No limits

It has to be admitted…this evening was fully inspired by the masterpiece of a cookbook – The Modernist Cuisine at home….I find inspiration in every page!

Vindenes came all the way to the outskirts of urban life in Rogaland to enjoy the following menu:

Starter: Raspberry gazpacho served with a wonderful Italian red called Ros di Lune 2008
Main: Seasoned salmon with blanched vegetables which was accompanied by an intense Riesling by Georg Mosbacher – Kieselberg GG 2012
Dessert: Sous vide vanilla creme with strawberries, raspberries and blueberries paired with a fresh moscato d’asti from G.D. Vaira 2013.
(All recipes serves four)

I’ve come to terms with the importance of tidiness and deliberate actions in the kitchen. For example I always prepare all ingredences (mise en place) and equipment you need to prepare. Making this meal required structure and focus throughout!

This is how it looked….and to reveal the secret immediately! It was a fantastic meal!!

First – the starter:
Gazpacho or cold soup is a classic during lazy summer days. Here’s the process for creating the starter:

First step is to make a rasberry syrup by tossing 225 g berries together with 50 g sugar. Place in a zip lock bag, remove as much air as possible by submerging the bag slowly into a bowl of water and seal it when water level is just below the zip seal.
Cook in sous vide for an hour at 65 degrees. Strain it without pressing to make a clear, thin syrup. This is used later to season the soup.

Second step is to prepare all ingredients – 280 g raspberries;70 g peeled, seeded and sliced cucumber; 40 g sliced red pepper; 17 g sliced chili; 25 g extra virgin oil; 10 g white balsamic vinegar; 5 g balsamic vinegar, 2 g garlic clove; lime juice, salt and pepper to taste.

Combine everything in a blender and run until smooth. Pass through a sieve. Season with raspberry syrup and taste with lime juice, salt and pepper. Leave in fridge until serving.

Place a couple of raspberries, a mint leaf and some finely sliced basil on the plate. Pour chilled soup and drizzle a few drops of oil and syrup on top.

Second – the main course:
Start early by preparing a brine of 1 l water, 50 g salt and 50 g sugar. Make sure that it’s completely dissolved and cool before you add the salmon.
You will need 600 g of nice salmon filet in four serving pieces for this dish. Submerge the salmon in the brine and let it sit in the fridge for 3-5 hours. This will firm its surface and makes it tastier:-)

Here’s the overview to create the main course:

Prepare the garniture. I chose aspargus, sweet pees, radish, carrots and turnips. Slice or cut and blanch it. You need a bowl of ice water to cool it quickly. All of these ingredients need 1 minute of boiling and then cool down. Drain off the water. Set aside until serving.

Drain the brine and preheat the water bath to 46 degrees. Place each filet in a separate zip lock bag, add 3 spoons of olive oil and use the method described above to remove air from bag. Let the bags swim in the water bath for 30 minutes. The thickness of my filets was about 3 cm.

As you wait heat the serving plates and right before serving place the vegetables on the plate allowing for them to take up the heat.

Remove the filets gently to a plate and melt unsalted butter in a non stick pan. Add fish spice made by a combo of coriander, black pepper, cumin and finely chopped roasted almonds. Increase the heat until the butter starts to bubble and fry for 30 sec on each side. Place the salmon on top and pour a couple of spoons of the butter on top. Serve immediately!

Thirdly – the dessert!
The basis for this dessert is a creme Anglaise which is a custard that can be used for many things. You can turn it into a thick milkshake or use it as a sauce to berries like in this straight forward dessert.

Here’s the order of things….

You can start making the vanilla sauce the day before since it will keep for a couple of days in the refrigerator.

You will need 500 g whole milk, 150 g blended egg yolks, 63 g heavy cream, vanilla seeds from 2 pods, 63 g sugar.

Heat bath to 83 degrees. Whisk milk, egg yolks, cream, sugar and vanilla seeds together. Try to not create bubbles and spoon off any foam that might appear on the surface. Pour the custard into a zip lock bag, use the method described above to remove air. Zip it and cook sous vide for 45 minutes. Remove the bag and immerse it in ice water until the mixture has completely cooled.
Purée the mixture by using a hand held blender and pass it through a fine sieve. Let it sit in the fridge until serving. Remember to stir it before you add to the plate to include the seeds.

Use a deep plate. Add some strawberries, blueberries and a couple of raspberries. Spoon the vanilla cream around the berries.
I added a small spoon of a mixture of chocolate chip cookies and butter to get some texture to the dessert.

Enjoy!