Recipes

Seared Salmon with Salsa Verde

  • Serves

    serves 4

Chef Johnny Schmitt—whose family is of French Laundry fame—made us this flavorful green sauce by picking handfuls of fresh herbs from the bountiful gardens behind the Boonville Hote, then crushing them with a mortar and pestle to preserve their color and flavor.

Ingredients

FOR THE SALSA VERDE:

  • 12 cup chopped fresh chives
  • 12 cup chopped fresh basil
  • 12 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
  • Zest of 1 orange
  • 12 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE SALMON:

  • 2 tbsp. white wine
  • Extra-virgin olive oil
  • 12 cup coarse cornmeal
  • 2 tbsp. chopped fresh thyme
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 4 (4-oz.) salmon filets
  • 1 tbsp. clarified butter
  • 2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
  • 2 cups cherry tomatoes, stemmed
  • 4 cups mizuna or arugula

Instructions

Step 1

For the salsa verde: Crush chives, basil, parsley, garlic, and orange zest into a coarse paste with a mortar and pestle. Drizzle oil into the paste while stirring with the pestle. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then set aside.

Step 2

For the salmon: Mix together wine and 2 tbsp. oil on a plate and set aside. Mix together cornmeal, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste on another plate and set aside. Moisten salmon filets in the wine and oil, then dredge in the cornmeal mixture. Heat 1 tbsp. oil with the clarified butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add salmon filets and sear, turning once, until fish is golden on both sides and just cooked through, about 3 minutes total. Transfer filets to a plate.

Step 3

Wipe skillet clean with paper towel and return to medium heat. Add 2 tbsp. oil and vinegar, then add tomatoes, season to taste with salt and pepper, and cook, shaking pan often, until tomatoes are heated through, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Step 4

Toss mizuna with a little oil to taste in a medium bowl. Divide mizuna among four plates. Lay salmon over greens, spoon warm tomatoes with sauce over salmon, and serve with salsa verde.

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