Best Seared Salmon With Creamy Leek Sauce Recipes

CREAMY SALMON AND LEEK PASTA

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until cooked through but firm to the bite, about 12 minutes. Drain and return to the pot.
• Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir leek in butter until slightly softened, 6 to 7 minutes; season with salt. Pour white wine and lemon juice over the leeks, and bring to a boil while scraping any browned bits of food from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Simmer until most of the liquid evaporates, about 5 minutes.
• Stir creme fraiche, mustard, and 1 pinch cayenne pepper into the leek mixture. Reduce heat to low and let cook until warmed, about 5 minutes. Add salmon to sauce; cook and stir until salmon starts to flake and is no longer pink in the center, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove pan from heat and stir in cilantro. Pour sauce over spaghetti; toss to coat. Garnish with a pinch of cayenne pepper.

SALMON OVER CREAMED LEEKS WITH APPLE BUTTER SAUCE

Steps:

• For the apple butter sauce: Melt butter in a saute pan and add apples, cooking over medium heat for a few minutes until they begin to soften. Add apple juice, orange juice and rice wine vinegar, cover and allow the apples to cook until very soft. Then uncover and allow liquid to reduce to about 1/3 of what you started with. Puree in a blender or food processor. Create a slurry by gradually whisking cornstarch into about 1/4 cup water and blend the slurry into the sauce. Return the sauce to the pot and allow to cook for a few minutes to thicken. Season with salt, if needed.
• Begin the creamed leeks while the apples are cooking.
• Heat the olive oil and butter in a medium saute pan over medium heat and saute onion until translucent. Deglaze the pan with wine and reduce until the liquid is almost all gone. (While you are waiting for the wine to reduce, start cooking the leeks.) Cook the leeks in simmering water until tender. Drain and set aside. When the wine has mostly evaporated, stir in the cream, season with salt and pepper, and lower heat to a simmer to allow to reduce and thicken. Strain this sauce and pour over the leeks and set aside briefly in a warm place.
• For the fish: Season the salmon fillets with coarse sea salt and both peppers. Place a little oil into the saute pan and bring to smoking point (you need a hot pan in order to get a crispy outside). Cook the salmon, skin side down leaving undisturbed (no peeking) for about 5 minutes, or until the skin begins to get crispy, then turn and begin cooking for 4 minutes more. This allows the surface of the fish to "caramelize." (You may need more time on the salmon depending on the thickness). You can, if you wish, finish the salmon in a preheated 350 degree F oven. However, DO NOT OVERCOOK THE SALMON. Once you touch the flesh and it springs back up, it's cooked. Remember, because of carryover cooking, the fish will continue to cook after it is removed from the oven.
• Reheat the apple butter sauce if necessary. Place 4 lengths of the creamed leeks on one side the serving plate, with a salmon fillet on the other. Spoon apple butter sauce on the fish and garnish with lemon thyme.
• For the apple butter sauce: Melt butter in a saute pan and add apples, cooking over medium heat for a few minutes until they begin to soften. Add apple juice, orange juice and rice wine vinegar, cover and allow the apples to cook until very soft. Then uncover and allow liquid to reduce to about 1/3 of what you started with. Puree in a blender or food processor. Create a slurry by gradually whisking cornstarch into about 1/4 cup water and blend the slurry into the sauce. Return the sauce to the pot and allow to cook for a few minutes to thicken. Season with salt, if needed.
• Begin the creamed leeks while the apples are cooking.
• Heat the olive oil and butter in a medium saute pan over medium heat and saute onion until translucent. Deglaze the pan with wine and reduce until the liquid is almost all gone. (While you are waiting for the wine to reduce, start cooking the leeks.) Cook the leeks in simmering water until tender. Drain and set aside. When the wine has mostly evaporated, stir in the cream, season with salt and pepper, and lower heat to a simmer to allow to reduce and thicken. Strain this sauce and pour over the leeks and set aside briefly in a warm place.
• For the fish: Season the salmon fillets with coarse sea salt and both peppers. Place a little oil into the saute pan and bring to smoking point (you need a hot pan in order to get a crispy outside). Cook the salmon, skin side down leaving undisturbed (no peeking) for about 5 minutes, or until the skin begins to get crispy, then turn and begin cooking for 4 minutes more. This allows the surface of the fish to "caramelize." (You may need more time on the salmon depending on the thickness). You can, if you wish, finish the salmon in a preheated 350 degree F oven. However, DO NOT OVERCOOK THE SALMON. Once you touch the flesh and it springs back up, it's cooked. Remember, because of carryover cooking, the fish will continue to cook after it is removed from the oven.
• Reheat the apple butter sauce if necessary. Place 4 lengths of the creamed leeks on one side the serving plate, with a salmon fillet on the other. Spoon apple butter sauce on the fish and garnish with lemon thyme.

