It’s been a big week full of exciting events here.
Last Tuesday, Jason had his last day of work at the company he’s been with for 8 years. To celebrate, we packed the week full of fun events with friends, most of which involved food. Monday we headed over to Forequarter, Wednesday we ate breakfast for dinner at a friends while watching Game of Thrones, and Friday we celebrated the end of an era at Tempest. The days in between we spent cooking at home and drinking wine, thinking of what life will be like now that Jason won’t have to travel for work all the time.
Ironically, his first week on the job is traveling (he’s in New York) but this is a one time thing for training. So let’s just pretend it’s not the case.
Anyways, to celebrate on Tuesday I made this roasted trout beurre blanc with lentils recipe that I’ve been eyeing up in Bon Appetit since I saw it in December. Just reading the ingredient list made my mouth water, so I knew it was meant to be.
My experience with french sauces is not extensive, and this beurre blanc sauce didn’t emulsify as I know it should have, but the show must go on. Even though it wasn’t as thick and creamy as it was intended, the butter and shallot wine reduction obviously added the right flavor to the fish and lentils.
There were no complaints. In fact, Jason was annoyed that I even brought up the fact that something went wrong. He didn’t notice. My bad.
To new jobs, new sauces, and whatever else comes our way!
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 1 celery stalk, chopped
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 cup French green lentils, dry
- 2-3 cups chicken broth
- kosher salt and pepper to taste
- 1 small shallot, sliced thin
- 1 garlic clove, sliced thin
- 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
- 1 bay leaf
- 6 black peppercorns
- 1 cup dry white wine
- ½ cup unseasoned rice vinegar
- ½ cup unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1½ lb skin on trout
- kosher salt and pepper
- Heat olive oil in a large saucepan. Add carrots, celery, onion, and garlic and cook until vegetables soften.
- Stir in lentils and coat with oil. Add chicken stock to cover by about 1 inch. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 25-35 minutes, until lentils are soft.
- Season with salt and pepper. Set aside but keep warm.
- In a small saucepan, bring shallots, garlic, fennel seed, bay leaf, peppercorn, white wine, and rice vinegar to a boil and cook until reduced by half, about 15 minutes. Strain through a fine mesh sieve and discard solids.
- Pour liquid back into saucepan and put onto very low heat. Whisk in butter, a couple cubes at a time, until butter is melted and sauce is emulsified. Whisk in rosemary and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Season fish with salt and pepper and place skin side down onto pan. Cook until skin gets nice and crispy, about 4 minutes. Flip trout and cook for another 2-4 minutes, depending on the thickness.
- Place trout on top of lentil mixture and top with beurre blanc.
Recipe adapted from December 2013’s Bon Appetit.
[…] of variations. Once you’ve mastered béchamel and mornay, you can move on to sauces like beurre blancs, which take a little more skill. Although you’ll spend some energy whisking together the […]
writes Cauliflower Gratin with Mornay Sauce - Things I Made Today2steamed
writes 1stipulation