Darne de Saumon Valois

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •30 cm (12-inch) wide sauté pan with lid, or a home fish poacher
• •22 to 25 mm melon baller or small sharp paring knife
• •Two medium saucepans
• •Heatproof mixing bowl and balloon whisk
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Cotton kitchen twine
• •Large oval platter and warmed sauceboat

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the court-bouillon

   Combine the 2 cups of white wine, 6 cups of water, onion, carrot, 2 tablespoons of vinegar, parsley stems, thyme, bay leaves, crushed peppercorns, and 1 tablespoon of the salt in a wide pot. Bring it slowly to a bare simmer, then cook uncovered for 20 minutes so the vegetables surrender their flavor without the wine boiling itself flat. Strain the court-bouillon, the aromatic poaching liquor, and discard the solids. Reserve 1 cup to cool, place about 5 cups in a wide sauté pan for the salmon, and put the remainder in a smaller saucepan for the crayfish and milt.

   The liquid should taste pleasantly seasoned and distinctly wine-sharp. It isn't soup. Its work is to season the fish during the few minutes they spend together.
2. 2

   Shape potatoes and fish

   Use a 22 to 25 mm melon baller to raise 20 to 24 neat potato balls, the home equivalent of the classical spoon-cutter. If you prefer the second garnish allowed by the entry, turn 16 to 20 small potato pieces into olives with a paring knife, tapering both ends. Use one shape throughout. Save the trimmings for soup. Tie a loose loop of kitchen twine around the circumference of each salmon darne so the skin and flesh keep their round cross-cut form during poaching, then keep the fish cold.

3. 3

   Prepare sauce foundations

   Melt the butter gently without stirring. Skim away the surface foam, then pour the clear golden butterfat into a small jug, leaving the milky sediment behind; keep it warm, not hot. In a small saucepan combine the ¼ cup vinegar, ¼ cup wine, shallot, crushed peppercorns, and half the tarragon. Reduce over medium heat until only 2 tablespoons remain. Strain the reduction into a heatproof bowl, pressing lightly, then let it cool until warm. Keep the glace de viande warm beside it. These foundations can wait. The finished emulsion cannot.

4. 4

   Cook the garnishes

   Bring the 8 cups of potato water to a simmer with 2 teaspoons of the remaining salt. Add the shaped potatoes and cook gently for 12 to 16 minutes, until a knife enters without resistance but the edges remain intact. If they begin to knock together and crack, the water is boiling too hard; lower the heat at once. Drain, cover, and keep warm. Curl each crayfish tail beneath its body and secure it with one loop of cotton kitchen twine. Bring the smaller saucepan of court-bouillon to a lively simmer, add the crayfish, and cook for 4 to 6 minutes, until the shells are scarlet and the tail meat is opaque. Lift them out, remove the twine once they hold their curve, and keep them covered with a spoonful of court-bouillon. Lower that same liquid to about 175°F (80°C). Add the cleaned milt whole and poach for 7 to 10 minutes, until opaque, gently firm, and 145°F (63°C) at the center. Lift it out, rest it for 3 minutes, then cut it into ½-inch (1 cm) slices with a thin sharp knife. Moisten the slices with a little court-bouillon and keep them covered.

5. 5

   Mount Valois sauce

   Whisk the egg yolks and tablespoon of cold water into the warm sauce reduction. Set the bowl over a bain-marie, a hot-water bath held at the barest simmer, making certain the bowl never touches the water. Whisk constantly until the yolks become pale, thick, and airy, hold the trail of the whisk, and reach about 145°F (63°C). Remove the bowl from the heat. Whisk in the clarified butter drop by drop at first, then in a thin steady thread as the emulsion gains body. Whisk in the warm glace de viande, followed by the remaining tarragon, the chervil, and enough of the remaining salt to sharpen the flavors. If the sauce grows too thick, loosen it with a teaspoon of warm court-bouillon. If it turns greasy or curdled, stop. Ça se rattrape: whisk 1 teaspoon of cold water in a clean bowl, add a teaspoon of the broken sauce, and then rebuild it slowly, spoonful by spoonful. Hold the finished sauce between 110 and 120°F (43 and 49°C), never directly over heat, for no longer than 30 minutes.

   The glace de viande should be warm enough to flow but not hot enough to melt the emulsion into an oil slick. Sauce Valois should taste first of béarnaise, then reveal the quiet depth of meat glaze.
6. 6

   Poach salmon gently

   Bring the wide pan of court-bouillon to 175°F (80°C), with only an occasional bubble appearing at the edge. Lower in the tied salmon darnes in one layer. The liquid should cover them; add a little reserved court-bouillon if needed. Cover with a lid or a round of parchment and poach for 10 to 14 minutes, maintaining the bare tremble, until the flesh separates in large moist flakes and reads 140 to 145°F (60 to 63°C) beside the central bone. If the liquid begins to boil, pull the pan from the heat and add a ladleful of the cool reserved court-bouillon before continuing. Hard boiling tightens the salmon and pushes out its moisture. This gentle poach is the one principle the whole dish depends upon.

7. 7

   Arrange and serve

   Warm a large oval platter and the sauceboat. Lift the salmon onto a clean towel for 20 seconds so excess liquid cannot flood the platter, then remove the twine and arrange the darnes down the center. Set the potato balls or olives around them in generous clusters, alternate the poached milt slices between the potatoes, and place two curved crayfish with each portion. Pour the glossy Valois sauce into the warm sauceboat and send it separately, exactly as the entry directs. The sauce belongs beside the salmon, not poured over the careful garnish before anyone reaches the table. À table!

Chef Tips

• •A darne is a thick cross-cut steak from a large round fish, bone, skin, and both sides of the fillet held together in one slice. Ask for center cuts of equal thickness; tail pieces are not darnes and will poach unevenly.
• •Milt is the soft roe of a male fish. A good fishmonger can special-order cod or salmon milt, and properly frozen milt is an honest choice when fresh isn't available. Scallops or hard roe change the garnish rather than replace it.
• •Whole raw crayfish provide the shape the source requires. Small lobsters or langoustines are not quiet substitutions, and cooked peeled tails cannot be trussed. If using live crayfish, have the fishmonger dispatch them humanely or follow the animal-welfare guidance where you live before trussing.
• •True glace de viande is intensely reduced, gelatin-rich, and unsalted. If you have only unsalted demi-glace, reduce ¼ cup (60 ml / 80 g) gently until 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 20 g) remains, then cool it to warm before adding it to the sauce.
• •Serve a firm, dry white with enough acidity for the béarnaise and enough body for the salmon. White Burgundy or a dry Loire Chenin Blanc both understand the assignment without crowding the plate.

Advance Preparation

• •Make and strain the court-bouillon up to 2 days ahead. Chill it promptly, keep it covered, and bring it back to the required temperature only when you are ready to cook.
• •Clarify the butter and make the vinegar-wine reduction up to 1 day ahead. Refrigerate them separately, then warm both gently before mounting the sauce.
• •Shape the potatoes up to 6 hours ahead and keep them submerged in cold water in the refrigerator. Drain and rinse them before cooking.
• •Do not make the finished Valois sauce far ahead. Mount it shortly before poaching the salmon and hold it warm for no more than 30 minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 480g)