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Рецепт Poached Salmon with Saffron Sauce and Mussels
by Monte Mathews

One night, not too long ago, Andrew asked for something light for dinner. I shouldn’t have been all that surprised because as the blog has been laden with cold weather comfort food, so has our table. I love the indulgence of these winter recipes but I get the point. So I found a recipe from Saveur Magazine that had all the elements of a classic winter meal. There’s the rich flavor of poached salmon and it sits in a lovely sauce redolent with saffron and fennel and enough butter to make it silken. The mussels float on top adding to the stew-like feeling I got from this dish. I confess that I don’t often use Saffron and until this recipe, I would have to say that I was a little disappointed every time I did. For

an ingredient that is, by weight, likely the most expensive item in the entire

arsenal of spices we keep, its underperformance was shocking. This time I got it right in two ways: I bought the saffron at Trader Joe’s which

sells it for the bargain basement price of 5.99 for .020 oz. That’s still a lot of money but when it

performs as it does in this recipe, it’s well worth the splurge.

Crocus SativusSaffron

comes from the Crocus bulb but a very specific crocus called Crocus sativus or

more commonly, the Saffron Crocus. Only

the plant’s stigmas, the tiny shoots in the center of the flower, are used to

make saffron and since the crocus only bears up to four flowers, it’s wildly

expensive by weight. One staggering fact

I learned was that in order to produce a single pound or 450 grams of Saffron

you must harvest 50,000 to 70,000 flowers.

Saffron has been cultivated in

Greece since at least the 7th Century BC. It’s thought to be a great deal older than

that, dating from the Bronze Age. Later it was traded in Eurasia and brought to

parts of North Africa, North America and Oceania. Today Iran accounts for fully 90 percent of

the world’s saffron production. Trader

Joe’s Saffron is imported from Spain.

The more vivid the crimson color of saffron threads, the better it is

considered to be. It has a very subtle taste

but it is prized for its color. If you

can’t spring for Saffron, safflower, annatto and turmeric have all been pressed

into service as culinary substitutes giving the saffron color if not the subtle

hay-like sweetness the genuine article brings to your dish.

As

to the salmon, Saveur’s recipe called for Norwegian salmon. My fishmonger has the most extraordinary

variety of salmon hailing from fish farms and wild caught from Canada to

Scotland to Alaska and Denmark which is where the fish I bought hailed

from. Poaching salmon gives it a

luxurious tenderness that grilling doesn’t.

It’s a very easy dish to achieve on a weeknight as it takes under 30

minutes to put together. Here is the

recipe:

Recipe for Poached Salmon with Saffron Sauce and Mussels

Serves 4. Takes under 30 minutes to

make.

⅛ tsp.

crushed saffron threads (about 12 threads)

½ cup minced

fennel bulb, fronds reserved

4 (6-oz.)

skinless, boneless Norwegian salmon filets

Kosher

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

3 tbsp.

dry white vermouth

1 tbsp.

minced fresh chives

1 tbsp.

minced fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

1 tbsp.

minced fresh tarragon leaves

1. Heat

oven to 225. Combine saffron and 1½ cups warm water in a small bowl; set aside.

sheet, and transfer baking sheet to oven.

2. Return skillet to high heat; add vermouth and bring to a boil.

Whisk in remaining butter 1 tbsp. at a time. Remove pan from heat and stir in

chives, parsley, and tarragon. Season broth with salt.

3. Divide fish and mussels

between 4 bowls and spoon broth over top. Garnish fish with reserved fennel

fronds.