Wild Halibut or Salmon Fillets with Nasturtiums and Viognier Butter Sauce
Serves: 4
This succulent dish is so quick to prepare and yet looks so elegant, and the spicy, bright punch of the nasturtiums counterpoints the silky sauce brilliantly!
Ingredients
PreparationIngredients
- 4 halibut or salmon fillets (about 6 ounces each) Add to list
- Salt and pepper to taste Add to list
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme Add to list
- 3 tablespoons pure olive oil or butter (or a combination) Add to list
- 2 tablespoons chopped garlic Add to list
- 1/2 cup Viognier wine Add to list
- 1 cup fish or chicken stock Add to list
- 4 tablespoons cold butter Add to list
- 2 tablespoons capers Add to list
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley Add to list
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice Add to list
- 6 to 12 nasturtium blossoms Add to list
Preparation
Sprinkle the fish fillets with salt, pepper and thyme. Heat the oil or butter in a sauté pan and sear the fillets on each side for about 3 to 5 minutes or until just done through.
Remove the fish from the pan and keep warm. Place the pan back over medium-high heat and sauté the garlic for 30 seconds. Pour in the wine and cook to reduce to a syrup. Add the fish or chicken stock and reduce by half. Reduce the heat to medium and swirl in the cold butter, a little at a time, until the sauce is silky. Fold in the capers, parsley and lemon juice. Turn off the heat.
Serve the fillets draped with the sauce and garnished with the nasturtium blossoms.
Recipe by , PCC Chef
Source: Demonstrated at the Pike Place Market Flower Festival, May 9, 2010.
ABOUT OUR CHEF: Lynne Vea
Lynne Vea is a graduate of the Executive Chef Program at Le Cordon Bleu, Paris and has been cooking with PCC Natural Markets since 2001. Featured on King-5’s "Gardening with Ciscoe," she demonstrates easy and delicious recipes using seasonal ingredients.
Lynne is an admired PCC Cooks instructor, teaching a variety of popular PCC Cooks classes throughout the year.
She loves to collect old cookbooks, hunt for wild berries, and cook seven-course dinners where the guests are encouraged to dance and cavort between courses.
Find more recipes from Lynne.
Comments
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caper talk
Hi Brian! I am the chef who created this recipe and I am embarrassed to say that I was wrong about the capers! I have believed the chrysanthemum info to be true for years, and have just learned how mistaken I was. Some years ago I worked for a Sicilan chef, a brilliant culinarian. We had our own glorious garden for the restaurant and grew so many of the items which were on the menu. One of the items we cultivated was a member of the chrysanthemum family called Leucanthemum Vulgare. Chef Giovanni then harvested the unopened buds and brined them. These were the capers that we used in a number of dishes. At that time he told me these were the same plant used to make capers in the Mediterranean region. All these years I have believed him! It is quite possible that in his region of the world that really is the case. However, in my research I see that the caper with which we are familiar is the unopened bud of a completey different plant, Capparis spinosa. So there, something new learned every day! Thanks so much for your comments. Have a great day!
May 13, 2010 at 02:14 PM — lynnevea
Thanks for the clarification.
Thanks for the clarification. I was surprised when I read chrysanthemum listed for capers, and also a little excited that i could make my own capers this summer...as I had recently planted some chrysanthemum in the garden. Oh well. Thanks for the info and the great recipes. I'm going to try this dish out this weekend.
cheers,
Brian
May 13, 2010 at 05:39 PM — brianb
2 tablespoons capers (brined chrysanthemum flower buds)
Really...Chrysanthemum buds?
May 13, 2010 at 07:54 AM — brianb