Category: fish

poached salmon

Salmon cuc

chilled poached salmon
caviar
persian cucumber
creme fraiche
green dill seeds
leek buds
hyssop flowers

Salmon cuc herbs

At the restaurant, we make tons of poached salmon. 
Well, maybe not tons, but on the weekends we make enough to feed the masses. I'm told that it's been on the catering menu for the past 20 years and that attempts to remove it have been futile. I am not surprised by it's popularity; every time that I taste it I'm reminded of the complexity of flavor that can be achieved through simple, classic techniques.
The secret to it's success at the restaurant is that it is consistency prepared the same way. The fillets are cut off the bone and two whole sides go into a hotel pan, skin side down. Chopped onions, celery, lemons, and parsley are strewn over the top along with a liberal sprinkling of salt. Half of a magnum of white wine is poured over, followed by enough water to cover by an inch. They go into a cold convection oven at 375F. After 20 minutes, the court-bouillon just begins to steam, the vegetables begin to soften, releasing their aroma, and the oven is turned down to 325F. The salmon cooks slowly and gently until it is opaque all the way through. After the pans are removed from the oven, they cool on a rack until they are no longer hot, then they chill overnight in the walk-in. This is where the magic happens: as the salmon cools, the flesh retracts and draws in the aromatic liquid, locking in the flavor. The next day, the flesh, although cold, is soft and unctuous, and the flavor is deep and complex.
When I begin to play the what-if game with this particular preparation, I always come up short. I can think of no other techniques (short of sous-vide, which is unpractical with the quantities that we do) that would yield the same results.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Poached salmon 2

 hot poached salmon
salsa verde
court-bouillon
whipped buttermilk potatoes

Poached salmon 1

At home, hot poached salmon with salsa verde and softly whipped buttermilk potatoes is my go-to dish when I have salmon, fresh herbs, and a good bottle of Chardonnay on hand. The ripe flavors of the wine marries well with the richness of the fish and the assertive herbs.
Because the salmon is served hot and does not benefit from the flavor-boosting overnight chill, the court-bouillon must be concentrated. Copious amounts of aromatics are simmered in white wine and water until all of their flavor is extracted. This becomes more of a stock than a court-bouillon (court, in French, means short or quick). When the temperature of the stock is at 185F, the salmon are dropped in and poached for about 8 minutes, or until a translucent core remains.
Sometimes, when I can't bear to throw out the flavorful stock, I will surround the salmon and potatoes with it in shallow bowls. Doing this transforms the dish into something else…not a soup, but not quite a sauce, either…it becomes both. The soft potatoes melt into the stock along with flecks of herbs, so that after the salmon is consumed, a delicious potato-herb soup is left in the bowl.
Poached salmon3

Here, I have taken the dish and played with the textures. The salmon has been left alone, in it's state of perfection. The salsa verde, consisting of parsley, tarragon, golden oregano, common thyme, lemon thyme, anchovies, shallots, capers, extra-virgin olive oil, and white wine vinegar, has been set with agar. The agar has a higher melting point than most gels, allowing it to be served hot, while retaining it's shape. The potato base is cooked potatoes that have been passed through a tamis, blended with olive oil, salt, and buttermilk to a pourable consistency. 1.5% Methocel SGA150 is added and the mixture is whipped to aerate and lighten. The mixture is dropped off of the end of a spoon into the hot stock to form small, leaf-shaped dumplings that are firm while hot, yet melt on the tongue.
The tips of herbs, planted in the sheet of salsa verde, is directly inspired by my new planter. After years of trekking up to the garden to pick a few sprigs of herbs to season a dish in progress, and returning to a find that it has scorched or overcooked (I am easily distracted in the garden), I have planted an assortment of my favorite herbs in a windowbox on the front porch. Such a simple solution, and now I have no excuses to not use fresh herbs when the inspiration strikes.

pea soup

Psoup1

When I tell people that I’ve been cooking since childhood, they invariable ask how I remain interested and enthusiastic about the preparation of food. I could go on citing reasons for days–don’t even get me started–but at the very top of the list is what lures me out of bed each morning:

It is the power of transformation.

Transformation is what hooked me on baking. It taught me the effect of fire and water and the role that science plays in the kitchen. Even now, I am still amazed at what butter, flour, sugar and eggs can become.

Outside of the kitchen, the theme of transformation is the common thread that unites my other interests. When I look at a raw carrot, it is no different than how I view a blank canvas, a length of fabric, or the lens of a camera. My eyes see what it is, my imagination tells me what it can be, my hands make it be.

