Saumon au Beurre Blanc
(Salmon with emulsified shallot butter)
Serves 2
This tasty recipe is a snap. Be sure your salmon is very fresh! Ask for “sushi grade” at the grocery or fish market so you’ll be less likely to get the older stock.
“Beurre blanc,” (French for “white butter”) is a basic butter sauce that’s one of the French “modern” sauces. It’s simple to make (honest!), and goes well with fish dishes, as well as many steamed vegetables. Be sure you do the sauce close to serving time so it doesn’t break, to avoid having to start over.
Ingredients:
500 g salmon (2 pieces salmon fillet, one per person)
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
25 g shallots, minced
2 Tbsp white wine
2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1 stick butter (chilled and cut into 2 Tbsp blocks; you may not use the whole stick)
salt and white pepper
In a small saucepan, heat minced shallots, white wine, and white wine vinegar over medium heat. Bring just to a boil, then turn heat down to medium and cook another 10 minutes. (Be careful that your liquid doesn’t completely evaporate; if it looks like too much is reducing, just turn the heat down to low.)
Season your salmon fillets evenly with salt and white pepper. (Don’t use black pepper; makes the fish look dirty.)
Add one block of butter at a time to wine/vinegar/shallot mix, whisking as you go. Your sauce will get thicker the more butter you whisk in, and the longer you have the sauce on heat. (Make sure sauce never boils during this time.) Once you’ve added enough butter to get the flavor/consistency you want, season sauce with salt and white pepper.
Pass sauce through a chinois (fine strainer), and keep warm until ready to serve. (Be careful not to overheat during this time.)
Over medium-to-medium-high heat, heat a skillet large enough to hold both salmon fillets, then add 2 Tbsp butter + 2 Tbsp vegetable oil and heat well. Add salmon fillets to skillet. When edges of each fillet are cooked and your first side has started to turn brown, gently flip. (Be sure to wait until this point; don’t keep flipping your salmon back and forth or your fish will break apart.)
When cooked, drain each fillet on a paper towel.
Spoon a few Tablespoons of sauce on plate, then add salmon fillet so it partially overlaps sauce. (Don’t ladle too much sauce over the salmon or you hide the fish.)
Buon appetit!