Sometimes you need to glam things up in the kitchen. Go for something a little elegant. Now, the recipe that follows from Blue Duck Tavern’s executive chef, Sebastien Archambault might look a little overwhelming at first–there’s smoked roe and you might be thinking of emailing me, “Sorrel cream? Child please, how can I make that?” But as I said, this is your chance to glam things up in the kitchen. And if you don’t want to go fancy, you can tweak the recipe here and there (ie: leave out the salmon roe). Knowing how to sear a piece of fish so that the skin is crispy? That’s something useful to keep in your back pocket after you try this recipe.
Or you can head straight to the second part and try your hand at the roasted baby vegetables and farro dish. I’m seeing farro on more and more menus and this is a good recipe that will let you use some of the produce that’s abundant at farmer’s markets around the city this time of year.
Happy cooking this weekend, readers.
Sebastien Archambault’s Crispy Skin Salmon with Cucumber, Green Almonds, Smoked Roe and Sorrel Cream, along with Wood-Oven Roasted Baby Vegetables, Farro, Olivia Olive Oil & Basil Serves 4
Ingredients and Instructions for the Salmon: 4 6 oz pieces of salmon, skin on 1 tbsp olive oil 1 bunch sorrel (10 leaves), fresh cleaned & chopped 1 shallot, thinly diced 2 tbsp dry white wine 1 cup heavy cream 1 oz butter 1 oz salmon roe 12 ea Parisian spooned cucumber 4 ea fresh green almonds, sliced 1/4 frisee, cleaned
Instructions for Sorrel Cream: 1. Melt butter in a sauce pan until brown. Add the shallot and cook for 2 minutes. 2. Add the sorrel, stir well, then add the wine. 3. Reduce until dry, then add the heavy cream and reduce it to 1/3 slowly. 4. Season it salt and pepper. Keep warm.
Instructions for Salmon: 1. Heat the olive oil in a non-stick pan. Place the seasoned salmon skin in the pan and rest a plate on top of the salmon, to ensure a well uniform crispiness of the skin. 2. Cook until medium rare. 3. Warm your plate or dish and add some sorrel cream. Place the salmon skin up on top with three, half slices of cucumber, the almonds, the roe and the frisee, all seasoned with salt and olive oil. 4. Enjoy!
Wood-Oven Roasted Baby Vegetables, Farro, Olivia Olive Oil & Basil Serves 4
Ingredients: 8 halves baby rainbow carrots 4 halves baby turnips 4 green spring onions 4 baby leeks 8 green beans 8 baby yellow squash 8 baby zucchini 8 radishes 1 cup farro (grain) 4 cups vegetable stock 1 shallot, diced 1 lemon, juiced 1 tsp chive, chopped 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Instructions for Farro: 1. Boil the vegetable stock in a sauce pan. 2. In another pan, add one teaspoon olive oil, the farro, and half of the vegetable stock. Cook gently on low heat. When almost dry, add more stock until fully cooked (but not over cooked, should be al dente). A la minute, heat the farro in a sautéed pan, add lemon juice, olive oil, and herbs.
Instructions for Baby Vegetables: 1. Clean all vegetables. 2. In a sautéed pan, heat the olive oil. Add the vegetables and salt. 3. Sautée until they have a nice color. They should stay al dente. 4. Add vegetable stock to steam, and then glaze. Add herbs. 5. In your dish, add a bed of farro. Place vegetables on top and play with the color.