Sometimes a random dinner attempt turns out perfect, and I think that yes I should indeed quit my job and open a restaurant. And of course reality sinks in and I remember that I don’t like working those hours, or customers in general. What I’d really like is to own a private supper club and compare notes with like-minded foodie individuals while mutually experimenting – oh, and to deny entry to any boomer clientele (the in-laws can come if they promise to behave). And to have enough personal capital that running such a money-hemorrhaging fantasy wouldn’t matter.
In the meantime, I’ll just have to keep my gustatory glory at home and keep my day job. Oh well. So here’s my recipe:
Top sauce:
- Lemon juice
- Mayo
- Honey
- Salt
- MSG
- White pepper
- Mustard powder
Bottom sauce:
- Browned butter
- Salted butter
Procedure:
- Whisk the top sauce ingredients until smooth and creamy.
- Melt the bottom sauce in a steel pan.
- Place the salmon (de-skinned) on the bottom sauce on medium heat.
- Flip the salmon every 1-2 minutes and shake gently to coat, until the internal temperature reads 115 (see prior posts on freezing salmon properly to avoid parasites). Remove salmon and set aside.
- Spoon the bottom sauce onto plate.
- Place salmon on plate.
- Spoon top sauce onto salmon. Top with ground black pepper.
I garnished with a pomelo, of all things, because I had one on hand that needed to be used up, but I think some mandarin oranges would also work – a sweet/sour citrus to balance the heaviness of the bottom sauce and mingle with the top sauce.
And speaking of balance – the sweet/savory combination with the mild but noticeable spice choice worked just about perfect. So perfect, that Liz said this should be a restaurant menu item. I’ll keep that under advisement while I build out such a menu for the above fantasy supper club. You aren’t invited.
But enjoy the recipe.
–Simon