Salmon Wellington

I don’t eat a lot of salmon, and when people ask why, I always say “too pedestrian”. That’s kind of a joke, but the truth of the matter is that salmon has invaded the humblest corners of the prepared food-industrial complex, and even hole-in-the-wall fish markets; it appears somewhere on the menu of every humdrum restaurant, especially those who have designs at hoodwinking unadventurous and under-concerned diners into thinking they are of quality; its distinctive flavor has become synonymous, to me, with corporate luncheries, airline food, and pre-packaged dishes that are marketed as healthy alternatives. And maybe they are. But as is so often the case, when a food item becomes ubiquitous and mass-marketed, it most often bears little resemblance to what it should, or what it can be. Most salmon that is commonly available in this country is farm raised, which we’re finding out is increasingly problematic, but this type of mass production helps satisfy the majority of the population, who are now demanding an always-available, non-vegetarian protein product other than beef or chicken which is low-cal and hey, why not rich in omega-3 fatty acids? as they eat and shit their way to retirement, protecting their credit accounts and constructing a fragile sense of identity through their jobs-of-illusory-importance all along the way. But wild salmon can be a revelation. It’s flavor will be as varied as the individual decisions each creature made based on its environment that year, and as expensive as it may be, you never want to pass up the opportunity to purchase something as delicious and increasingly rare as a fresh side of salmon just flown in from BC or wherever. Seriously – your kids are not even going to every know what it tastes like, so what’s 38.99 a pound in the long run?

(Incidentally, I like Arctic Char a whole whole lot. As far as I know, it’s usually wild and not farmed. It doesn’t taste exactly like salmon, but it’s similar. I generally don’t like to find a poor man’s substitute for foods – I say go big or go elsewhere – and Char is delicious in its own right and should be treated that way, but it can be substituted for salmon in many instances. Not in this case, though, since for this dish to work, you need the fillet to be rather thick, and the Char fillet always seems to be much thinner.)

So this recipe. Another straight rip from the previously mentioned establishment where I found myself employed despite my under-qualification. I’ve made this several times since leaving, always when I’m looking to impress, since it’s a pretty inspired one, both in flavor and presentation, and feels decadent without being overly rich. It was never called Salmon Wellington at that restaurant, and I had no idea what exactly Beef Wellington was, but later discovered that the preparation and presentation of that famous British dish was almost exactly the same as this one. In each case, the principle protein is smeared in duxelles and wrapped in puff pastry, then baked in the oven. A few slight additions or variations distinguish this dish, but in the spirit of substituting a healthier flesh for beef, let’s keep the names the same and call things what they are. (Incidentally, this is the only time that anything inspired by or drawn from the British culinary oeuvre will appear in this collection. Despite the recent so-called culinary revolution in Albion, a year of eating cafeteria food there when I was 10 has left me eternally skeptical.)

This works much better if you’ve got a convection oven. A convection oven will turn the puff a sumptuous golden brown, and will simultaneously ensure that it doesn’t get soggy (actually, it’s tough to ensure that the bottom doesn’t get soggy – but your odds are better if you’re using a convection oven.) If you don’t have one, all is not lost, but it certainly helps. In fact, if you find yourself with a convection oven, this is one of the very first and greatest dishes you should try with it.

There are lots of versions of duxelles. Many have you pouring some sort of wine or sherry into the mixture and letting it absorb – I usually don’t do this because I don’t have it on hand. Others add cream, which I actually do like, especially since it helps hold the mixture together, but it’s by no means necessary. I’ve got you making more then you need here, since it keeps well and is delicious in so many other things, if on nothing else besides toast. It probably freezes well, too, dunno. I encourage experimentation is this regard. You can use assorted mushrooms or go for something really wild if you like, but creminis work just fine.

Finally: puff pastry. As I’ve noted elsewhere, most things are better made oneself, but I’m not sure puff pastry is one of them. Puff is fun to make, but it is labor-intensive, and is one of those few things where I can’t discern a significant increase in quality between homemade and store bought, since there’s not much to fuck up and it tends to be a high-end product anyway, so will probably be devoid of industrially-produced cheapeners. So I opt for store bought, but I suppose everyone should make their own puff once in a while, just so you can say you know how, in case you find yourself in a distant location from any Whole Foods with only butter, flower, ice water, and time on your hands.

