Friday, June 11, 2010

We break from France and cook in our own kitchen

We love watching the cooking shows on PBS. A very favorite is "Secrets of a Chef: Hubert Keller." He is a delightful, talented man who was born in the Alsace region of France. He also owns 6 restaurants including three "Burger Bars" in Las Vegas, St. Louis and San Francisco.

Not planning a visit to any of those 3 cities in the near future, we decided to prepare his "Double Salmon Tartare Burgers" at home. We enjoyed them very much along with a fresh green salad and several shrimp sauteed in butter and garlic. We also had the tartar sauce, but did not make the green apple relish or place the burgers on rolls. Nevertheless,
the salmon burgers were amazing and worth a try.


Double Salmon Tartare Burgers
Tartare Dressing
4 large egg yolks, pasteurized
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 teaspoons hot sauce
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Mix all in a food processor except for the olive oil, Add it slowly, drop by drop, pulsing until thickened. (I will admit, we simply added some mayonnaise to the other ingredients and eliminated the need to make the homemade mayo. For the small amount we needed, it still tasted wonderful.)
Burgers
14 ounces skinless salmon fillet, chilled
6 ounces smoked salmon, chilled
1 medium shallot, finely chopped
1 heaping tablespoon capers, drained and roughly chopped
1 heaping tablespoon finely chopped cornichons
2 teaspoons finely chopped tarragon
1 tablespoon finely chopped flat leaf parsley
2 tablespoons of the above tartare dressing
salt and freshly ground pepper
In a food processor, put the shallot, capers, cornichons, tarragon and parsley in the work bowl and process until finely chopped. Cut the fish in 1 inch cubes, add them to the work bowl and chop with quick pulses, scraping down the sides as necessary. Stop when you still have texture. Pulse in 2 tablespoons tartare dressing and pepper to taste.
Divide into 4 equal portions and shape into patties 1 inch thick. Refrigerate to let the flavors develop.
Heat olive oil in a large heavy skillet until very hot. Cook until golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes total.

And the perfect wine for this meal was a Konrad 2008 . It was a very typical New Zealand sauvignon blanc wine with lovely grapefruit flavors, very well-balanced, not too dry, not too sweet.

14 comments:

  1. I'd be happy dining in your stateside kitchen! I'll have a glass of that wine while I watch you prepare dinner!

    Have a delicious weekend!

    Best,
    Bonnie

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  2. I clapping my hands in delight at this wonderful meal. Travel always inspires me to cook when I return home.

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  3. The salmon burgers look delish, Susan. I wondered for a minute if they would be anything like my mother's salmon loaf, but your flavors are much more complex and appealing. You've added smoked salmon as well. Great idea.I love the tartar sauce.

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  4. the tarragon was fine as we cut it down to be more subtle but I think I would try it with fresh DILL next time for a more "usual" flavor!

    we have had great tuna burgers and lamb burgers in the past that need to tried again as well as new recipes for pork (thai style) and chicken (ceasar style) before we head for Montana or we will drag the recipes with us to do out there altho the 7 Gables restuarant's "regular" burgers are hard to beat to replenish the "grease" level!!

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  5. So are you home? I've been following your trip and ya'll havebeen having a great time. All th food looks delicious!

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  6. your salmon burgers look incredible!! I might actually be able to eat salmon that way! It was a nice treat finding your blog, I enjoyed reading your post!
    Cheers

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  7. Yum! Salmon is the best and you did it perfectly! It looks delicious and I must give this a try! Thanks and have a good weekend!

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  8. Hello Dear Susan!

    Oh my those salmon burgers look so gooood!:o) I also love the cooking shows on PBS and they were a favorite of my Dear Mother, she loved them so much. Cooking shows and cookbooks, she simply adored.

    Thanks so much for the lovely recipe. Enjoy a beautiful weekend.

    Smiles...

    Beverly

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  9. Wonderful recipe. Having a blogger friend for dinner tomorrow so I have been lax in commenting. The pressure is on. You can't have a food blog without expectations. Stay tuned.

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  10. YES! Anything with salmon and I am all over it--thank you!

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  11. Delicious - and a great way to get the children to eat fish! By the way Nick has fallen in love with a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc he tasted at Vinexpo and we are hoping to get some more. They really are making good whites out there!

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  12. What beautiful burgers and I love that recipe for the sauce... will have to try it!

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  13. The salmon burgers look so good. I really must make them.

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