons done ahead of time with the "glaze" (is this chaud-froid?) applied and ready to go.

Kuan

[W.DeBord]

One catch is, although people don't mind a light layer of gelatin on their salmon (for looks) they really don't want to eat it in bulk! It would look beautiful on a plate but, yuk to eating a ton, it's really not for average dinner! Another solution could be to make your gelatin ahead of time and chill in sheet pans. Cut into cubes and place around your cold poached fish.

You can flavor you gelatin (which is definately the way to go) and even put a touch of food coloring into it for interest. Even some herbs or capers into you gelatin would help entice your customers.

my two cents....

[chrose]

I like W. D's idea about the cubes. Looks nice and takes up space on the plate.
In order to achieve the mirror finish without using gelatin but achieving a similar effect will be tough, especially given the time constraints. My only thought at this time to keep it appealing as well as functional might be to make a seafood consomme ahead of time. At service cook the salmon and let it rest to room or kitchen temp. (should only be about 5 minutes.) meanwhile thicken a portion of consomme with arrowroot to the consistency that you want. This can help to mimic the gelatin while retaining a clear finish and not an unpleasent texture.
If anyone finds a problem with this approach please do let me know.

[panini]

We are talking aspic,no? use a fish aspic on the plate ahead of time, maybe over some herbs like W suggest. gelee is a more natural product than geletin, if your talking geletin? I'm not sure if ya'll are calling aspic geletin. chopped aspic is really nice colored with natural colors, beets etc.