Braised Whole Fillet of Salmon (Julia Child)

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Title: Braised Whole Fillet of Salmon (Julia Child)
Categories: Seafood, Ceideburg 2
Yield: 1 servings

1 Large carrot and onion cut
-into neat 1/4-inch dice
2 Or 3 tender celery stalks,
-neatly diced
2 tb Unsalted butter

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Salt
Freshly ground pepper
And dried tarragon
2 lb Skinless fillet of salmon
-about 1/2 inch thick
1 1/2 c Dry white French vermouth

MASTER RECIPE Braised Whole Fillet of Salmon in Wine and Aromatic
Vegetables

For 6 to 8 servings:

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT SUGGESTED:

A no-stick frying pan for the diced vegetables; tweezers or pliers to
remove bones; a lightly buttered baking dish that will just hold the
fish comfortably (or an ovenproof baking and serving platter, or,
lacking either, cut the fish in half crosswise, and reassemble it
after cooking- the vegetables will mask the surgery); buttered wax
paper to cover fish.

THE AROMATIC VEGETABLES:

Cook the diced vegetables slowly in the butter until quite tender but
not browned- about 10 minutes. Season lightly with salt, pepper, and
a big pinch of dried tarragon.

PREPARING THE FISH:

Go over the salmon carefully with your fingers to detect any little
bones; pull them out with tweezers or pliers. Score the skin side of
the fish. Dust with salt and pepper, and place best side up in the
baking dish.

ASSEMBLING:

Spread the cooked diced vegetables over the fish, and pour 1/2 inch of
vermouth around it. Cover the fish with the wax paper, buttered side
down.

*Ahead-of-time note:

May be assembled an hour or more ahead to this point; cover and
refrigerate.

BAKING: 12 to 15 minutes at 350F:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Set the fish in the lower middle level,
and, when beginning to bubble lightly, baste the surface with the
liquid in the dish, basting several times again until the flesh feels
lightly springy to the touch.

Remove from the oven, and, holding the fish in place with a pot cover,
drain the cooking juices into a saucepan. Slide the fish onto a hot
platter; cover and keep warm while making the sauce.

VARIATIONS:

AU NATURAL: Braised Salmon Served in Its Own Juices:

Rapidly boil down the cooking juices in the saucepan until almost
syrupy. Pour them over the fish and vegetables, and serve.

AROMATIC WHITE BUTTER SAUCE:

The usual and lovely butter sauce of modern cookery can be as rich and
buttery as you wish-from 3 or 4 tablespoons to half a pound. Using
the preceding boiled-down juices as a base, proceed to beat in the
butter as in the lemon-butter sauce for the broiled fish on page 83.

WINEY CREAM SAUCE:

A reasonable and equally delectable compromise is a light veloute
sauce made with the cooking juices, then boiled down with cream, as
follows. Cook together 2 1/2 Tbs butter and 3 Tbs flour 2 minutes
without coloring; off heat whisk in the hot braising juices and 1 cup
heavy cream. Boil slowly until reduced to 1 1/2 cups; season
carefully.

(Full details for veloute sauce are on page 272.) Either serve the
fish cloaked in its vegetables and accompany with the sauce, or fold
the vegetables into the sauce and spoon over the fish.

From "The Way to Cook", Julia Child, Alfred Knopf, 1989. ISBN
0-394-53264-3

Posted by Stephen Ceideberg; August 9 1993.

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