And there was salmon at our local market. I suddenly thought of a sauce I used to make when I worked in a restaurant long ago, which then became modified over the years: rice vinegar instead of wine, since I rarely have wine around, tarragon (no, you don't have to use it if you loathe it), and a creamy shallot and butter sauce to spoon over the poached salmon. So it's not officially a Bercy sauce, but close enough to be cousins.
And how good? The salmon was gone in a flash, the new potatoes and wilted spinach took perhaps ten minutes more .
Bercy sauce:
1/4 cup finely chopped shallots
1/2 cup rice vinegar or a mild dill or tarragon vinegar
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
2 tablespoons roughly chopped Italian parsley
2 pinches kosher salt - about 1/4 teaspoon
Simmer the shallots, lemon juice, and herbs in the vinegar until the liquid is reduced by half.
Stir in:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
Keep stirring over moderate heat until the sauce is creamy and somewhat thick.
Remove from heat.
Poached salmon:
A ten inch stainless steel skillet and lid
1-2 pounds of salmon , mine were medium thickness, with the skin on
Place the salmon in the skillet and pour in enough water to come halfway up the sides of the salmon.
Place on moderate heat until water starts simmering, turn down heat and cover .
Poach for about ten minutes, remove from heat.
Use a spatula to remove individual servings to plates, then top with the sauce and serve.
My dearest grandchildren are settling in to their new home in Minneapolis, and there's a great silence and void around here - though yesterday I was able to Skype them , thanks to my computer-literate daughter. What fun! I even got a little tour of Izzie, Frankie and Noah's room, and watched them bounce on the beds.
Happy Spring!
9 comments:
Hi Katrina - well, I had never heard of Bercy sauce so I've learned something new - and it sounds pretty tasty. I'll have to try making it.
I'm making your lemon poppyseed muffins tomorrow - yum! I made a loaf of lemon, blueberry bread a couple of weeks ago but forgot to grease and flour the loaf pan!! So sad:-(. Needless to say the whole bottom of the loaf stuck to the bottom of the pan.
Happy to read that you get to Skype with your family - I'm sure you miss them very much. Isn't it great that technology makes it a bit easier to stay in touch?
It was 75 degrees here today!! but it's going to cool off a bit for the next few days - still, it is so much better than all that snow and bitter cold.
Happy Spring to you!!
75 degrees, Barb! How wonderful! Oh, so good to feel some heat, instead of that everlasting cold! Have a feeling you'll love those muffins - wish I had one here right now. So good.
Splashes of green and coral and kiddies jumping on beds:-)
Remember the song ?
All bright and joyful.
Your salmon is luminescent..is that even a word?
I just mean it pops of my screen in a lovely light..
Your muffins will come after Easter sometime:-)
Nana! So sorry to be late here, yes, that song. Those kiddies. Their energy! The salmon was lovely, thank you. But I miss those shiny little faces.....
Woke up to new snow on the ground, spring seems to have taken a pause today — gorgeous combination, reminds me how delicious butter-mounted sauces can be!
Diary - oh, you know how I feel about butter! So often, just a tablespoon stirred into a soup or sauce just makes a meal shine. But in this particular dish, the sour (whether wine or rice vinegar and lemon juice) cooked with the shallots really make it special. We got a pretty covering of snow this morning, too! But I do hope, that's the end of it - time to garden!
Dear Katrina..
Thinking of you..♥
I am sure the whole family misses you!
Oh Nana - I think families with small children these days have a gazillion other things to deal with! But thank you for your sweet and positive message! I was in the GARDEN today, and it made all the difference in the world. Merci, Madame and happy Easter thoughts!
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