Salmon with sorrel sauce
- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- ¼pound fresh sorrel
- 1½pounds skinless, boneless salmon fillets, skin and bones reserved
- 2tablespoons finely chopped shallots
- ½cup dry white wine
- ½cup finely chopped tomatoes
- 1cup heavy cream
- 2tablespoons butter
- ½cup cubed, skinless, seedless tomato flesh
- Salt to taste, if desired
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
- 2tablespoons finely chopped parsley
Preparation
- Step 1
Pick over the sorrel. Discard any tough stems and blemished leaves. Rinse the leaves and pat them dry. Pack the leaves closely and cut them crosswise into very thin strips. This is called a chiffonadeThere should be about two cups or slightly more when loosely packed.
- Step 2
If there are any bones in the fillets, carefully remove them with pliers. Cut the fillets on the bias into about 14 thin slices.
- Step 3
Put the reserved fish skin and bones in a small saucepan. Add one tablespoon of the shallots, the wine and chopped tomatoes. Bring to the boil and let simmer five minutes. Add the cream and cook about five minutes. Strain through a fine sieve, pushing the solids with a rubber spatula to extract as much liquid as possible. There should be about one and one-quarter cups.
- Step 4
Heat one tablespoon of the butter in a saucepan and add the remaining one tablespoon of shallots. Cook briefly and add the sorrel. Cook, stirring, until wilted.
- Step 5
Add the cream mixture, the cubed tomato flesh, salt and pepper.
- Step 6
Heat the remaining tablespoon of butter in a stick-proof skillet. Sprinkle the salmon with salt and pepper and place, a few pieces at a time, in one layer in the skillet. Cook one and one-half to two minutes, depending on the thickness of the slices, turning once.
- Step 7
Pour the sorrel sauce into the center of a warm platter and smooth it over. As the salmon pieces are cooked, arrange them neatly, slightly overlapping, on the sauce. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve immediately.
Private Notes
Comments
Henry, this is an iconic recipe taken from a 3 star Michelin restaurant that was one of their most, if not, most famous dishes. You can do what you want but don't think for a minute that you are making it better. You are not.
I prepared this dish many times, when I had a successful catering business in La Jolla, in the 1990's. It was divine! Sorrel grew like a weed in my garden. I learned a lot of french sauces by following Pierre Franey's cookbooks. Sorrel has a lemony taste. I'm not able to purchase the sorrel, at this time, therefore I will substitute with baby spinach, lemon zest and lemon juice.
Cooked with less sorrel and it was fine.
Just put all the tomatoes in the first step without adding them later on. Seems better that way.
Wilted the sorrel at the end inside the strained cream mixture instead of with the shallots and butter. Replaced some of the cream with greek yogurt/creme fraiche and added that at the end with the sorrel.
Oh my this was good! Even got my husband - who generally dislikes salmon - to take seconds and thirds. Served over angel hair pasta, it was a perfect summer dinner. As long as sorrel can be found it will find its way into the rotation. Salmon for 2 portions, sauce for four.
Fabulous! I made it last night and it was so good we’re having it again tonight!
This turned fabulous! It's more complex than other salmon and sorrel recipes that i've tried, but the results are worth the effort. I served with a couscous pilaf, which worked out really well.
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