SALMON WITH TARRAGON-LEEK SAUCE

Steps:

• Melt 4 tablespoons butter in large skillet over medium-low heat. Add leeks and sauté until soft and transparent, about 15 minutes. Add vermouth and boil over high heat until liquid is reduced to 2 tablespoons, about 5 minutes. Add cream and boil until thickened to sauce consistency, about 2 minutes. Stir in 1/4 cup parsley and tarragon. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from heat, cover to keep warm.
• Sprinkle salmon with salt and pepper. Dust salmon lightly with flour. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in each of 2 non-stick skillets over medium-high heat. Add 4 salmon fillets to each skillet and cook until opaque in center, about 3 minutes per side.
• Transfer salmon to plates. Spoon sauce over salmon. Sprinkle with additional parsley and serve.

ROASTED SALMON WITH CREAMED LEEKS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Place the veal and tomato paste into a deep, oven-proof stock pot. Drizzle with 1/4 cup of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place in the oven to roast for 30 minutes. Add the rutabaga, carrots, celery, onion, and 3 sprigs of the thyme to the pan. Continue to roast for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and place over a medium flame. Pour in the wine and enough water to cover by 3 inches. Let simmer for 1 1/2 hours, skim any impurities that rise to the surface.
• When reduced by half, remove and strain through a fine sieve. Discard the solids and keep the sauce warm. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.
• Meanwhile, heat the butter and 1/4 cup of the olive oil together in a large saute pan over a low flame. Add the leeks and 2 sprigs thyme to the pan and let soften for 5 minutes. Add the cream to the leeks and continue to cook until thick, about 10 more minutes. Stir occasionally. Season with salt and pepper and set aside to cool.
• Use a sharp knife to split the fish open like a book, making a slice in the salmon fillet lengthwise from collar to tail about halfway between the skin and the bottom, being careful not to slice completely through the opposite side. Open the salmon like a book with the skin side down on the cutting board. Season the inside and outside of the fish with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and begin stuffing the salmon. Spread the leek mixture evenly over the fish. Then begin rolling the flesh side in towards the skin side like a jellyroll. The salmon should roll up until the skin covers the outside of the fish again. Secure with kitchen string in several places and coat the skin with extra virgin olive oil.
• Drizzle the remaining olive oil into a large roasting pan and heat over a medium-high flame. Place the salmon in the pan and sear the skin until crispy on all sides, rolling several times in the pan. Carefully place the roasting pan in the oven and roast for five minutes. Slice into 2-inch pinwheels.
• While the fish is roasting, start the mushrooms. Pour the remaining olive oil into a large saute pan over a medium flame. Add the shallots, remaining sprig of thyme, and mushrooms. Let the mushrooms cook for 10 minutes, until they release their moisture. Stir often and let the moisture evaporate. Add 3/4 cup of the sauce. Let simmer until the mushrooms absorb the sauce and then season with salt and pepper. Serve the mushrooms with a pinwheel of salmon and additional sauce.