Oven Dried Tomatoes

I have a lot of cookbooks. By some measures too many but compared to others really not that much. If a book adds one or two recipes to my rotation that everyone loves in my family then it has done it’s job. Better books add more to the mix like a new technique, ingredient or some tips and tricks. A select few books might not add anything to my general knowledge but are a lot of fun to read or flip through. Any book that does not have any of the above is quickly returned to the bookstore or sold at Half-Price Books. Honestly, I rarely encounter any of that last type because I do a bit of research into what I buy.

Heston Blumenthal at Home is a book that combines many of the criteria above. It is modern, but rooted in many classics (Shrimp Cocktail, liver parfait, chilli con carne). The recipes for the most part are refined but not daunting and are hallmarks of Blumenthal’s perfect technique. More importantly, every chapter opens with a concise and simple to understand introduction of each topic (Sous vide cooking, Frozen desserts). If you ever wanted to know how to make exceptionally smooth ice cream and sorbet using dry ice (and a KitchenAid mixer) then this is the book for you. The reason I decided to post about the book though is that it added at least two awesome recipes to my family rotation and this salmon is one of them – chicken braised with sherry and cream is the other one.  I credit this recipe with opening my two boys’ eyes to how delicious well-prepared salmon can be. Now, when they say they want salmon for dinner they mean Mr. Blumenthal’s recipe, but also they actually order salmon when we are eating out now. I could not ask for more.

The actual original recipe, as Blumenthal mentions in the intro to the sauce, belongs to Michel Roux a very well-respected Michelin starred chef. Roux’s son and nephew are also high caliber chefs by the way. Anyways, the recipe in the book has three components; salmon cooked sous vide and crisped, smashed potatoes and the lovely sauce. The fish is bagged with the skin on along with a bit of olive oil and cooked in a water bath at 50 C for about 20 minutes. Before serving, the skin side is patted dry and crisped in a pan. The fish is meltingly tender and the skin becomes nicely crisp and brittle. If you skip the crisping step the skin really has to be removed since it is kind of flabby and not pleasant right out of the plastic cooking pouch.

The crushed potatoes are just boiled yukon gold potatoes that are sqaushed with a fork or large spoon. Then a mixture of sauteed shallots, whole grain mustard, olive oil and herbs (tarragon, parsley, chives) are mixed in. The potatoes are delicious and have an excellent texture. The Bois Boudran sauce is an interesting one. At first I was a bit skeptical with the ingredient list: Ketchup (yeap, plain old ketchup), olive oil, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, shallots, tarragon, parsley, Tabasco sauce,… Served with the fish and potatoes though the sauce is damn tasty. It has the sour, sweet, spicy flavors working in harmony along with a nice crunchy texture from a load of shallots that are briefly blanched in boiling water to take the edge from them.

Usually, I simply serve the plate as is with sauce, potatoes and fish but once in a while if I have some time I might add a salad or maybe a bit more elaborate side. This one is carrots cooked with butter and carrot juice based on a recipe from Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc at Home. As for the brilliant green sauce it’s made from green carrot tops courtesy of Michel Richard’s Happy in The Kitchen book. The leafy carrot tops that are normally discarded have a ton of flavor. I just blanch them in boiling water and shock them in ice water. Then they are pureed with some water or stock and butter is added along with some lemon juice and salt. After straining it was a bit loose, so I thickened it with a little Ultratex-3. The sauce has a brilliant flavor and of course it works great with those carrots. Really give it a shot next time you buy carrots with the greens still on.