Thursday, December 27, 2012

Salmon with Black Current Mustard Sauce

After the rush of the holidays, it was nice to get the chance to just make a simple dinner. I made pan-seared salmon with a black current mustard sauce. To go with it, I made a spinach, apple, and walnut salad with a bacon syrup vinaigrette, and baby Yukon gold potatoes sauteed with garlic.

This gave me the opportunity to use a couple of my Christmas presents. A jar of Trader Jaque's Black Current Mustard was in my stocking, and a friend gave me a bottle of Torani Bacon Syrup. Probably not surprisingly, I got quite a lot of food swag for Christmas.

The mustard sauce was simple, just the some black current mustard, some fresh dill, and a little honey. The potatoes were par-boiled, then sauteed in olive oil with a little garlic and sea salt. The salad was fresh baby spinach, thin sliced gala apple, and walnuts, with a vinaigrette of apple cider vinegar, sesame oil, bacon syrup, cinnamon, and salt.

I was happy with the meal. I thought it was well balanced.

Recipes

Pan-seared Salmon with Black Current Mustard Sauce

2 4 oz. Salmon fillets
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. black current mustard
1 tbsp. minced fresh dill
2 tsp. honey

In a small bowl, mix together mustard, dill, and honey, set aside.

Heat olive oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Cook fillets flesh side down until lightly browned. Flip fillets, and cook until skin is crispy.

Plate fillets, spoon sauce over fish.

Bacon Syrup Vinaigrette

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp. sesame oil
2 tsp. bacon syrup
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. sea salt

Place all ingredients in a small bowl. Whisk vigorously, until well emulsified.

Happy Eating!

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Grades and Textbooks

Sorry I haven't been blogging. I've been atrociously sick, and haven't been cooking for almost three weeks. I'm feeling better, and I will be doing a lot of cooking for Christmas eve. Hopefully I'll be putting up tapas recipes soon.

I got my grades from last semester. I'm happy to report I got an A+ in my Wines of the World class. I've ordered my textbooks for both my classes in spring, and the first one had arrived. The text for the basic savory course is The Professional Chef, 9th edition. Paging through it, I am excited. Should be interesting.