Pasta, Seafood and Eggs:
Salmon Florentine
from
From Portland's Palate...
A Collection of Recipes from the City of Roses
INGREDIENTS FOR SALMON:
4 sheets frozen puff pastry
2 (10-ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach
6 ounces crab meat
8 ounces freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 to 3/4 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup sherry
Salt and pepper
2 cups fresh mushrooms (10 large mushrooms), chopped
3 to 4 tablespoons butter
5 pounds salmon fillets
1 egg white, slightly beaten
INGREDIENTS FOR LEMON HOLLANDAISE
SAUCE:
3 egg yolks
1-1/2 tablespoons freshly-squeezed lemon juice
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, divided
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Salt and freshly-ground white pepper
TO PREPARE:
Allow frozen pastry to stand at room temperature
for 20 minutes.
Cook spinach according to package directions,
undercooking slightly to allow for baking later. Drain thoroughly.
In a large bowl, mix together spinach, crab meat,
grated Parmesan cheese, eggs, cream, sherry, salt and pepper.
In a sauté pan, melt butter and cook mushrooms
until just tender and liquid evaporates. Lift out of butter with
a slotted spoon and add to spinach mixture.
Use remaining butter to brush one side of each
pastry sheet.
Place 1 sheet of puff pastry, buttered-side up,
on a greased roasting pan. Brush with egg whites. Lay 2 salmon
fillets down the center of the pastry.
Spread half of spinach mixture on salmon and cover
with another sheet of pastry, buttered-side down. Shape and cut into
the form of a fish, crimping the edges together to create the appearance
of fish scales on top. Brush top of pastry with egg white.
Repeat with remaining pastry, salmon fillets and
spinach filling. Bake on a rack in a preheated 350-degree oven for
20 to 30 minutes, until top is browned. Serve with Lemon Hollandaise
Sauce.
LEMON HOLLANDAISE SAUCE:
In a saucepan, vigorously whisk egg yolks for 1 minute, or until they
are thick and pale yellow, then whisk in lemon juice.
Add 2 tablespoons of cold butter. Set pan over low heat.
Watch carefully and continue whisking. (The bottom of the pan will
be visible between strokes when sauce is done.) Remove from heat
and add remaining butter, beating in one tablespoon at a time to stop cooking.
Drizzle in warm melted butter and continue beating to make a thick sauce.
Add seasoning and more lemon juice as necessary. Serve immediately.
16 SERVINGS; 1 CUP SAUCE
Copyright 1992 The Junior League of Portland, Oregon,
Inc. All rights reserved.
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Oregon at (503) 297-6364.
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