I never really considered myself a cook. But I do love to bake and always thought of myself as a baker but never a cook.  In fact I did not enjoy cooking very much at all.  It just seemed like I would make dinner and it was all over in 10 minutes.   I knew I was missing out on the fun of cooking so I joined the French Cooking group, Whisk Wednesdays, and we cooked our way through the first year of the Le Cordon Bleu Cooking School curriculum using the book Le Cordon Bleu at Home and I loved every minute of it.  We were a small group but we were fierce!   And since finishing the curriculum in 2009, I so miss our little group and the fun we had.

Since I was looking at our weekly recipe as a cooking lesson, I did not vary the recipe at all, except at times I did have to substitute the fish being I was limited to what was available.  And I learned so much and I now love cooking.  I honestly think that French Cooking is the core to any cuisine and if you can master French Cooking, you can make just about anything! 

Truite de Mer, Sauce Verte is a perfect meal for a hot, summer day. And being you can serve it chilled, making it ahead of time is no problem at all and this is an excellent dish for a Sunday Brunch! And I always serve Salmon with a side of sliced green olives…Olives are so good with salmon!

 
Truite de Mer, Sauce Verte
Recipe adapted from Le Cordon Bleu at Home

Court Bouillon:
1 carrot, chopped coarse
1 onion, chopped coarse
1 stalk of celery, chopped coarse
Bouquet Garni
1 lemon, quartered
1 c. white vinegar
4 c. dry white wine
3 c. water
Salt

3 1/2 lb salmon fillet ( I usually use abt 1 lb Salmon Fillet)

Sauce Verte

Mayonnaise:
2 eggs yolk
1 tsp Dijon Mustard
Juice of 1/2 lemon, abt 2 TBL
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 1/3 c. vegetable oil
10 oz spinach
4 oz watercress
1 TBL each chopped fresh tarragon, chervil, parsley

Garnish:
cucumber
lemons

Prepare the Court Bouillion: Combine the carrot, onion, celery, bouquet garni, lemon, vinegar, wine, water, and salt to taste in a large sauce pan.  Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.  Let cool to room temperature.

Lay the salmon on a rack and place the rack in a large pan.  I use my largest frying pan.  Pour the cooled Court Bouillion over the fish.  Add water as needed to barely cover the fish.  Bring just to a simmer over medium heat and poach for 6-8 minutes.  If I have a thick fillet I will poach for 12-15 minutes or until the fish easily flakes.  Remove the pan from the heat.  Let the pan stand for 10 minutes; then remove the fish from the court bouillion and let it cool.

Prepare the Sauce Verte:  First make the mayonnaise.  Bring all the ingredients to room temperature.  Combine the egg yolks, mustard, salt and pepper in a bowl and beat well with a small whisk.  Whisking continuously, add about ½ cup of oil, drop by drop, until the mayonnaise has thickened and emulsified.  Then whisk in the remaining oil in a thin, slow stream until the mayonnaise is smooth and thick.  Whisk in vinegar, Tarragon, Chervil and Parsley.  Taste and adjust seasonings.   I make my mayonnaise in a blender and skip all the hand whisking.

 Slice the cucumbers into very thin slices.  Plate the poached salmon.  Cover the salmon with a thin layer of Herbed Mayonnaise.  Then cover the mayonnaise with the thin sliced cucumbers.  You can either refrigerate and serve cold or serve at room temperature.  Enjoy!

Recently I tried a tip that I heard on the new Cooking Channel.  To avoid wayward squirting lemon juice, cut the lemon in half and then quarter it.  And I’ll be darned, the quarted lemon worked perfectly with no flying lemon juice!

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