More Fish

And we've hit November. At least I'm in the same month for keeping up with posts. Three more posts, and I'll only be 12 days behind... And I'm only posting to avoid working on a project from work that's due tomorrow morning. I'm screwed. Oh well.

This night we plated Loup de Mer end Papillote with rice and Beurre Blanc.

I got a 40/40! My first one for this class - I tend to lose one or two points per dish, but I got a perfect! yay! And by the way, this is an amazing way to cook fish. I loved this dish. Two fish dishes I like - who knew it could happen?

Anyway. To make this dish:

Cut parchment paper in half, smear butter on the right half of the paper, as big as the fish. Season the fillet (we used lake trout) with salt and white pepper and place on top of the butter. Top fish with eminceed shallots (super thin!), fine julienned red pepper and zucchini, thyme and parsley, then season on top. Remember, when using white pepper, use only a sprinkle! Place the lemon slices on top and add a splash of wine. Only a splash. Fold the paper over and seal - we folded the seal starting at the corner at 45 degree angles. Bake in 425 oven until parchment is puffed and browned - you are looking for expansion of the pouch, about 5 minutes. You serve it in the closed pouch to the customer - and then they open it to open and smell the steam.

A Beurre Blanc is an acid reduction emulsified by butter. You can use any acid, but in this case we used champagne vinegar. (As an aside, I always have trouble spelling that word because I went to school in Urbana-Champaign. So I always have to pause when writing about the drink). So. Melt whole buter, then sweat shallot and thyme. Reduce champagne vinegar to au sec, then add heavy whipping cream and simmer until reduced. Monte au beurre. Pretty simple, really.

Here it is prior to cooking, with all the layers:

Here's the perfect plating!

Saumon Grille with potatoes

This one, we had to come up with our own way to make the potatoes, and give him a explanation of why we did what we did. Nemo and I decided to do a version of "fish and chips." Chef and I had an argument over why salt and pepper was not creating a new flavor. I'm sure I was wrong, but I also love dishes seasoned only with salt and nothing else.

Grill a seasoned salmon fillet. Make potatoes. Serve with sauce.

Um, I can't remember what sauce we used here. I think Nemo created another Beurre Blanc with different flavor. But I could be wrong. Yummy looking, right?

We also learned how to make Hollandaise.

In a stainless stell bowl, combine vinegar and yolks and whisk over a really low flame until thickened and warm - keep moving bowl on and off heat - until 145 degrees. The sabayon with triple in volume. Gradually whisk in warm butter drop by drop at first, then in a slow, steady stream. If the sauce becomes too thick, add a bit of water or lemon juice, this allows all butter to be incorporated without breaking the sauce. Season with salt and cayenne. Serve warm, not hot.

Lesson Learned:

I really don't like these sauces. I hated the mayo, and I didn't like the hollandaise. I just really can only feel the oil and butter on my tongue. And that is just gross.