 |
| Dish as in the restaurant |
Flicking through the book it's always a challenge in itself deciding which recipe to do first. Given that I'd got a fish stock left over from a previous recipe from Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck cookbook (a cracking book) I decided to start steady and attempt this relatively unknown Salmon dish.
The dish consists of a sauce made from shallots, vermouth (or Noilly Prat), fresh basil cut into julienne, fish stock, cream and butter. To begin with I finely sliced shallots into brunoise (or little dice) and melted the butter in the pan.
 |
| Julienne of basil and diced shallots |
After sautéing the shallots and basil strips it was simply a case of reducing the vermouth right down, adding the fish stock and reducing by about half. Once the right consistency has been reached, the cream gets added and over a low heat whisk in a little butter to thicken and enrich the final sauce.
Adding a squeeze of lemon I had a taste to check for seasoning. For the first time in a long time of making sauces this one didn't even need one grain of salt, the flavour was mind-blowing, fresh and rich, a perfect partner for the salmon.
The book states that after seasoning the salmon you are to dry fry it in a pan over a high heat. One issue I came across was that unless you have a 100% none stick pan, as mine is well used, you may want to put a little oil rubbed over the salmon escalopes.
After a minute on each side it was a simple job to plate up, sauce on, salmon on, no fuss.
After sautéing the shallots and basil strips it was simply a case of reducing the vermouth right down, adding the fish stock and reducing by about half. Once the right consistency has been reached, the cream gets added and over a low heat whisk in a little butter to thicken and enrich the final sauce.
Adding a squeeze of lemon I had a taste to check for seasoning. For the first time in a long time of making sauces this one didn't even need one grain of salt, the flavour was mind-blowing, fresh and rich, a perfect partner for the salmon.
The book states that after seasoning the salmon you are to dry fry it in a pan over a high heat. One issue I came across was that unless you have a 100% none stick pan, as mine is well used, you may want to put a little oil rubbed over the salmon escalopes.
After a minute on each side it was a simple job to plate up, sauce on, salmon on, no fuss.
 |
| The final plate |
So what's the verdict? Well this is a perfect fish dish to come home to, not a great deal of effort required in the preparation or execution, the salmon was crispy and the outside slightly caramelised giving it texture, the sauce was velvety and fresh with the lemon and basil forming a winning partnership. Much looking forward to the rest of the book now.
So what's the verdict? Well this is a perfect fish dish to come home to, not a great deal of effort required in the preparation or execution, the salmon was crispy and the outside slightly caramelised giving it texture, the sauce was velvety and fresh with the lemon and basil forming a winning partnership. Much looking forward to the rest of the book now.
Are you sure the basil is fried initially with the shallots?
ReplyDelete