The journey from abstract idea to concrete product is fueled by constant dialog about possibilities and limitations. The road is not always straight or direct, and I often take detours, get lost, and crash along the way. But the joy is in the journey– the manipulation of infinite variables, the witnessing of and participation in the transformation.

Psoup2

The transformation that I am concerned with here is not the kind that happens in the kitchen, but at the table.

 A clear, steaming hot consomme of fresh peas made by gelatin filtration is poured into a bowl of carefully arranged elements: a perfect raw oyster, a lacy mantle of roasted peanut oil and cocoa butter,  mango pearls, and the flower, stems and leaves of pea shoots.

The initial effect, and most dramatic, is the melting of the roasted peanut-cocoa butter lace. Peas and peanuts are both legumes and share many aroma compounds. The emulsification reverts back to a fragrant oil that forms droplets on the surface and lends the soup an enticing aroma and flavor. As the consomme level rises, the pea shoots soften and float, the leaves open and unfurl. These add texture to the soup and reinforce the flavor of the consomme. The pearls dislodge and swirl to the bottom of the bowl, waiting to be scooped up and burst their bright mango juice in the mouth. The oyster coddles in the heat of the consomme and is intended to be the last voluptuous bite.

Psoup3

scallop almondine

Scallopgreenalmond 011

scallop seared in brown butter
green almonds, four ways
oxalis leaves and blossoms
browned butter rocks and powder
lemon cells

May is perhaps the most exciting month in terms of fleeting seasonal treats. Among these are ramps, morels, peas and rhubarb, but it the relationship between soft-shelled crabs and green almonds that I have been waiting to explore.

When soft-shelled crabs begin to appear, I always buy a few extra for experimentation. My intentions are good, but even then, I know it's futile, that they are all destined for two standard preparations: Spider Rolls and Almondine. When time allows, Spider Rolls–one of my favorite sushi–are satisfying with their contrast of flavors and textures. For a quick fix, I make Soft-Shelled Crab Almondine. I must have a flavor receptor that is particularly fond of sweet seafood bathed in brown butter and balanced with citrus and herbs because I can't get enough of that nutty, buttery, toasty, bright and lemony goodness.

In attempting to translate this dish with green almonds, I realized that their crunchiness would compete with that of the soft-shelled crabs and throw the textural balance off. Sea scallops provide the same sweet, succulent flesh in a softer texture. The hulls of the green almonds were split, to liberate the undeveloped nuts that were sauteed in brown butter along with some of the slivered hulls and slivered, mature almonds. More of the hulls were slivered and half of these were quickly pickled in lemon juice and the other half went into salted ice water. These varying flavors and textures were combined and seasoned with fresh lemon juice and sea salt. The flavor of brown butter was extended with soft, melting powder made with Tapioca Maltodextrin and rocks made from the larger clumps of the powder that were microwaved at full power for 30 seconds. The dry crunch of the rocks provided the missing texture of the fried crab shell. Final touches were the lemon cells, which are easier to extract when the lemon segments are dehydrated, and the leaves and blossoms of Oxalis, or wood sorrel, that provide a sour, herbal note that reinforces the lemon.

This dish satisfies me on a level beyond flavor receptors. It's ephemeralness reminds me to explore and enjoy what is good and available at any given moment…the elusive here and now. Carpe amygdalum viridis!

smoked salmon sushi rolls

cut into a side of smoked salmon… slice off a perfect thin sheet…observe it's intrinsic beauty; striations of fat and flesh…inhale it's aroma, redolent of smoke and sea…taste it's silky complexity…listen as it tells you what it wants to be….
Sushi_002_2

smoked salmon roll:
4" x 5" sheets of thinly sliced smoked salmon
cucumber brunoise
miso saikyo (white miso)

Smear a thin layer of miso in a 1" wide strip along one long edge of salmon sheet. Sprinkle cucumber over miso. Roll salmon along covered edge to enclose miso and cucumber, stopping halfway. Plate.

avocado roll:
peeled and pitted avocado halves

Place avocado halves on flat surface, rounded side up. Repeatedly poke a 1/2" diameter straw or pipe through avocado, stacking disks of avocado into straw. When nearly full, stand straw upright on flat surface and insert a 1/2" dowel into top of straw, pressing firmly to compress avocado. Line up edge of straw next to the top edge of salmon roll on plate. Push with dowel to extrude avocado roll while pulling away straw. Trim ends to align with salmon roll.

