Tag Archives: salmon

Poached Salmon with Shallot, Tarragon, Dill Sauce

by Rebecca Penovich | 2 Comments

 

Poached Salmon with Shallot, Tarragon, Dill Sauce

Poached salmon is lovely and light for lunch or dinner.
Photo credit: Rebecca Penovich

I was inspired to make salmon with a dill sauce in tribute to the Sochi Olympics 2014 kicking off on Friday.  As I researched online about traditional Russian foods and in a book I own called A Year of Russian Feasts by Catherine Cheremeteff Jones, I realized I know very little about Russian cuisine.

Not one salmon recipe in “A Year of Russian Feasts.”   No salmon in this well-researched article from the Vancouver Sun, “Russian Food, Beyond Pierogies and Cabbage Rolls.”

"Meat, Fowl and Brussels Sprouts Against the Window" by Pyotr Konchalovsky (1937)

“Meat, Fowl and Brussels Sprouts Against the Window” by Pyotr Konchalovsky (1937)

What I discovered were lots of recipes with walnuts (chicken with walnuts, salads with walnuts, walnut sauces, walnut cakes), dumplings, cheese blini, kasha, beets, cabbage, and a popular potato salad called Olivier which incorporates peas, carrots, and salted cucumbers with mayonnaise dressing.

There is much to explore and the cuisine is as vast and varied as the country itself. Mia Stainsby enlightens us in her article “Russian Food, Beyond Pierogies and Cabbage Rolls”:

“Russian food is closely connected to the food of neighbouring countries like Ukraine, the Baltic Republics, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Azerbaijan; they were formerly part of the former Soviet Union.”

While the skiers, snowboarders, and figure skaters in Sochi will be tucking into shish kebab with lamb and vegetables, smoked fish and pickled vegetables, you can make this poached salmon with an easy side of pirozhki from the refrigerator case.

Photo credit: Rebecca Penovich

Photo credit: Rebecca Penovich

Poached Salmon with Shallot, Tarragon, & Dill Sauce

Ingredients

  • 4 salmon filets (about 6 oz each, 1-inch thick) (I leave the skin on to protect it from drying out while simmering)
  • 4 cups chicken stock (I used homemade but you could also use a white wine and water/stock combination)
  • 1 T. chopped shallot
  • Kosher salt and pepper, to taste

For the sauce:

  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1 T. poaching liquid from the salmon
  • 1 T. chopped shallot
  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh tarragon
  • 1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill
  • pinch of kosher salt

Directions

  • In a deep 10-inch skillet with straight sides, bring stock to a simmer.
  • Add the chopped shallot and simmer 2 minutes.
  • Season salmon filets on both sides with a pinch of salt and pepper.
  • Submerge 4 salmon filets, skin sides down, in one layer in the simmering liquid. Cover and poach at a bare simmer, about 8 minutes, or until just cooked through and light pink.
  • Transfer cooked salmon with a slotted spatula to a platter.
  • When salmon is cool enough to handle, peel off skin if desired.  Salmon may be cooked 1 day ahead and chilled, covered.
Photo credit: Rebecca Penovich

Photo credit: Rebecca Penovich

To make the sauce:

  • Gently heat the sour cream in a small, heavy-bottomed sauce pan over very low heat. (You don’t want it to curdle.)
  • Add 1 T. of the poaching liquid and the chopped shallots
  • Warm the sour cream (don’t simmer it) and stir with wooden spoon for 3 minutes to let shallots release their juice.
  • Take off the heat and add tarragon, dill, and pinch of salt.
  • Taste and adjust seasonings to your taste. (If you like more dill, add it.  I like lots of tarragon flavor.)

Go team USA!

U.S. skier Joss Christensen gets in a practice run for Ski Slopestyle ahead of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics at the Extreme Park at Rosa Khutor Mountain. (Lars Baron / Getty Images / February 4, 2014)

U.S. skier Joss Christensen gets in a practice run for Ski Slopestyle ahead of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics at the Extreme Park at Rosa Khutor Mountain. (Lars Baron / Getty Images / February 4, 2014)

Grilled Salmon, Asparagus, Lime Butter, Quinoa, Parsley, Mint

by Rebecca Penovich | 3 Comments

Grilled Salmon with Lime-Butter Sauce

 

 

Oh salmon and asparagus lovers, make this for dinner TO-NIGHT.  It was insanely delicious and very easy.

As often as I crave salmon, I find that I don’t buy it or cook it enough.  It’s not a favorite meal of my husband or son (even though the husband will eat it).  It seems too finicky and expensive to do for group entertaining (although I love to serve it at smaller dinner parties.)  So I often find myself passing it by in the grocery store, until one day, I just must have it and cook it for myself.  My comfort food.

