Thursday, October 22, 2009

Cooking 101: Salmon with Sorrel Sauce


The acidic flavor of the sorrel cuts the richness of the salmon and produces an amazing dish. If you don’t have sorrel, use spinach. I’m not usually a huge fan of salmon, but this is delicious. Growing up in the Midwest, we didn’t always have access to fresh fish we didn’t eat much at home. My main memories of eating fish all happened at Red Lobster with the cheddar biscuits. In DC, we have access to the fresh fish market. Also, Whole Food has a nice selection of fish as well. Chef Patrice says it is always best to buy the whole fish.


Ingredients:

4 salmon filets

shallots, thinly sliced

cream, 5 oz

White Dry Vermouth

Sorrel, 1 bunch

Salt and Pepper

Lemon Juice, ½ lemon


Cooking Method:

Take 2 pieces of plastic wrap and put the salmon in the center of them. Gently pound it flat with a mallet to make them even. Salt and pepper them. Heat your non-stick skillet with olive oil or clarified butter. Add the fat to the pan and then add fish. Season the other side. Then flip the fish. This will happen very quick because the salmon is so thin. Remove salmon onto a plate with a paper towel. Sear shallots quickly. When you get a little color, add the sorrel. Deglaze with the vermouth. Then add a little cream. Add the lemon juice. Add butter to smooth the sauce. Plate: Place fish onto the plate and drizzle the sauce over the fish.


Photo by Ashley Mosley

2 comments:

My Chef Regina said...

Oh wow, this is so funny ... I've had sorrel growing in my garden since last year and never did anything with it, until last week when I cooked salmon with sorrel sauce for a client! Not this recipe, I used my favorite Joy of Cooking, but this one looks good. I might try it, except that my client raved so much about the version he got, I don't know.

Anyway, you say to sub spinach if you don't have sorrel. Spinach looks and cooks up the same, but you'd have to make up for the starring sorrel flavor, don't you think? I'd use some lemon zest and maybe just a little juice. Yes?

And a tip: sorrel may be hard to find in the stores, but it's VERY EASY to grow. Thriving on neglect in my garden.

Capital Cooking said...

Thanks for the comment.