Honey and Tamari-seared Salmon
Tamari and honey create a glaze for salmon fillets, which are served with a cider-honey-mustard sauce and flash-fried leeks. Chef Mitchell suggests serving the salmon on a bed of parsley-flecked couscous, but rice or pasta could also be served. The tourneed carrots -- small carrots carved into small football shapes -- add a formal touch.
Ingredients
- Tamari - 1/2 cup (alt. soy sauce; slightly saltier)
- Honey - 1/2 cup
- Salmon fillets - four, 6- to 7-ounce center-cut
- Sauce
- Apple cider vinegar - 1/2 cup
- Dry Mustard - 1 teaspoon
- Honey - 1/2 cup
- Heavy (whipping) cream - 1/2 cup
- Canola oil for deep-frying
- Leek - 1 medium, green part only, cut in thin matchstick strips
- Prepared couscous - 2 cups
- Parsley Sprigs - 2, stemmed and chopped
- Unsalted Butter - 1/4 cup
- Green Beans - 16, blanched
- Tourneed carrots - 16, blanched
Instructions
To prepare the salmon: Preheat the oven to 400 F. In a heavy non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, combine the tamari and honey. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil and let it begin to thicken and darken, about 5 minutes. Place the salmon fillets skin-side up in the mixture and cook until a dark mahogany color, 4 to 5 minutes. Lift the salmon to check the color; do not let it burn. Put in a baking pan and bake in the oven to finish cooking, 5 to 6 minutes.
To prepare the sauce: Mix the cider and mustard in a saucepan and cook over medium-high heat until slightly reduced and thickened. Add the honey and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the cream and reduce the heat to medium; cook until reduced by one-fourth in volume. Put in a squeeze bottle and set aside.
To prepare the leeks: Heat 3 inches of canola oil to 360 F in a deep-fryer or saucepan. Pat the leeks dry and drop into the hot oil. Fry just until crisp, about 30 seconds; remove with a skimmer or slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Do not crowd the pan; if necessary, fry in batches, letting the oil return to temperature between the batches.
To prepare the vegetables: Toss the couscous with the parsley. Melt half the butter in a medium saute pan or skillet and add the beans; melt the remaining butter in another medium saute pan or skillet and add the carrots. Cook both vegetables in the butter until warmed through.
To serve: Place one fourth of the couscous on each warmed plate and shape it into a bed for the salmon. Place the salmon on the couscous. Top each piece of salmon with deep-fried leeks. Drizzle sauce over and around the salmon. Cross two green beans and place two tourneed carrots on the plates on both sides of each piece of salmon.
