Salmon En Croute

Sometimes there’s a benefit to my need for background noise.  I like to watch shows or listen to music while I’m cleaning the kitchen, folding laundry, or doing other chores I don’t always get excited about.  It’s not very mindful of me to do that, but as I said, sometimes there’s benefits. For example, I don’t waste really good shows for this.  I reserve those for when I can prop up my feet, cuddle with my man, and sink into an episode. I reserve less riveting shows for chores.  Ones I don’t totally have to pay attention to – like the Bachelorette (how did I get sucked into another season of that crap??), The Voice, or MasterChef Junior. I don’t particularly enjoy these shows enough to set aside time to sit down and watch them, but having it on while I do “chores” helps.

MasterChef Junior is pretty darn cool.  Some of these ~8-13 year olds make some pretty amazing stuff!! This one kid whipped up some French macaroons in a challenge where they could have made anything from sweet to savory.  French macaroons are very technical! It’s quite impressive.

Well, thanks to my need for background noise, I watched these kids prepare one of Gordon Ramsay’s signature dishes: Salmon En Croute with hollandaise, minted peas, and roasted potatoes.  I’m not a big fan of roasted potatoes (they’re so mushy and bland!) so I made my Roasted Fennel instead. Ramsay’s original recipe uses dill in the herb butter, but since fennel always has the fronds on it when you buy it, I used fennel fronds in place of dill and then roasted the fennel for a side.

If 10 year olds can do it, so can you!  Trust me. For looking so fancy, It’s actually quite simple.  They didn’t give out the exact recipe on TV, but I found it online here.  Of course it was all in grams and milliliters so I did some converting as best as I could.

Here’s what you do:

Start with the pastry.  I took a shortcut and bought frozen puff pastry dough. Feel free to make your own dough.  I did not.  I took one frozen sheet out of the package (which had two), wrapped it in a lightly damp paper towel and then in plastic wrap.  I laid it in the fridge to thaw.  I did this maybe 4-6 hours before I made the dish and it was thawed in time.  You could do this the night before just to be safe.

To make this dish gluten free you have two options: first, buy/make gluten free puff pastry dough! I haven’t tried this product but I found GF pastry dough that looks good here.

To make it paleo which would be gluten free option #2, follow Nell Stephenson’s dough which I have tried and it was amazing, found here. It’s 2 cups almond meal + 3 eggs + 3 T coconut oil + 1/4 t baking soda mixed together and rolled thin.  It holds together really well!

Next make your herb butter. (Sure is easy to get soft butter when it’s 95 degrees out!!)  Mix room-temperature butter, basil, fennel fronds, lemon zest, salt and pepper.

Get your salmon ready.  When I did the conversion, the 900 g salmon translated to 2 lbs of salmon.  The one I had in the freezer was about 1.25-1.5 lbs. I’m not entirely sure because I didn’t weigh it after I took the skin off. (Make it easy on yourself. If you know this is what you’re making, have the butcher skin the salmon!)

Remove any pin bones if you can detect them.  Then slice it in half into two pieces of equal size.  There’s no tricks for that one, I just eyeballed it.  Then spread your herb butter evenly on one fillet and the whole grain mustard on the other.

Also, make *note* for later on… see how above both fillets are wider at the top and skinnier at the bottom?  You know, the salmon tapers off at the head and tail?  Well later on we’re gonna sandwich these together like a peanut butter and jelly.  We want the finished product to look more like a uniform rectangle.  So we’re gonna make sure that those skinnier ends are opposite of each other, not on the same side.

Set these aside for a second while you get your puff pastry dough ready.  Flour your cutting board or counter top and place the chilled, thawed pastry dough on top.

Then roll it out.  How thin you ask?  Well, his British recipe said to the thickness of some coin I’m not familiar with.  So I just rolled it out as you see below.  Not sure how thin that is.  I’m not into fooling you people, this is reality. Just wing it!  It will turn out beautifully. If it turns out you rolled it too thin or it was too thick, you learn and do it differently next time. It will still taste amazing I promise.

Also, remember to roll from the center to the outside.  Helps to make it even and prevent tearing.

Next place one salmon fillet in the center of the pastry dough.

Then, remembering the *note* from above, place the other salmon fillet on top like you’re making a PB&J sandwich.

Next, beat an egg in a small bowl and brush the dough around the salmon.

Season with salt and pepper.

Next, trim the edges of the pastry dough, making a big oval shape.  I don’t know why.  It’s pretty?  That’s what he says to do?  My guess is we’re getting rid of excess dough so it’s not too thick once it’s all folded up.  We don’t want raw dough in there after it’s all cooked.

Then, you fold.  Get it as tight as you can without tearing. I honestly didn’t pull too hard at all, you really just don’t want big gaps of air between the salmon and pastry. It’s like wrapping a little salmon present.

Paint a little egg wash before you fold over the last side to help seal it shut.

Then flip it seam side down onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Next, paint the whole shebang with egg wash.  Use the BACK of a knife to score a pretty cross-hatch pattern, score where you want to cut your final slices, and then season with salt and pepper.

Next, pop it in the fridge while you preheat the oven (about 10-15 minutes). Then bake it at 400 F for 20-25 minutes on the middle rack.

Holy golden perfection.  I can’t believe I made this thing!  It looks so fancy, but as you can see from above, it’s not that scary!

Let it cool a bit, then take a really sharp knife and slice it up.

I served it with Minted Springtime Peas, Roasted Fennel, and Hollandaise Sauce, but feel free to serve this bad boy with whatever you’d like. Maybe you like roasted potatoes.  Maybe you have a recipe for them you think will convert me to a potato lover.  I’m open, please share.

Who’s ready to give it a shot???

Other recipes pictured above:

• Minted Springtime Peas
• Roasted Fennel (They look different in the picture above than the picture linked because above I sliced the fennel bulb horizontally, and in the link I sliced the bulbs vertically. Otherwise they’re exactly the same.)
• Hollandaise Sauce