Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

In my last post I mentioned a salmon dish that I had at Fig, a French Bistro in Asheville.  I have been experimenting with it to see if I could duplicate it.  My finished dish is above. Below is the dish at Fig.

There are several steps that need to be done to get this dish on the plate and I had a few obstacles to overcome.  While I was preparing my salmon dish, violent thunderstorms were raging outside the house.  I expected that we would lose power at any second.  When you live in the mountains surrounded by trees, power outages are a regular occurrence, so my focus was a little scattered.

What makes the salmon, greens and couscous come together is the lemon, chive beurre blanc sauce.  I was not happy with the results the first time I made it, but the recipe I used this time was a winner.

You start by reducing wine, lemon juice and shallots.

When the sauce is reduced to a few tablespoons, add cold butter cubes a few at a time.  The sauce thickens to a silky consistency.  Then you add the snipped chives.

You can keep the sauce warm while you precede to the next steps.  For this dish I used red Swiss chard but you could use any of a number of greens; Rainbow chard, kale or micro-greens as was used in the dish when we had it in early Spring.   I like the stems of the red chard so I first sauteed them with some onions.

Add the washed greens and cook until  they are wilted.

I made the couscous next, but did not snap a picture of it.  When all of these components are ready you can begin your salmon.  The technique is very simple but produces great results.  Sprinkle the top of center cut salmon fillets with kosher or course sea salt.  Saute them in an iron skillet salted side down over high heat until they are golden brown.

After they are browned on one side, flip them over and place in the oven to finish cooking for a few minutes.

After that it is just a matter of assembly.  Place the couscous in a bowl, top with the sauteed greens, place the salmon on top and drizzle the beurre blanc around the edges of the bowl.

I was happy with the results.  The salmon was crusty on the top and flaky inside.  The beurre blanc was decadently delicious and we didn’t lose power until the meal was completed and the dishes were in the dishwasher.  All and all, it couldn’t have been better.

SALMON WITH SWISS CHARD AND COUSCOUS

For theLemon Chive Beurre Blanc:
1 to 2 shallots, chopped fine
1 cup white wine
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cubed
Salt and white pepper to taste
Snipped chives

Add shallots, wine and lemon juice to a saucepan and cook over high heat until it is reduced to about 1/4 cup.  Add the cream and heat until it bubbles.  Reduce the heat to low.  Add the butter a few cubes at a time and whisk on and off the heat until incorporated.  Continue with a few cubes at a time until all of the butter is added and the mixture is fully emulsified and has a creamy consistency.  Season with salt, white pepper and chives.  This will stay warm if you are using it within a 30 minute period.  Just whisk it occasionally.

For the Swiss Chard:

1 bunch of Red or Rainbow Chard
olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Wash the chard thoroughly in a sink full of cold water.  Remove the stems and chop the greens.  Using some of the stems, chop them along with the onion.  Saute stems and onion in a skillet until onion and stems are softened.  Add the drained greens and salt and pepper to taste.  Cover the skillet and cook the greens just until they are wilted.

For the Couscous:

Follow the instructions on the box or cook couscous in a pot of boiling water for about 10 minutes or until it is cooked through.  Drain and season with salt and pepper.

For the Salmon:

2 6 to 8 ounce center cut salmon fillets, skinned
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter
Kosher salt or course sea salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Sprinkle salt on top side of salmon fillets.  Heat oil and butter in a skillet over high heat.  Add salmon fillets salted side down and cook over high heat until browned and crisp.  Turn fillets over.  Place pan in oven and roast until they are just flaky, about 5 to 6 minutes.

Assembly:  This dish is best plated in large individual bowls.  Add couscous to each bowl.  Top with greens. Place salmon fillets on top of each.  Drizzle beurre blanc around the edges of the dish.  Garnish with additional chives if desired.

Printable recipe

I have been busy . . . so busy lately.  A childhood friend came for a visit.  We had a wonderful time catching up with our respective lives.  We are now in Florida visiting with our friends here.  Because our computer access is tied to our Bright House connection and we will only be here for five days, it did not seem worthwhile to establish a connection.  So David and I are at Starbucks catching up on our emails and blogs.

When I return this week I will be trying to duplicate this wonderful Salmon dish that we had at Fig, a French Bistro in Asheville.  I’ve had it twice now and was told by our Parisian waiter how it was made.  The Salmon is salt crusted on the top and flaky when cut.  The greens are varied, depending on the season.  The starch is either farro or couscous.  But what remains the same is the lemon chive beurre blanc that pulls the whole dish together.   I have made it once and although it was good, I know I can do better.  Will let you know.  I look forward to catching up with everyone soon.

