Salmon in My Style
Salmon is very gently cooked by taking it on and off the heat, then served on a salad dressed with hazelnut vinaigrette. Wine sauce dresses the plate. Nechutnys’ method of cooking the salmon would work well any time you intend to use salmon in a salad.
Ingredients
- Fish
- Salmon fillets - 2 pounds
- Unsalted Butter - 2 tablespoons
- Fish Fume
- Fish bones - (sole bones are best; salmon for 1/2 of the bones)
- Unsalted Butter - 1 to 2 tablespoons
- Onion - 1/2, sliced
- Carrot - 1/2, sliced
- Bouquet garni - (parsley, thyme, and celery leaves, tied together in cheesecloth)
- Dry white wine - 1-1/2 cups
- Chicken stock, or water - 1 cup
- White Wine Sauce
- Unsalted Butter - 1 to 2 tablespoons
- Shallots - 2 to 3, chopped
- Mushrooms - 3 large, chopped
- Dry white wine - 1 cup
- Fish Fume (above) - 2 cups
- Heavy (whipping) cream - 1 cup
- Salt and freshly ground white pepper
- Hazelnut Vinaigrette
- Vinegar - 2 tablespoons
- Hazelnut oil - 1/2 cup
- Dijon mustard - 1 teaspoon
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- Salad
- Crayfish Tails - 6, boiled and shelled
- Spinach leaves - 10, stemmed
- Endive - 1 head, separated
- Green Beans - 1/2 cup, small, blanched
- Tomato - 1, diced
- Shallots - 2, chopped
- Chervil - 1 bunch, chopped
- Pinch of chopped tarragon
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- Red Basil Leaves - 10
Instructions
To prepare the salmon: Bone the fish carefully and skin. Save the bones and trimmings for the fume. Slice the salmon at an angle, 1 to 1-1/2 inches thick. Put the slices between layers of dampened plastic wrap and pound thin. Place on parchment paper until ready to cook.
To prepare the fume: Heat the butter in a saucepan. Add the onions and carrot, Cook 1 minute. Add the fish bones and trimmings. Do not brown, but cook gently until the meat falls off the bones. Add the bouquet garni, wine, and stock or water. Bring to a boil and cook 15 minutes. Remove the bouquet garni. Strain the stock through a chinois or fine-meshed sieve. Return to a clean pan and reduce by half. Strain again and set aside. The fume may be stored in the refrigerator, or frozen for future use.
To prepare the sauce: Heat the butter in a saute pan, then add the shallots and mushrooms. Cook briefly until the shallots are translucent. Add the wine and fish fume. Cook about 5 minutes. Add the cream and cook until reduced and thickened, about 20 minutes; the sauce should be more white than grey. Strain through a chinois or fine-meshed sieve. Return to the pan and reduce for another 3 to 4 minutes, until the sauce coats the back of a spoon. Whip until smooth, season with salt and pepper, and set aside; keep warm.
To prepare the salad: Place the spinach, endive, and blanched beans in a large bowl. Add the tomato, shallots, chervil, and tarragon. Add the crayfish tails and sprinkle with hazelnut vinaigrette, salt, and pepper. Toss.
To finish the salmon: Salt the salmon pieces. In a non-stick pan, heat 2 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat. When the butter is hot, take the pan off the heat. Place the salmon in the pan, return the pan to heat, and cook briefly. Remove from heat, turn once, and put back on the heat. Turn off the heat and leave the salmon in place for 30 seconds. Remove from heat.
To serve: Pool sauce on each serving plate. Place salad in the center of each plate, and arrange salmon pieces on the salad. Garnish with red basil leaves.