sushi and tabiko roll:
2 cups whole milk
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup raw sushi rice
rice wine vinegar
mirin
tabiko

Place milk, salt and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir in rice, cover, and lower heat to a simmer. Cook until rice is very tender, about 25-30 minutes. Puree mixture while hot, then press through a tamis. Allow mixture to come to room temperature, then season with vinegar and mirin, balancing the flavor, but leaving it assertive, as it will mute when chilled. Line a 3/4" diameter cylindrical mold with acetate. Fill with rice mixture, taking care to not leave air pockets. Wrap cylinder in plastic wrap to seal ends, then freeze just until firm enough to unmold. Unmold cylinder and roll in tabiko to completely cover. Set on plate next to avocado roll and trim ends. Place plate in refrigerator to allow sushi roll to thaw and soften.

furikake:
2 sheets toasted nori, crumbled
1 Tblsp toasted sesame seeds

Combine nori and sesame seeds. When ready to serve, lay a strip on plate next to unrolled edge of salmon.

Sushi_007ps

salmon passion fruit hollandaise

Salmonhollandaise03

My play with Transglutaminase continues after an intensive week of catering. Here I’ve made a salmon ravioli filled with passion fruit hollandaise. When I used to work the line, the hollandaise was made before service and kept in a warm bath. This didn’t make sense to me and I insisted on making it to order, which pissed everyone off. They backed down when I proved that a perfect sauce could be made in the time that it took them to get their pans hot.

My entry into the world of cooking was through the sweet side. The skills that I have learned from baking have eased my transition to the savory side of the kitchen. I look for the moments when the two worlds collide and the transition feels seamless.

One day, while making a lemon curd, it occurred to me that I was essentially making a sweetened hollandaise. Although the cooking methods and proportions varies slightly between the two, the chemistry is the same in forming these egg-emulsified sauces. They share the same trio of key ingredients: egg yolks, fat in the form of butter, and acid in the form of lemon juice.  When isolating these ingredients and considering possible alternatives, it becomes easy to imagine flavor variations on the classic hollandaise. Egg yolks are unique in their protein coagulation, but acid can be introduced in the form of any fruit juice that has a PH of 3.0 or lower so as not to over-dilute the egg yolk. Candidates that fall in this range are: grapefruit, lime, cranberries, gooseberries, wild grapes, verjus, raspberries, rhubarb, pomegranates, tamarind, and passion fruit. These are all flavors that I’ve used to make fruit curds, so why not hollandaise? To bring it back to the savory realm, even the butter can be replaced with solidifying fats such as: foie, bacon, duck fat, serrano fat. Can you see where I’m going? Does this excite you as much as it does me?

For this ravioli, the hollandaise posed a challenge because it needed to solidify in order to glue the thin sheets of salmon around it, then to revert to it’s fluid sauce state when reheated. A traditional hollandaise was not stable enough to endure the freezing and cooking process without curdling. I fiddled with a few additives and techniques before hitting on the simple addition of a small amount of gelatin. This allowed the hollandaise to firm up sufficiently without the need to be frozen, which I suspect had destabilized the emulsification, and to remelt in the sous vide bath.

Salmon_hollandaise_ps2

 

sous vide salmon ravioli filled with passion fruit hollandaise
crispy salmon skin
asparagus ramp puree
spiced rum beads

skate mushroom cauliflower cocoa

Caulirisotto_ps
skate sauteed in browned butter
cauliflower and blue cheese "risotto"
trumpet mushroom
porcini and cocoa consomme
dehydrated cauliflower
crushed cocoa nibs
rosemary blossom

The spark for this dish came from the pairing of chocolate and blue cheese mentioned in the white chocolate and caviar post. I played with the idea of composing a dessert from the pairing, but found myself drawing parallels from their underlying earthiness to that of cauliflower and mushrooms. Not surprising, seeing as these share flavor compounds: butyric acid (buttery) and butraldehyde (nuttiness). Fish also share these characteristics. Not convinced?…give it a try…just remember that the Maillard reaction that occurs when carb- and protein-containing  foods are browned over high heat is key to the synthesis of flavors in this dish.

