Seared Salmon with Lobster Cream Sauce

For my first blog entry I’m pulling out all the stops.  Fish with lobster on top of it, what could be better?

If you don’t like lobster you better check your pulse.  Being from New England my family got lobsters only on special occasions, which I really looked forward to.  There was six of us, the prices were sky high so as you can imagine we didn’t eat it too often.  These days with conservation practices lobsters are affordable.  At my local supermarket it was seven bucks a pound, not bad.  Which isn’t the cheapest item in the joint but accessible to the everyday person.

The night before I made this recipe I cooked up two 1 ½ lb lobsters and ate everything but the leg meat.  After dinner I made a very simple lobster stock with the liquid used to boil the bugs.  To make stock clean the cavity, reserve meat from the knuckles/legs (to learn how watch at 3:46 http://youtu.be/vtcWICVvoyk ) and simmer in water for 30-40 minutes.  Of course you can throw in veg, herbs, wine and fancy it up but I like simplicity.  In this humble home chefs opinion putting vegetables that could be eaten into a stock is a waste of food.  Though, I’m not against adding the discarded veg parts; ie. skins, stems, peels and other items that may ordinarily end up in the garbage.  I try to keep a bag of that in the freezer but truth be told I forget to, a lot.  After I made the stock I transferred it to ice trays for later use.  After it freezes, break up the cubes and place in a labeled zip top bag.  There is lobster stock in this recipe but it can be used for many things such as: soup, pasta, seafood gravy, gumbo, rice and lots more.

This recipe is for one

1 ½ tablespoons of canola oil

1 portion of Salmon ½ lb from the thick end not the tail

1 teaspoon Butter

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon dry white wine

2 ice cubes of lobster stock (seafood stock or chicken stock will do in a pinch)

2 table spoons heavy cream

1 teaspoon Fresh Thyme

leg meat from 2 small lobsters (if you don’t have lobster you can sub out crab, diced scallop or shrimp)

1 Portion of linguini or spaghetti

Salt and pepper to taste

Fermented habanero peppers (red pepper flake, any hot pepper or ground cayenne is fine)this is optional it doesn’t have to be spicy but most everything I make I toss some of this in

Sprinkle fish with a pinch of salt.  Heat a stainless steel pan on high heat with canola oil till almost smoking and put salmon in flesh side down.

At the same time put a large pot of salted water (should taste like the ocean) to boil, use a cover to speed up the time.  You should see a crust start to form from underneath the fish, let it cook for a 3 or 4 minutes.  If you can try to sear the fish on all sides.

If you are cooking a large piece don’t worry about that step.  Using a metal fish spatula flip fish to skin side and cook for 3 or 4 minutes.

Take salmon out of pan and wrap in foil while you make the sauce and pasta.

As you make the sauce put the pasta in the water.  By the time the pasta is done the sauce should be done.  Place butter in pan on medium heat and melt, do not brown.  After butter melts put garlic in the pan, cook till fragrant, 30 seconds.  Next put in lobster stock and reduce by half.  Then put the wine in and reduce that by half.  Same deal goes for the heavy cream put it in after the wine and reduce by half.  At this point a sauce should be forming.  Place the lobster, thyme and hot pepper in.  Stir.  Now check the salmon and see if it is cooked.  You can peek inside to see if it’s cooked, I won’t tell.  If the fish is not cooked put it back in the pan skin side down and baste with the sauce.  Your goal is for the fish not to be cooked so you can baste.  Tilt the pan to the side and with a metal utensil spoon over the fish.  Drain pasta, put it on a plate, fish goes on top of that and the sauce with the lobster over it.  Enjoy.