Recipe Archives->Fish->Salmon Lettuce

Salmon in Lettuce Chemise
Serves 4 to 6

2 cups nonfat yogurt
6 minced garlic cloves
1 minced shallot
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
2 tsp soy sauce
1" fresh ginger root, minced

1 to 2 lbs salmon fillets
4 to 5 shallots
2 to 3 cloves garlic
2 heads romaine lettuce
1 tsp butter
24 chives, plus extra for mistakes
1 cup dry white wine
2 Tbsp creme fraiche
2 Tbsp butter
salt and pepper to taste
snipped chives (all of the discards, snipped in 1/4" lengths)

For marinade, combine in a food processor the yogurt, garlic,
shallot, sesame oil, soy and ginger.

Cut 1 to 2 lbs fresh salmon fillets into  12 small serving size
pieces, add to marinade, and marinate, covered at room temperature
for 2 hours.

Blanch leaves from 2 heads romaine in lightly salted boiling water
for 90 seconds, drain in colander, run cold water over to chill,
and drain leaves individually on paper towels.  (You will need
about 36 leaves).

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Butter a large oven-safe skillet or 13" by 9" baking pan.  Mince
4-5 shallots and 2-3 cloves garlic.  Scatter minced shallot and
garlic over bottom of buttered baking pan.

Tie two chives together to make a long chive string.  Repeat with
remaining chives until you have as many chive strings as pieces of
salmon.

On a cutting board, arrange three blanched romaine leaves so that
they overlap in the center.  Put a marinated salmon piece in the
middle of the leaves, and fold the leaves over the fillet to form
a bundle.  Tie the bundle with a chive string, and put the tied
bindle in the baking pan.  Repeat with remaining 11 fillet pieces.
Discard marinade.  Salt and pepper the bundles, pour the wine over
the top, and put the pan in the pre-heated oven for 20 minutes.

Remove baking pan from oven, turn oven off.  With a spatula or
pancake turner, remove the salmon bundles to a heatproof pan or
plate and replace in turned-off oven to keep warm.  Pour liquid
from baking pan into a small sauce pan, and bring to a boil.  If
the pan or plate in the oven accumulates more liquid, pour it off
into the sauce pan.  Reduce the liquid to 1/2 cup.  Stir in creme
fraiche.  Just before serving, cut 2 Tbsp butter into pieces and
whisk into sauce.  Whisk in snipped chives.  Serve salmon bundles
napped lightly with sauce.

Printable version: salmon-lettuce.txt.