Culinary lavender can greatly enhance Northwest salmon recipes. When seafood-lovers Constance Jackson and Xavier Le Héricy were experimenting with lavender and salmon, they asked chef (and relative) Thomas Blacklidge to whip up something wonderful featuring those ingredients. The resulting dish will entice your family and friends, and set you up for gratifying kudos on your remarkable culinary skills.
Ingredients for the fish
- 4 filets Sockeye or Coho salmon (skin-on; 6 oz each)
- 4 tbsp flour
- 1 egg
- 1 cup roasted hazelnuts
- 1 cup dried breadcrumbs
- salt
- pepper
- 2 tbsp peanut or grapeseed oil
- ½ cup white wine
Instructions for the fish
Prepare breading station: Use three flat plates, each containing one of the following: (1) 4 tbsp flour, (2) egg wash made by beating 1 egg with 2 tbsp of water, (3) roughly chopped roasted hazelnuts mixed with an equal volume of breadcrumbs.
Prepare the filets: First salt and pepper the filets. Then pass each filet through the breading station on the non-skin side only in the following order: flour – egg-wash – hazelnut/bread crumb mixture.
Cook the filets: Pre-heat oven to 400ºF. Heat the oil in a large oven-proof frying pan. Sear the filets with the breaded-side down, just until lightly browned. Gently, turn the filets over and add just enough white wine to keep the bottoms of the fish moist while baking. Finish in the oven while completing the sauce, about 4-5 minutes.
Ingredients for the sauce
- ½ cup minced shallots
- 2 cups white wine
- 1 tbsp culinary lavender buds
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- juice of 1 lemon
- 6 tbsp cold butter, diced
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions for the sauce
Cook the sauce: Place shallots, wine, lavender buds, lemon zest, and lemon juice into a saucepan. Cook over medium heat and reduce to the au sec stage (almost dry), leaving just a tiny bit of liquid. Add the diced butter a little at a time and swirl over heat or whisk it in until it emulsifies. Adjust the seasoning, and remove from heat before it breaks.
Plate and sauce: Place the finished salmon filets over grilled vegetables and brown rice. Top the filets with sauce. For a fine, smooth texture, run the sauce through a chinois strainer as you are topping the filets. Garnish with ice-curled green onion stems. Serve with a chilled Oregon pinot gris.
LAVENDER TIPS: This recipe represents a Northwest triple whammy: salmon, hazelnuts, and lavender! The warm infusion of lavender into wine and lemon juice mobilizes the essential oil into a somewhat acidic medium. Some of the aroma compounds will naturally vaporize, so you will want to make sure you’ve selected good quality buds with plenty of fragrance to start with. It doesn’t hurt to taste your reducing sauce to make sure the lavender fragrance is present before starting the addition of butter. You can always add more lavender if needed, being careful, as always, to avoid excess. The butter will facilitate retention of the lavender flavors in the sauce.
Contributed by
Thomas Blacklidge
Commissioned by Constance Jackson & Xavier Le Héricy
Edited & formatted by
Michael Lemmers
RavenCroft
