Friday, July 13, 2012

Wild Caught Salmon with Celery Root Pancake

I use curly leaf parsley for these recipes as it much more aromatic.

4 servings
Ingredients for Parsley Oil
1 bunch curly leaf parsley
2 c. olive oil (not extra virgin as this will over power the sauce)
4 tblsp. Lemon juice (juice of 2 large lemons)
2 teasp. kosher salt
Method
Leave the rubber band on and blanch the parsley in boiling water for 1 minute and dip into ice water. Squeeze out as much of the water as possible. Chop off the stems and place the leaves in a blender with the oil and salt. Puree for 2 minutes. If puree is too thick add a little cold water.
Salmon Filet and Crust|
4  six ounce salmon filets cut as squarely as possible
2 c. panko breadcrumbs (Japanese cracker crumbs)
4 tblsp. finely chopped curly leaf parsley
|2 tblsp. dijon mustard
1 tblsp. water
1 pinch kosher salt
1 oz. safflower oil
Technique
Preheat oven to 400°F. Dilute the mustard with water and brush the top side of the salmon filets with the mustard. Sprinkle with a small amount of kosher salt and the chopped parsley. Press the mustard coated side into the panko breadcrumbs and turn over and press the uncoated side into the crumbs. Heat the oil in a large non-stick pan with an oven - proof handle (a well cured cast iron skillet will do). Making sure the oil is not too hot to brown the crust, place the salmon, mustard coated side down, in the pan. Brown lightly for 1 minute and turn salmon filets over. Place pan into the oven for 5 minutes, remove and let the salmon remain in the pan to keep warm.

Celery Root – Potato Pancake
Ingredients
1 small celery root, peeled, washed and julienned, about 2 cups
½ yellow onion chopped fine (1/2 cup)
|2 large russet potatoes (1 1/3 lbs.) grated about 2 cups
2 Eggs
1/8 teasp. Ground nutmeg
1 tblsp. Kosher salt

Method
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Peel the celery root and grate into a bowl. Add the chopped onion. Peel and grate the potatoes into a separate bowl. Squeeze out extra moisture in the potatoes before adding to the bowl with the celery root. Add the eggs, nutmeg, and salt.
Heat a nonstick Teflon pan or seasoned cast iron pan to medium high heat, add salad oil. Place a scant ¾ cup of the celery root mixture to one side of the pan then add one more batch of ¾ cup.
Pancakes should be 3 ½ to 4 inches across and ½ inch in height. Brown lightly for 3 minutes and turn over. Brown for another 3 minutes and place on a cookie sheet. Repeat until mixture is used up. Bake pancakes for 15 minutes to cook through.
These are also great for breakfast with eggs.
Yield 4 to 6 pancakes
Assembly
Place warm pancake on plate. Place cooked salmon leaning against the pancake. Drizzle with parsley puree. Serve with pea shoots or spinach.