SAUCE GRIBI
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Yield: 1 cup s minced shallots • 2 tablespoon s minced garlic • 1 ½ teaspoon s capers • 2 tablespoon s Dijon mustard • 1 ½ teaspoon s lemon juice • 1 ½ teaspoon r s red wine vinega • 2 tablespoon d eggs • 2 hard-boile dried tarragon • ¼ teaspoon chopped parsley • 2 teaspoons opped chives • 1 teaspoon ch salt • ¾ teaspoon pper cracked black pe on • ½ teaspo er pp pe ground black • ¹/8 teaspoon oil • ¼ cup olive ble oil • ¼ cup vegeta Preparation: th a metal processor fitted wi od fo a of wl bo e • In th capers, Dijon e shallots, garlic, d blade, combine th negar, hard-boile juice, red wine vi d ke ac cr mustard, lemon e and th rsley, chives, salt, eggs, tarragon, pa k pepper. and ground blac til the mixture is e ingredients un es th s es oc Pr • minutes. reed, about 2–3 thick and fully pu add the oil r is still running, so es oc pr e th le ing in the • Whi , through the open m ea str y ad ste a slowly, in that the oil is sor, making sure , top of the proces fully incorporated . Once the oil is tte re ig incorporated fully na e a vi ould be almost lik Sauce Gribiche sh emulsified. lly fu d an , luxurious, cy en ist ns co its in
have been the dish that defined that restaurant. When I was selling frozen food on QVC and HSN, this dish, yet again, was my number-one best-seller. To date, I have sold some 9,000,000 pieces of it… Secret Weapon: I add here a recipe for Sauce Gribiche, a highly flavored herb-mayonnaise sauce that is French via New Orleans. Or vice versa. At first it may seem an unlikely combination for salmon—it was never meant to go together per se—but when I was testing recipes for my first book, My Beverly Hills Kitchen: Classic Southern Cooking with a French Twist, it just so happened that these two recipes were being tested on the same day. I dipped some of the salmon into the Sauce Gribiche in a moment that’s now destiny: a happenstance, a mistake. It was an incredibly exciting bite. And then more and more bites until I just couldn’t stop eating it. Lightning struck. See how easy that was? The magic of Sauce Gribiche is that its emulsion is created from hard-cooked eggs and oil rather than raw ones, and is so full of flavor that you’ll want to do it at least the day before you
PECAN-CRUSTED
• • • • •
SALMON
Yield: ¾ cups (exactly enough for one 2-pound salmon filet to serve 8–10 pe ople) Pecan topping: ¾ cup whole pecans 3 tablespoons salted butter, melted 1 teaspoon minced ga rlic ¾ teaspoon salt ¾ teaspoon dried dil l
Salmon: 1 (2-pound) boneles s skinless salmon fil et ½ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper Preparation: • Pre-heat the oven to 400°F. • In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, combine the pecans , dill, garlic, salt, and melte d butter and process them until they resem ble coarse crumbs. • Season the salmo n on both sides with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper, total. • Spread the peca n mixture evenly on top of the seasoned salmo n filet and place the salmon on a large ba king sheet. • Bake for 10–11 minutes, then serve ho t with Sauce Gribiche. • • •
serve it to allow the ingredients a chance to get to know each other. I’m actually going to insist on it. Don’t even taste this sauce until the next day because it just won’t be the same. Trust me. And, as long as we’re telling secrets, another secret of this dish is not to overcook the salmon. Don’t you dare! Only you know your oven, and my instructions are very clear, but you’ll want it to be no more than medium-rare so that the moisture and texture of the fish combines with the garlic, dill, pecans, and butter of the crust in the most perfect way I can dream of. No use ruining all that deliciousness with an overcooked piece of fish! Serve the salmon cold, room-temp, or hot, it really makes no difference at all. Any old way, it’s superb—even if he does say so himself. So from the restaurant business, to the TV shopping world, to countless lunches and dinners I have served at home, here is my “secret” recipe for Pecan-Crusted Salmon with Sauce Gribiche, which, if it were any easier, would make itself. Happy Cooking! u J A N U A RY 2 0 1 6 7 7