unBloody Mary

Admittedly, I am not a huge fan of the cocktail. All too often they are overly sweet or sour. A well-balanced cocktail is quite another matter. Case in point: the Violet Fizz at Tailor, NYC. Even as I ordered it I was leery, but curious. No need, it was light, bright, and perfectly balanced.
Bloody Marys seem to belong in another category altogether. It may be due to their texture that they feel more like a fluid meal…something to sate your appetite, rather than pique it.
On a recent shopping trip, I was surprised to find young lovage tucked in among the herbs, something I have never seen in super markets in my area…surely  a good sign. I cannot think about lovage without conjuring up a memory of the late Adelma Simmons "The First Lady of Herbs" at a lecture that I attended years ago at Caprilands Herb Farm. She was nearly 70 at the time, yet spoke passionately and extensively about herbal cultivation, lore and uses. She threw out one tidbit that I have carried with me since, but have never implemented: the use of lovage stalks as straws.
So, there I stood, at the market, with a bunch of lovage in my hand, and it spoke to me, and what it said was "Make me a Bloody Mary!"
When herbs speak, one must listen.

Bloodymary_020
unBloody Mary
potato and salt cod cake
lovage and preserved lemon fluid gel

Gelatin Filtration is a technique that Harold McGee wrote about in an article in the New York Times in which gelatin is combined with a flavored liquid, frozen, and allowed to drain. The gelatin forms a net which traps fat and particles as it thaws, resulting in a clear liquid with pure flavor.  This method can be applied to stocks, sauces, or purees and provides an alternative to a Superbag or the egg white raft method which, arguably, draws flavor from the liquid which it clarifies. It is groundbreaking in its simplicity, requires no specialized equipment or ingredients and provides infinite possibilities. The only drawback is that it needs to be planned ahead–its always been a 3 day process for me. You can read more about this and other progressive techniques at the highly innovative Ideas in Food.

Applying gelatin filtration to a Bloody Mary base of seasoned vegetable juice produced a light colored, crystal clear liquid that tasted identical to the base. To give a visual and textural reference back to the original cocktail, I added a sphere made from the base. In order to suspend it, I blended some Xanthan into the clarified liquid.

Spherification is another technique developed at elBulli in 2003 in which sodium alginate is mixed with a liquid base and dropped into a bath of calcium chloride. The alginate reacts with the calcium, forming an orb with a gelatinized membrane surrounding a liquid center, similar to a raw egg yolk. There is also Reverse Spherification, in which a base is combined with calcium in the form of calcium gluconolactate and dropped into an alginate bath. Spherification is now considered passe by some, although I continue to see it come out of cutting edge kitchens, I think largely because it offers a playful delivery of flavor. This process is explained in depth on the Texturas site (elBulli product line) and demonstrated by Martin at Khymos in this videoclip.

unBloody Mary
base
2 lbs. ripe tomatoes                                           lemon juice, to taste                           
3 stalks celery                                                    jalapeno hot sauce, to taste
1/2 cup lovage leaves                                         salt and pepper
2 scallions                                                          dash Worcestershire

Pass vegetables and herbs through a juicer or liquify in a blender with 1/2 cup of water. Add remaining ingredients, adjust seasoning to taste. Strain through a sieve. Measure out 4 cups of base and transfer to a saucepan, setting the rest aside in a covered container in the refrigerator and reserve for spheres. To the saucepan add 2 tsps. powdered gelatin by sprinkling it over the surface. Let stand for 5 minutes, then whisk it in over medium high heat until base just begins to simmer and gelatin has completely melted. Remove from heat, let cool and transfer to a bowl and place in freezer overnight or until frozen solid. The next day, line a colander with cheesecloth, pop out the frozen base and place it in the prepared colander, set over a large bowl and transfer to the refrigerator to drain for 24 to 48 hours. When it appears that the base has fully drained, remove colander and discard the solids. When ready to serve, add 1 part vodka to 2 parts of clarified base.

spheres                                                                 bath
2 grams sodium alginate                                     2.5 grams calcium chloride
60 grams water                                                 500 grams water
140 grams reserved base

spheres– place the water and base in a container with high sides. Sprinkle on the sodium alginate and blend in with an immersion blender. (This can also be done in a high speed mixer). Set aside in the refrigerator for 2-4 hours to allow the bubbles formed during blending to dissipate.
bath– combine calcium chloride with water in a bowl and stir until dissolved.
to form spheres– with a rounded spoon, scoop up some alginated base and slowly submerge into bath, tipping spoon to allow sphere to release. When skin has formed, lift sphere out of bath with perforated spoon and transfer to a clear water bath. Use immediately as sphere will continue to react and harden.
Note: because the finished cocktail has little viscosity, the spheres will sink to the bottom of the glass. If you wish to suspend them, blend 1 gram of Xanthan into 500 grams of finished cocktail.