No Crutches, No Excuses - King Salmon with Chef Ben

by cobb, July 2, 2009 | Permalink

What better way to celebrate the height of Salmon Season than with night of cooking with Chef Ben? This month, Ben decided to present us with King Salmon in a Beurre Blanc sauce and a Potato Torte, both with rendered Dry Aged Chorizo.

Prepared ahead of time, the Torte was simply thinly sliced red potatoes with olive oil, goat cheese (one 4 oz log provides enough flavor for the whole dish pictured!), and fat from the chorizo, rendered out by cooking the sausage slowly in a pan that you start cold. Ben sauteed these together, then transferred the whole pan to an oven, baking for about 12-15 minutes before serving.

This isn’t to say there wasn’t a show! Ben demonstrated the creation of a simple Beurre Blanc sauce, using butter, Biokult’s Grüner Veltliner (one of our Top 10 Summer Wines), Fresh Thyme, Cream, a single wedge’s worth of lemon juice, the rendered, diced Chorizo and one of Chef Ben’s favorites, diced Shallots. Served with simply seasoned Salmon (again, just salt and pepper), it provided a great deal of flavor without overpowering the complexity of the fish.

If Chef Ben would have us learn one thing from this class, it would be to avoid overcompensating with uneccesary flavors. Even with a basic set of ingredients, you can create a vast array of flavors. Ben’s next challenge? Some of our classes’ regular attendees have requested Monkfish or something to pair with Red Cabbage, but we’ll just have to wait and find out. We’ll see you in a month!