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Pacific Salmon Recipe in Hollandaise Sauce with a Cheesy Pasta Salad
Baked salmon recipes and grilled salmon recipes are very popular in top restaurants. Salmon is a moist, flavorful fish and there are many ways to cook it. This recipe uses a classic hollandaise sauce and the dish is served with a cheesy pasta salad, the denseness of which contrasts well with the light and creamy hollandaise sauce and the gentle salmon flavor. This is a very healthy meal and one that you will want to make time and time again.
Salmon recipes vary from simple to difficult. This one is fairly easy because you can make the salad in advance and the sauce while the salmon is cooking. For the pasta salad, use small pasta shapes, such as little shells or small macaroni. It just looks better. Remember that these cook faster than bigger pasta shapes. Do not overcook them or they will go mushy and do not substitute margarine for the butter in the Hollandaise sauce because it will not taste right!
This pacific salmon recipe contains delicious ingredients like lemon, bay leaf and parsley, delicate flavors which really make the natural salmon flavor stand out. The sauce is simply egg, butter, and lemon and the accompanying salad recipe is an Italian style pasta and vegetable salad, which uses lemon and garlic to echo the flavors in the fish. This is a gourmet dish, which is easy to make and guaranteed to be well received. This is great for anyone who loves salmon recipes.
Healthy Pacific Salmon Recipe
Ingredients -
For the Salmon:
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups water
4 black peppercorns
3 parsley sprigs
3 slices lemon
1 bay leaf
1 sliced onion
4 Atlantic salmon steaks, 1 inch thick
For the Sauce:
3 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ cup firm butter
For the Salad:
½ head chopped Romaine lettuce
1 cup cooked pasta
1 chopped tomato
½ cup feta cheese
2 tablespoons sliced radish
½ grated carrot
Juice of 1 lemon
Dash of garlic salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
Preparation:
First you need to make the salad. Mix all the dry salad ingredients and refrigerate. In another bowl, mix the lemon juice and olive oil and refrigerate.
Bring the water, salt, peppercorns, lemon slices, parsley, bay leaf and onion to the boil in a 12 inch pan. Turn down the heat, cover and simmer 5 minutes. Place the salmon steaks in the pan, adding water if you need to, to cover the steaks. Bring to the boil and turn the heat down. Simmer uncovered for 12 to 15 minutes or until the salmon flakes easily with a fork.
You can make the sauce while the salmon is simmering. Stir the egg yolks and lemon juice in a 1 ½ quart pan. Add half the butter and stir over a very low heat. Keep stirring until the butter melts. Add the rest of the butter. Keep stirring vigorously until the butter is melted and the sauce is thick. Make sure the butter melts slowly because this gives the eggs time to cook and thicken the sauce without any risk of curdling.
To serve, arrange the salmon steaks on plates and pour the hollandaise sauce over the top. Combine the dry salad ingredients with the dressing and serve on the side.
(Serves 4)
Wine Suggestion:
Wine to Serve with Pacific Salmon Recipe in Hollandaise Sauce
A California Chardonnay goes perfectly with this salmon recipe. Try a Rued Clone Chardonnay from Iron Horse Vineyards or perhaps an Argyle Nuthouse Chardonnay from the Argyle Winery. If you can't find either of these, just about any Chardonnay will do because its buttery, citrus flavour suits the salmon and hollandaise sauce very well. Chardonnay is best served chilled so just keep it in the refrigerator until the salmon is ready to serve.
Photo Description:
A Picture of Pacific Salmon Recipe in Hollandaise Sauce with a Cheesy Pasta Salad - Features fresh Pacific salmon but could just as easily be made by substituting the Pacific salmon for Atlantic salmon. The key here is to get the fish as fresh as possible preferable right off the boast fresh. The pasta salad is light and refreshing and a wonderful compliment to the salmon.
Serving Red Wine with Fish
White wines, such as Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, are commonly chosen to accompany fish dishes. They do go very well together but that does not mean you cannot experiment with other wines. Simple fish dishes suit light white or light red wines.
If you are serving wine with fish, pick something high in acidity. Lemon juice and wine can both neutralize the fish oils. If you want to serve red wine with fish, select something fruity and young. Do not serve a tannic red or oaky white wine because they will exaggerate the seafood flavors instead of complementing them.
If you are serving shellfish, choose a very light red, such as Pinot Noir. You can also use red wine in cookery, when grilling or broiling fish. The complexity of a red wine gives a wonderful flavor and can be used in the sauce or glaze. Stronger fish like monkfish or cod can stand up well to a light, fruity red wine. More subtle fish, such as tilapia, are usually best served with a white wine.
Tips for a Perfect Pacific Salmon Recipe
Whichever wine you choose to serve with your baked salmon recipes, there are a few handy tips to know if you want to ensure your pacific salmon tastes wonderful. First of all, the most important advice anyone can learn about fish is not to overcook it! That might sound simple but overcooking fish is such a common mistake and fish gets really dried out if it is at all overcooked. When your salmon flakes easily with a fork, it is done and that is the same no matter whether you are following a grilled salmon recipe, making baked salmon recipes or cooking the fish another way.
Salmon is not the cheapest fish to buy and overcooking it will ruin it. Fish does not need to be cooked to a certain temperature like meat does because it does not have the same bacteria. This is why raw fish dishes like sashimi or sushi are so popular. It is usually best to freeze fish first if you are going to serve it raw, just in case there is any bacteria to kill. Salmon can be served raw or it can be cooked to make delicious baked salmon recipes or a grilled salmon recipe.
Another tip for making a delicious pacific salmon recipe is to choose your pacific salmon recipes with care. Salmon has its own unique flavor and you do not want to use strong ingredients, which overpower the natural fish taste. Ingredients like lemon juice, garlic, or butter enhance the flavor of the pacific salmon without being too strong. Herbs like dill or parsley are also popular in many baked salmon recipes. Spices can be used but in moderation. A tiny bit of chili powder might give your salmon a bit of a kick but using too much will mask the natural flavor of the fish so if you want to make a spicy fish curry for example, use a more economical fish.
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