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Salmon and Asparagus with Beurre Blanc

Posted by Information 16/04/2015 0 Comment(s)


 

Serves 4

Prepare 20 minutes

Cook 25 minutes

 

2 x 230g bunches English asparagus, trimmed

2 tbsp olive oil

1 shallot, finely diced

1 bay leaf

50ml white wine vinegar

150g unsalted butter, cubed and chilled

1 lemon, zest and juice

4 wild salmon fillets (about 110g each)

1 bunch Fresh tarragon (or sorrel),leaves roughly chopped

1 sprig thyme, leaves picked

 

Preheat the oven to 200C, gas mark 6, and make sure you have 2 shelves available. Bring a large

pan of salted water to a rapid boil and simmer the asparagus for 2 minutes; remove and immediately plunge into a bowl of ice-cold water. Drain and dry then toss with 1 tbsp olive oil. Season and scatter over a baking tray; set aside.

 

To make the beurre blanc, put the diced shallot, bay leaf and vinegar in a pan; boil until reduced about 1 tbsp of liquid. Reduce the heat to low and add the chopped cold butter to the pan, a few cubes at a time, stirring continuously until it has thickened into a sauce. Season and add a squeeze of lemon juice; set aside.

 

Season the salmon fillets with sea salt and heat the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil in a heavy-based, ovenproof frying pan over a medium-high heat. Cook the salmon, skin-side down, for 2 minutes. Put the frying pan on the lower shelf of the oven and the asparagus on the upper shelf; cook both for 8 minutes.

 

To serve, stir the tarragon (or sorrel) through the beurre blanc. Toss the asparagus with the thyme, lemon zest and juice of half lemon. Arrange the salmon and asparagus on plates and spoon over the warm beurre blanc just before serving.