Salmon Scallop Terrine Wrapped in Swiss Chard Leaves
We spent a few days in Bar Harbor, Maine, last week, and had dinner one night at an excellent restaurant: Burning Tree, in Otter Creek, Maine. I don't do restaurant reviews on this site because I don't have the resources to do a professional job of it (the correct process: take about six people to the restaurant, order widely from all parts of the menu, share everything and make notes; then, on a different night of the week, repeat the process with a different group of companions) but I can still say that, on the basis of one visit, this restaurant is superb. The specialty is seafood and they have a live-fire wood grill. The service was the right mix of attentive and casual, as befits a Maine vacation-destination restaurant. The ambiance was relaxed and comfortable.
My sister-in-law, a "finance paper-pusher girl" (she swears that's her job description) who styles herself as Li'l Ginny, made the call of the night when she ordered the salmon-scallop terrine, wrapped in Swiss chard leaves and served on a bed of noodles in a light cream sauce, with wood-roasted corn. This is my interpretation of that dish, which I served over a soup of rice and my red shrimp broth, slightly thickened and enriched.
1 medium onion, chopped
4 scallions, chopped
2 cloves garlic
olive oil
1/2 C white wine
1/2 C celery, chopped fine
1/2 lb fresh salmon
1/2 lb scallops
2 T tomato paste
1 C cream, whipped
Salt, hot sauce to taste
1 whole egg
1 egg, separated
1/4 C panko flakes
Swiss chard, large leaves, separated from stalks
short grained white rice, cooked
3 C red shrimp broth
flatleaf parsley, minced
3 T butter
3 T flour
1/2 C milk
Sauté onion and scallion in a scant amount of olive oil on medium heat for several minutes until translucent. Add garlic and celery and sauté for another minute. Pour in wine and simmer to reduce liquid to a syrup, stirring occasionally. Purée onion mixture and set aside.
Chop salmon and scallops into fine dice. Mix tomato paste, cream, panko, onion mixture and fish. Correct seasoning. Stir in the whole egg and the separated yolk.
In a separate bowl, beat egg white until stiff peaks form and fold into fish mixture.
Form spring-roll-sized "cigars" by placing portions of terrine mixture in shard leaves and rolling.
Steam the terrine rolls about 10 minutes in a fish-poacher or Asian steamer basket.
Reduce the shrimp broth to about two cups and maintain it at a simmer. In a separate saucepan, melt the butter and stir in the flour. Cook for two or three minutes, stirring constantly, until the butter foam subsides. Pour in the hot broth and the milk and cook on medium for a minute or two, stirring, to thicken slightly. Correct seasoning and mix the sauce with some rice and parsley to make a loose soup.
To serve, spread a puddle of the rice mixture on the serving plate and lay out the terrine rolls on the rice.
Comments
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mmmmmmmmh this looks so delicious I can't wait to try it. Unfortunately I'll have to do it without the shrimp broth.
Posted by: Ruth | September 07, 2005 at 11:19 AM
Hi again Ruth...if you don't have any shrimp or fish broth, or are short on time, I would add some herbs (dill, parsley, etc.) a half lemon squeezed and a half cup white wine to the steaming liquid and then when the terrine rolls are done keep them warm while reducing the liquid quickly to about 2 cups...then strain the reduced liquid and use it instead of the broth in the sauce recipe...this is more like the cream sauce that we had it with at Burning Tree...thanks for your continuing interest in Stephencooks.com!
Posted by: Stephen | September 07, 2005 at 01:17 PM
So, let me get this straight. You go out to eat at a restaurant, see something you like, then go home and whip it up yourself? Wow. I am thoroughly impressed!! If I had the ability to do that I don't think I'd ever need to go out to eat again! But alas, I do not have "savoir faire" in the kitchen.
Posted by: Mona | September 08, 2005 at 01:31 PM