Showing posts with label Blue Bloods. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blue Bloods. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Mustard Seed-Crusted Salmon with Mustard Cream Sauce



When you are knee deep into a “Blue Bloods” marathon in honor of Tom Selleck's 71st birthday (Although, really any excuse to stare at Tom Selleck works for me, and doesn't he look fabulous for seventy one?) there is no time to labor over a lengthy recipe in the kitchen. A piece of wild salmon was calling my name from the fridge, so a quick rifling through our assembled book of favorite salmon recipes yielded this one from an old issue of Gourmet magazine from 2004. I had no fresh tarragon on hand, so subbed a teaspoon of dried, and paired this dish with a side of Melissa's Roasted Dutch Yellow Potatoes (where all of the work is virtually done), and leftover fresh green beans from the night before. What a wonderful meal in such a short amount of time!

Mustard Seed-Crusted Salmon
with Mustard Cream Sauce

1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup chopped shallots
3 tablespoons yellow mustard seeds, divided
3/4 cup heavy cream
5 tablespoons whole grain Dijon mustard, divided
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon
4 6-ounce skinless salmon fillets
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Boil wine, shallots, and 1 tablespoon mustard seeds in heavy small saucepan until mixture is reduced to 1/2 cup, about 4 minutes. Whisk in cream, 2 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, and tarragon. Boil until thickened to sauce consistency, about 3 minutes (more or less, depending upon how thick you want your sauce). Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Remove from heat; cover.

Brush salmon on both sides with remaining 2 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, and sprinkle (again, both sides) with remaining 2 tablespoons mustard seeds, salt, and pepper. Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add salmon and cook just until opaque in center, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer to platter. Spoon mustard sauce over salmon.


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Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Sidecar



Do any of you watch “Blue Bloods?” I love that show. And before you get any ideas, it is not because I was such a huge “Magnum, P.I.” fan and I watch it exclusively to look at Tom Selleck. Well, it's not entirely like that. Anyway, the other day I was watching an old episode called “Manhattan Queens” where Danny (Donnie Wahlberg, who also directed) investigates the murder of a drag queen named Tiffany Lamp.  Tiffany, it seemed, liked her cocktails and drank, exclusively, Sidecars.

While I had heard the name, I really wasn't familiar with the Sidecar, so I did a little investigating. The Ritz Hotel in Paris claims origin of the drink, with the first recipes appearing in 1922. (Can you imagine what Paris was like in 1922? Ooh, la la!) It sounded très chic, so I had to give it a try and use one of my vintage cocktail glasses, because I was feeling extra fancy, and I felt oh, so sophisticated when I drank it. It's boozy, but boy is it good. I'm going to have to work on coming up with some pretty fancy appetizers, excuse me, canapés, to enjoy with this one.

Bottoms up!

Sidecar
Serves 1

1 ounce freshly squeezed Meyer lemon Juice*
1 ounce triple sec
2 ounces Cognac or brandy
Sugar
Maraschino cherry

After squeezing the lemon, rub the lemon over the rim of the cocktail glass and dip it into sugar to coat; chill glass.

In a cocktail shaker** with ice pour lemon juice, triple sec, and brandy. Cap off and shake well.  Strain into chilled sugar-rimmed glass.  Drop a cherry into the bottom and serve.

*Please use organic fruit in all of your recipes.  I recommend Melissa’s Organic Meyer Lemons.

**If you don’t happen to have a cocktail shaker, or, like me, you have one, but have no clue as to its location, a Mason jar works just fine.


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