I am planning a pizza party for 14 people.  That is a lot of pizzas to make.  The idea is to set out toppings on the kitchen island and let everyone choose their own.  The biggest obstacle to pulling this off is the pizza dough.  It makes such a mess and frankly I don’t think I have the space for everyone to flour boards and stretch their own.  Thanks to my Daughter-in-Law Kristen, I have come up with a solution.

I start out with Perfect Pizza Flour Blend from King Arthur Flour.  This is such an easy dough to manage when you are forming your pizzas.  It is a blend of golden durum wheat and unbleached flour with an all-natural dough conditioner and baking powder added for an extra-light crisp crust.  I make my pizza dough in my bread machine.  It is so easy.

Four cups of the pizza flour yields four dough balls for 10-inch individual pizzas.

I pull and stretch the dough on a cornmeal dusted paddle.

Now, this is what Kristen taught me that is so valuable.  Before she tops her pizza with ingredients, she brushes olive oil on the dough and sprinkles it with salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese.

The dough is placed on a pizza stone in a 475 degree oven and prebaked for about 5 minutes.

We now have a crust that will be easy to top and for me that means I can make all of the crusts ahead of time and place them in the freezer until I need them.  On the day of the party, all I have to do is defrost the crusts and assemble the topping ingredients and everyone will be able to build their own pizzas.

Of course we had to test the pizzas to see if they were good.  the two on the right have marinara sauce, mozzarella, sausage, peppers, onions and Parmesan.  The two on the left have the same ingredients, but with pesto sauce instead of the marinara.  Kristen likes to add the mozzarella after the sauce, then the other toppings, then more mozzarella and Parmesan.  She learned that from my Son, who worked in a pizza restaurant while in high school.  She also likes to finish her pizzas with a fresh note like a squeeze of lemon juice or fresh basil.  Thanks Kristen.

Pre-Baked Pizza Crust  (Using Bread Machine)

4 Cups Perfect Pizza Flour Blend from King Arthur Flour or bread flour
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast or instant yeast

Place all of the ingredients into a bread machine.  Set on dough or pizza setting.  Process until done.  On a floured board, knead dough briefly and cut into 4 pieces.  Roll each into a ball.  Cover with a cloth and let rest for about 15 minutes.

Dust a pizza paddle with cornmeal.  Stretch one of the balls into a 10-inch (approx.) circle.  Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper.

Slide pizza circle onto a pizza stone in a 475-degree oven.  Bake for about 5 minutes.  Remove to a rack.  Proceed with remainder of the dough balls.

When all of them are cooked and cooled. wrap in foil and place in plastic bags.  Freeze until needed.

Allow pizza rounds to thaw to room temperature.  Place your toppings of choice on pizza rounds and bake until browned and bubbly.

Printable recipe

I know that I have blogged about a similar recipe here.  After you have posted recipes for over 4 years you sometimes find you start repeating yourself.  But seriously, this recipe for barbecued chicken is a bit different that the previous one.

I was inspired by Kayln’s Kitchen to make a pulled chicken sandwich again.  Her recipe is very good, using low sugar ketchup, agave nectar, sriracha sauce and pineapple juice.  The only think I borrowed from her was the pineapple juice and the method of cutting the chicken breasts.  Kayln served her sandwiches with guacamole.  I served mine with coleslaw.  Either way they would be great.

I plan to double this recipe for our Labor Day weekend with family.  It will be great for lunch if I start it first thing in the morning in the crock pot.  So easy and so good.

BARBECUED CHICKEN SANDWICHES

3 to 4 boneless chicken breasts, cut in half lengthwise
1 onion cut into fourths
1 1/2 cups ketchup
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons vinegar
Tabasco sauce to taste
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Spray inside of crock pot with cooking spray.  Add chicken breasts and onion.  Mix sauce ingredients and pour over chicken.  Cook chicken on high for 1 hour.  Turn to low setting and cook an additional 2 to 3 hours.  Remove chicken from crock pot and shred with two forks.  Return to crock pot and set on warm.  Serve on heated or grilled buns with coleslaw or guacamole.

Printable recipe

Every castle has a story.  You can feel it in your bones when you explore the magnificent rooms.  The story that Chenonceau tells is one of political intrigue, great love and longing, jealousy and revenge.  Chenonceau has come to be known as “The Ladies’ Chateau”.