OK, enough preamble ranting. Here we go:

Ingredients:

• 2 6-oz sections of salmon fillet, cut from the thickest part of the fillet and roughly 2 inches wide, skin and any bones removed
• 1 TBS grapeseed oil
• Baby spinach
• 1 large sheet of puff pastry – or 1 store bought package
• 1 egg

For the duxelles:

• 1 lb cremini mushrooms
• 1 large shallot, minced
• 4 TBS butter
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 TBS fresh thyme leaves, minced
• ¼ cup wine, vermouth, sherry, brandy, etc
• 2 TBS heavy cream
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350. Place your two pieces of salmon on the cutting board. Inspect them very thoroughly with your eyes and finger tips to make sure there are no bones present; if there are, remove them gently with a tweezers. Film a heavy-bottomed skillet with the grapeseed oil and heat until it is very hot and shimmery. Salt and pepper one side of the salmon and place in the hot skillet with the seasoned side down. Leave them there for two minutes without touching them, then carefully flip them over. You’re trying to sear them here, not cook them through, so use your freaking head and if two minutes doesn’t seem right for your fillet, then adjust the timing. After two minutes on the flip side, remove them to a tray or platter and chill in the fridge. You can actually sear these in advance and keep them in the fridge for up to a day, if necessary. But you don’t want anything to be hot when you’re working with the puff pastry, as it will start to melt the butter contained within and screw things up, so while these don’t need to be cold when you assemble the dish, it’s important to put a chill into them.

While they’re chilling, make the duxelles: Wipe the mushroom caps clean with a paper towel, then trim the stems and slice each in half. Put them in a food processor and process until they’re finely minced, almost to a paste. Using a rubber spatula, place them in a clean dish towel, twist off the top and squeeze until they’re no longer giving up much moisture. Place the drained mushrooms in bowl and mince up the rest of your ingredients.

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. I like to use a non-stick for this. When it is melted and foamy, add the mushrooms, shallot, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook until they have given up all their liquid and the shallots are soft, stirring frequently, about 5-7 minutes. Add the alcohol and thyme and turn the heat to high; cook until the liquid is entirely absorbed and the alcohol has evaporated, about another 3-5 minutes. Add the cream and stir to incorporate, cook another 2 minutes, then remove from the heat and cool Place in the fridge and cool for about 15 minutes. Again, they don’t need to be cold but they shouldn’t be piping.

Next: time to assemble the dish. Cut the puff pastry into two rectangles that are two inches wider and four inches longer than your pieces of salmon. Then cut two-inch squares out of each corner, so that you’ve got two tabs on the long side. Save your extra pieces. Spread a layer of duxelles on the puff pastry, in the same size and shape as your piece of salmon. Add a thin layer – say 3 leaves thick – of baby spinach. Then place the piece of salmon, seasoned side down on top of the spinach. Fold the tabs over and seal up your piece (you’ve been looking at the bottom) so the seams are out of sight. You’ll have to play with it a bit, but in the end, you do want it fully sealed, so any juices that are released as it bakes will remain in that delicious packet. You also want the puff to be of even thickness on all sides, not doubled or tripled up in places, since this will result in uneven cooking. So feel free to cut away whatever you don’t need. Finally, it’s pretty malleable and easy to work with, you want to play with this at the bare minimum since the more you knead it and the longer you leave it out of the fridge, the warmer it gets and the more the butter inside melts. You want the many layers of butter and flour to remain in tact until it starts cooking for the maximum effect; if you really work it, the butter will start to melt and you won’t have layers any more. This is a concept more readily taken to heart by the cook who has made his or her own puff, since they went to so much trouble to keep it cold throughout the process.

Once the packet is sealed up, you can flip it over so it’s right side up. You can cut out little shapes from your excess puff, like stars or oak leaves or simply circles, whatever – if you have tiny cookie cutter type molds, this is preferable, since it’s hard to cut detailed shapes – and play three or four on top of the salmon packet. They’ll puff up and look quite attractive once cooked.

Beat the egg in a bowl, adding a tsp or water or so to thin it out slightly. Then brush each packet with the egg wash. Place on a sheet pan and slide it into the oven…cook for 7 minutes only! Then let stand for 30 seconds before slicing on a bias right in the middle, then serving immediately. You’ve got a real winner on your hands here, unless you fucked something up, so don’t waste time messing around with anything else – make sure your guest is seated and ready to eat while it’s still in the oven. I rarely say this, but if you enjoy this with a chardonnay, you won’t be disappointed in the chardonnay.