Salmon with beurre blanc is is an easy recipe that is sure to impress. All you need to do is sear a salmon fillet and make a beurre blanc sauce. Don’t worry, it is surprisingly easy. Beurre Blanc is a butter sauce that goes great with seafood. If you have just a few basic ingredients you can make this delightful dish.
You can also make this with a sorrel sauce if you want something a little more funky!
I usually buy salmon by the side so I can do plenty of different recipes. Yesterday I posted my soft scrambled eggs with salmon and that uses the same fish slab as this recipe. This means more work in trimming fillets, but also a cheaper price. For this recipe I cut off the thin, fatty part, leaving the thicker side so the fish will cook more evenly.
I cook the salmon so it is still just barely raw in the center. I don’t know what this method is, but I got a salmon like this in a French restaurant and fell in love with the par-cooked style. To do this I cook the fish in butter on medium low heat, and searing all four sides. You have to be careful when turning or flipping the fish, but other than than it isn’t that difficult. I just do about 1 minute a side. If you want the salmon fully cooked you can choose to do that to, like in my Honey Dijon Salmon recipe, or my Lemon Garlic Seared Salmon.
The Beurre Blanc recipe I use is the standard James Beard version. I think this is my favorite way of making it, however I have made one small adjustment. I triple the amount of shallot used. Other than that the method is the same. Boil your finely chopped shallots in a white wine and vinegar liquid until very reduced.
Move the mixture to a bowl on a double boiler and slowly start adding pieces of cold butter. Whisking the butter as it melts into the sauce. You do use a ton of butter for this recipe, but that’s what makes it delicious. The original recipe calls for near 350 grams of butter, but I only use 250 since I am only making enough for 4 people instead of 6. Once all the butter is whisked in, your beurre blanc sauce should look something like the picture above. I do season it at the end with a pinch of salt and some freshly cracked black pepper.
The salmon and sauce should be made at the same time, so it is a bit tricky timing everything. However the salmon cooks slowly and can rest for a bit once it is done if you still need time to work on the sauce. I serve this seared salmon with beurre blanc with a side salad of fresh veggies tossed in some olive oil and a pinch of salt.
Salmon With Beurre Blanc
Equipment
- Pan
- Double Boiler (optional)
Ingredients
- 1 kg Salmon A slab to be filleted
- 250 grams Butter cut into small cubes
- 2 Shallots finely chopped
- 1/4 cup White Wine
- 1/4 cup Vinegar
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper freshly cracked
Instructions
- Cut the slab of salmon into four fillets. Use tweezers to remove all of the bones and a thin knife to remove the skin. Normally I like leaving the skin on, but for this recipe it is better with the skin off.
- In another pan add the shallots, white wine, and vinegar and bring to a boil. Let reduce until only a tbsp remains. While you are waiting for it to reduce you can start to sear the salmon.
- In a pan on medium low heat add a tbsp of butter and when melted add the fillets of fish. flip the fish every minute until all four sides are lightly seared.
- Once the sauce mixture has reduced you can move everything to a double boiler. Slowly add the cubes of cold butter and whisk it in until a sauce forms. Alternatively you can do it all in the pan. Turn the heat off and add the butter, constantly whisking so the heat doesn't split the sauce. The pan method is more traditional, but also more difficult so if you are a novice the double boiler is easier. Season the sauce with salt and pepper.
- Plate the salmon and spoon over a good amount of beurre blanc sauce.