This recipe, adapted from Gourmet’s Ian Knauer is wonderful.  The key is the lime butter sauce (I know, not healthy.)  But oh so good.  And a little goes a long way (unless you eat it by the spoonful as you are ‘testing’ as I did.)

I always buy salmon filet with the skin on.  Go for wild-caught Pacific salmon if you can find it.  If your store only has Atlantic farm-raised salmon, look for  pink-fleshed, firm filets, and go ahead and be persnickety–go to the fish counter and ask the seafood guy or gal a few questions.  Take a sniff.  Fish should smell like the sea (a little bit briny) but not at all fishy.

 

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I cut these salmon filets myself from one large piece of salmon. (That is why one is smaller than the other three.) You can have your fish guy cut it for you or get all center-cut pieces for more expense.

Ingredients

For the salmon:

  • 4 (6-oz) pieces center-cut salmon fillet (about 1 inch thick) with skin
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • salt to taste
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 6 tablespoons lime butter sauce

For the asparagus:

  • 1 1/2 lb medium asparagus (24), trimmed
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • Kosher salt

For the Lime-Butter Sauce:

  • 1 large garlic clove, chopped
  • 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted
For the quinoa with mint and parsley:
  • 1 C. uncooked quinoa
  • 2 C. water or stock (as package requires)
  • 1/4 C. chopped fresh mint
  • 1/4 C. chopped fresh parsley
  • 1/4 C. Lime-Butter Sauce
  • Pinch of kosher salt to taste

Directions

For the Salmon:

  • Preheat your grill (medium high heat for gas or about 350°).  Make sure grill grates are clean and brush them with oil so fish does not stick.
  • Brush fillets lightly on both sides with extra virgin olive oil, then season both flesh and skin sides with salt and pepper.
  • Put salmon filets on hot grill, SKIN side down; grill with the lid closed without moving them until skin crisps and you can lift with a spatula, about  6-7 minutes (depending on how thick your filets are.)
  • Hint:  once the albumen (the white stuff that is a protein in salmon) shows on the flesh surface that means it’s almost done.

Do NOT flip until you can easily loosen the salmon skin from the grill grate. (I usually don’t flip them at all because I find they fall apart.  I want tender salmon and I don’t want it all to fall in the grate.)

For the Grilled Asparagus:

 

I like the thin spears.

Lovely thin spears.

  • Prepare grill (to medium high heat, as for salmon above.)
  • Toss trimmed asparagus with olive oil and season with kosher salt.
  • Place asparagus perpendicular directly on the oiled grill rack (or alternatively place on a grill pan so they don’t go through the grate ) and grill until blistered and tender, 3 to 5 minutes, turning occasionally.

 

For the Lime-Butter Sauce:

This sauce, as simple as it is, was out of this world.  It elevates the entire dish and you will want it on everything.  It’s a bit like a citrusy hollandaise but without the egg yolks.  Thank you, Ian Knauer, for this killer sauce.
  • Purée garlic clove with lime juice, salt, and pepper in a blender until smooth.
  • With motor running, add melted butter and blend until emulsified, about 30 seconds.

Lime butter sauce can be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Stir before using.

 

Lime Butter Sauce

For the Quinoa with Parsley and Mint:

I made the quinoa the night before, following the package directions.

  • Cook the quinoa in 2 and 1/4 to 2 and 1/2 cups fresh water, covered, until all of the water is absorbed.  Add pinch of kosher salt to taste. (You can also cook the quinoa in chicken or vegetable stock if you desire a more robust taste.)  At this point you can refrigerate the quinoa over night and reheat it before serving.
  • Scoop the cooked quinoa into a bowl and add the chopped mint and parsley.  Toss.
  • Before plating with the grilled salmon and asparagus, add 1/4 C. of the warm Lime-Butter Sauce to the quinoa.  Toss.

To serve:

Place a scoop of warm quinoa and herb mixture on plate.  Top with grilled salmon filet.  Serve with grilled asparagus on the side.  Spoon Lime-Butter Sauce over the salmon and enjoy!

(Rebecca’s Note:  Here’s a marriage hint.  If you love under-done fish (I would call it “just-right”) and your husband loves over-done fish (he would call it “not raw”), remember that you can always finish it in the oven or on stove-top.

Grilled Salmon with Lime-Butter Sauce

It can be hard to see things out there on the grill unless you have an outdoor kitchen with as much lighting as your regular kitchen.  Restaurants routinely finish grilled or seared steaks in the oven (after bathing them in herb butter.)  In this recipe you’ve got lime butter sauce going for you.  If you bring your grilled salmon in from outside and it looks just right to you but too pink for  your significant other, then put the filet in question in a heated, oiled cast iron pan (fish flesh down or up) and spoon some of the lime butter sauce on top. Get a sear on it, and let him decide when it’s done. In fact, if you want a good sear or char on your fish but want it tender on the inside, you might want to do this treatment on yours as well.)