Built in the early 1500’s on the site of a demolished fortified castle, Chenonceau is completely surrounded by the river Cher.   It came to be known as the Ladies’ Chateau because of the women who called it home.

Diane de Poitiers was the mistress and great love of King Henry II of France.   In 1547 he gave the chateau to her and spent much time there with her entertaining members of the Court.  She had great influence over him and gave him advice about matters of State.  She was both intelligent and beautiful.  Diane was 18 years older than Henry II, but her beauty was such that it only improved with age.  She decorated the rooms and planted a magnificent garden.

Catherine de Medici was Henry II’s wife.  She was from a prominent Italian family and was betrothed to Henry when they were both 14 years old.  Part of Italy would fall under French control with their union.  She fell in love with her husband, but he did not return her passion.  Though she bore him 10 children, he preferred the company of Diane de Poitiers.  Henry was mortally wounded in a jousting competition in 1559.  Catherine kept Diane away from his death bed and when he died a few days later, she removed Diane from Chenonceau and took up residence there herself.

She hung her own portrait in Diane’s former bedchamber.  The fireplace was designed by Jean Goujon, a French sculptor.  Two Henry II armchairs covered with Cordoue leather flank the fireplace.

The room became Catherine’s bedchamber and she decorated the ceiling with the intertwined letters of C and H.   The chamber is beautiful with its two Flanders tapestries.

Catherine designed her own garden adjacent to Diane’s garden.  It is a more intimate space offering the “perfect image of refinement”.   Upon Henry II’s death Catherine became Regent.  Her son and heir to the throne Frances II, at fifteen, acquiesced to her wishes and Catherine ruled France from her rooms at Chenonceau.   They were turbulent times and Catherine’s duties were burdensome.  If you would like to learn more about the life and times of Catherine de Medici and Diane de Poitiers, Princess Michael of Kent has written a richly woven history of that time called The Serpent and  the Moon; Two Rivals for the Love of a Renaissance King.   I haven’t read it yet, but the reviews say that Princess Michael has a bias in favor of Diane.  From what little I have read of Catherine’s life, I would look more kindly on her position.

In the 18th century Louise Dupin was the mistress of the chateau.  The previous years had found the chateau in a steady decline through neglect and the lack of a royal presence.  Louise’s husband Claude Dupin, a rich farmer and general, bought the chateau from the Duke of Bourbon.  Louise established herself there, restoring the rooms and grounds.  She was an exquisite creature of the Age of Enlightenment and held salons with the elite among writers, poets, scientists and philosophers.  Her guests included among others,Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

While visiting Chenonceau we saw an exhibit of Rousseau’s writings and philsophies.  He had much to say about food and diet.  “On his plate, he refused out-of-season produce, costly and sophisticated preparations and exotic dishes that cost the earth since they had to be transported a long way and sauces that were as complicated as they were indigestible  Everything in moderation.  Meats needed to be grilled and not consumed in excess.  Dairy, fruit and vegetables were strongly advised.  Butter was not used for cooking and salt was scarcely recommended.  Nor were fried food and fat laden sauces.  As for drastic diets, he rejected them, preferring regular exercise.  But it is noted that while at the rich table at Chenonceau he ignored his beliefs about food and put on weight.  Here is another of his beliefs.

Hmmmm.  Very interesting.  His philosophies still have an audience today.  But that’s the first time I have heard that eating meat will make you cruel.

One of the accomplishments of Louise Dupin was vital to Chenonceau.  During the French Revolution she was able to save the chateau from being destroyed by the marauding political groups.  The chapel attached to the chateau was stacked high with wood and declared a storage area.  Religious symbols were a target of the movement at that time.  It is ironic that Rousseau, while a guest in the chateau, was preaching the very ideas of equality and justice that almost destroyed the chateau for the Dupin family and generations to come.

During the First World War, Chenonceau was turned into a hospital.  The kitchens were modernized to feed the patients and staff.  That stove is a thing of beauty.

Not much needed to be done to the spit in the fireplace.

The copper pieces were magnificent.  I wanted to take them home.  Do you know what the three legged device is?

I also loved this old ceramic mold.

Today Chateau de Chenonceau is classified as a Monument Historique by the French Ministry of Culture.  It is the second most visited castle in France after Versailles.  That ends our visit to Chateau Chenonceau;  a castle with a long, long story to tell . . . . if you just listen.  This is dedicated to my parents.  Today would have been their 69th wedding anniversary.  They were lucky to have found the love of their lives in each other.