Baby Salmon Stuffed with Caviar
Chef Kobayashi would point out that “Escoffier said a red wine sauce with bone marrow for a fish dish is a classic. Almost everything goes back to Escoffier.” And so his baby salmon is treated to red wine sauce, not to mention salmon mousse and caviar. And, yes, this dish is a classic, too.
Ingredients
- Red Wine Sauce
- Olive Oil - 1/2 cup
- Salmon bones and trimmings - 1 pound
- Unsalted Butter - 1 pound
- Mirepoix - 2 cups (onion, carrot, celery stalk, and leek, chopped very fine)
- Bay Leaves - 4
- Oregano - 1/2 teaspoon, chopped
- Thyme Leaves - 1/2 teaspoon
- White peppercorns - 1/2 teaspoon
- Shallot Puree - 4 tablespoons
- Cognac - 1/4 cup
- Red Wine - 2 cups
- Fish stock - 1 cup
- Wine-Butter Sauce
- Unsalted Butter - 1 tablespoon
- Shallot Puree - 4 tablespoons
- Bay Leaf - 1, crushed
- Whole White Peppercorns - 1 teaspoon
- Dry white wine - 1 cup
- Heavy (whipping) cream - 1/2 cup
- Unsalted Butter - 8 ounces
- Lemon Juice - 1 teaspoon
- Chives - 1 teaspoon, chopped
- Salmon Mousse
- Salmon fillets - 1 cup (about 8 ounces)
- Egg White - 1
- Heavy (whipping) cream - 1/2 to 3/4 cup
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- Pernod - 1 teaspoon
- Cognac - 1 teaspoon
- Caviar - 1 tablespoon
- Salmon
- Fresh Baby Salmon - 1, (about 5 to 6 ounces), cleaned, head, tail, and skin on
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- Caviar - 3 ounces
- Chives - 1 tablespoon, chopped
- Dry white wine - 1 cup
- Shallot Puree - 2 tablespoons
- Bay Leaf - 1
- Garnish
- Cucumber - 1, peeled, seeded, and julienned very fine
- Tomato - 1, peeled, seeded, and diced fine
- Chives - 2 tablespoons, chopped
- Salmon Eggs - 1/4 cup
- Crayfish Tails - 2, boiled and shelled
Instructions
To prepare the sauce: In a saute pan, heat the olive oil. Saute the salmon pieces for about 1 minute. Add 2 tablespoons of butter, 1 cup of the mirepoix, 2 bay leaves, 1/4 teaspoon of the oregano, 1/4 teaspoon of the thyme, 1/4 teaspoon of the peppercorns, and 2 tablespoons of the shallot puree. Cook 1 minute to warm. Add the cognac, avert your face, and ignite with a long match; shake the pan until the flames die down. Add 1 cup of red wine and stir up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
In another saute pan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter. Add the remaining shallot puree, mirepoix, bay leaves, peppercorns, oregano, and thyme. Add the red wine and cook over medium heat until the liquid has reduced to a glaze. Remove from heat; set aside. Stir the fish stock into the salmon bone mixture and cook 5 minutes. Strain through a chinois or fine-meshed sieve and add 3 cups of this strained liquid to the shallot-red wine pan. Place back over medium heat and stir up the glaze from the bottom of the pan. Simmer until the liquid has reduced to 1 cup. Whisk in the remaining butter, a few chunks at a time, until incorporated. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Strain again and set aside; keep warm over tepid water or in an insulated container.
To prepare the wine-butter sauce: In a saute pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the shallot puree and saute for 1 minute. Add the bay leaf and peppercorns. Add the wine and stir up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook over medium heat until reduced by two-thirds in volume. Add the cream and heat for 1 minute. Add the butter, a fourth at a time, and whisk briskly to incorporate. Adjust the heat by moving the pan on and off the heat so that the butter does not melt into yellow streaks; if streaks appear, take the pan off the heat and whisk in cold butter until emulsifies again. Strain through a chinois or fine-meshed sieve and set aside. Keep warm over tepid water or in an insulated container.
To prepare the mousse: Puree the salmon fillet in a food processor. Put the salmon in a non-aluminum bowl set over ice. Add the egg white and whip together. Whip in the heavy cream until the mixture is smooth. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Add the Pernod, cognac, and caviar. Put in a pastry bag fitted with a large plain tip and refrigerate.
To prepare the salmon: Preheat the oven to 350 to 400 F. Wash the salmon and open it out. Season with salt and pepper. Pipe salmon mousse into the cavity of the salmon. Add a line of caviar to the inside of the salmon, then sprinkle with chives. Close the fish. In an ovenproof saute pan, heat the wine. Add the shallot puree and bay leaf. Place the fish in the pan, belly down, and bake for 20 minutes. When the fish is cooked, remove the pan. Remove the skin and set aside in a warm place. Heat the saute pan juices over medium heat, then strain the juices into the pan with the wine-butter sauce. Whisk gently to combine.
To serve: Place the baby salmon on a serving dish. Ladle red wine sauce over half the fish, and wine-butter sauce over the other half. Garnish with cucumber, tomato, chives, salmon eggs, and crayfish tails.
