Confit of salmon with pressed caviar and brown butter-Meyer lemon hollandaise
Holiday meals tend to pass by in a blur of turkeys, hams, roast beef and sweet potatoes. How do you break through that to make an impression on your guests? Caviar is one sure cure. And it’s one that can be delivered on a range of budgets.
Though caviar is synonymous with luxury, opulence and indulgence, if you know what you’re doing it can still be served at a relatively modest price and still deliver the goods. There is a wide range of caviar products, and the trick is knowing which ones are best used in which situation.
For example, hackleback caviar is delicious, affordable and easily obtained. I like to serve it with avocados and Melba toast, which offers an interesting contrast of textures — the firm saline “pop†of the caviar, the creamy avocado and the crisp, wafer-thin toasts.
At the French Laundry and Per Se, we use California white sturgeon caviar, which is extremely high quality and is sustainably raised along the Sacramento River. This is what we use in my signature dish Oysters and Pearls. It is more expensive, so you want to serve it in a way that will show off the quality, such as using it as a topping for deviled eggs.
Another domestic caviar comes from the paddlefish, which is a close relative of sturgeon raised in the Southeast. It offers a tremendous bang for your buck, as the quality is very good but the price is affordable. A sunchoke panna cotta is the perfect foil for the caviar: It is rich, nutty, slightly sweet yet subdued enough to let the flavors of the caviar shine through. Even better, most of the dish can be prepared in advance and quickly finished at the last minute.
Pressed caviar is essentially a paste made from eggs that have been damaged and can no longer be sold as whole. While the texture and appearance of the caviar has been lost, the taste remains, making this an economical way to impart the flavor of caviar into a dish, such as when we use it as a stuffing for a confit of salmon.
And then, of course, there is the glory of Ossetra caviar, the best quality caviar that is commonly available. With an ingredient this special (and this costly), you really want to present it in the simplest way possible: buckwheat and buttermilk blini. It is incredibly simple yet sophisticated and allows the caviar to be at center stage. The contrast of textures and temperatures between the ice cold, briny caviar and the hot, buttery blini is indulgent perfection.
But please resist the urge to serve this with caviar garnishes such as minced onion, eggs and capers, no matter if they are considered classic. Caviar this good is best unadorned.
Season each of the 4 salmon portions evenly with about one-half teaspoon salt and then wrap them in plastic film. Refrigerate the salmon for several hours, preferably overnight, to allow the salt to be absorbed.
Remove the salmon portions from the plastic wrap, rinse them and then dry them well with paper towels. Use a sharp paring knife to cut a pocket in the sides of each portion. To do this, set the square, flat bottom of the salmon portion down onto a flat, level surface. Insert the tip of the paring knife into the center of one of the sides and angled toward the opposite corner. Push the tip in to a depth of about 2 inches, taking care not to go out the other side of the salmon. Now, sweep the tip of the knife toward the other corner without cutting a large slit in the side. Remove the paring knife.
Fill a small disposable plastic piping bag with the pressed caviar and cut a one-fourth-inch opening at the tip. Insert the tip of the piping bag into the salmon pocket as far as you can, and pipe one-fourth of the pressed caviar into the interior pocket. Repeat with the remaining salmon portions. Leave the salmon at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before beginning to cook it.
Find a pan that will allow you to set all four portions of salmon on the bottom without crowding them and that will allow the salmon to be covered with oil by one-half inch. Add the oil to the pan and slowly heat it to 110 degrees (no hotter). Add the peeled zest from 2 Meyer lemons and the bay leaves. Maintain the temperature by keeping the pan in a warm location, adding heat if necessary.
While the salmon is resting, begin to make the hollandaise. Whip the cream in a small bowl to stiff peaks and then hold it in the refrigerator until needed.
Place the butter in a small sauce pot and heat over medium heat. Continue to cook the butter until it foams, then begin whisking it slowly until it begins to take on a nut-brown color. Once the butter browns, remove from heat and measure three-fourths of a cup of the brown butter and keep it hot.
Fill the base of a double boiler with about an inch of water and bring it to a simmer. Combine the yolks, lemon juice, water, remaining three-fourths teaspoon salt and remaining grated lemon zest in the bowl of the double boiler and whisk them together. Place the bowl over the simmering water and continue to whisk vigorously until the yolks thicken, are foamy and become pale in color. Remove the bowl from the double boiler and place it on a damp towel that has been coiled into a “turban†in order to hold the bowl steady while whisking in the butter. Drizzle the butter into the yolk mixture while continuing to whisk vigorously. The mixture should form a thick emulsified hollandaise. Cover the hollandaise and keep it in a very warm but not hot location until ready to serve.
Immerse the salmon portions in the oil and carefully stabilize the temperature at 110 degrees. (To maintain the temperature, briefly warm it over low heat or, to cool it down, just add a little room temperature oil.) Check the salmon after 12 minutes; it should still appear to be almost raw but begin to flake apart like it is cooked when gently pressed. If the salmon does not begin to flake, cook it for a couple of more minutes.
While the salmon is cooking, finish the hollandaise by whisking in the whipped cream to lighten the texture. For added refinement, strain the hollandaise through a fine-meshed strainer.
Remove the salmon from the oil using a slotted spatula and set briefly on a couple of layers of paper towels to absorb any excess oil.
To serve, sprinkle the minced chives over the top of the salmon and then set the portions on individual warm serving plates. Spoon the hollandaise next to the salmon and serve while warm. This dish is best accompanied with a wilted green such as spinach.
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