In November, when I was studying for the final exam for Basic Cuisine at Le Cordon Bleu, I tweeted my frustration at having to memorize 12 recipes. One of these recipes would be part of our written exam and worth 10% of the mark. We also had to know all 12 since one of them would be the recipe for the practical part of the final exam. A blogger/Twitter friend felt my pain, and she sent me this ditty for Marmite (pronounced mar-MEET). So sweet and helpful!

More poaching this week. We were supposed to poach a whole salmon trout and decorate it with thinly sliced cucumbers to resemble scales. I knew a whole fish would be too much for us, so I used fillets. Plus I don't have a fish poacher, and to poach a whole fish you need a vessel large enough to hold the fish stretched out flat. The purpose of this class is to learn to poach, and cleaning fish is not something I want to learn right now. I know I would flunk out at butchering and fish mongering at culinary school, so I should add them to my New Year's resolutions.

This recipe combines several elements that we've already covered in previous classes, so it wasn't very difficult.

Court Bouillon
I made court bouillon in Class 2. It's a flavorful broth that's used to poach fish or other delicate food. Unlike a stock, it doesn't take long to make and should be cooled before cooking the fish. The acid in the broth helps keep the color of the salmon intact.

Poaching
To poach a whole fish, you need a rack so that you can pull it out of the liquid without breaking it. Since I was using fillets, I didn't need the rack. After the court bouillon had cooled, I added the fish and brought it to a simmer. After poaching for about 6 minutes, I removed the pan from the heat and let it sit for 10 minutes. Then, I removed it from the court bouillon and set it aside while I made the mayonnaise.

Mayonnaise and Sauce Verte
We covered mayonnaise in Class 12. To the mayonnaise, you add blanched spinach and watercress that has been squeezed of any excess water. Puréed with some freshly chopped herbs, the Sauce Verte was ready.

Garnish
The garnish includes hard-boiled eggs. Here's the method I use to hard boil an egg: Place the egg in a pot and cover it with one inch of water. Bring to a boil over high heat. After it starts to boil, remove the pot from the heat, cover, and let sit for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, fill a bowl with ice water. Transfer the egg to the ice water and let it sit for 5 minutes. Peel and use as desired. After hard boiling the eggs, you press them through a fine strainer, pressing the whites and yolks separately.

You slice cucumbers thinly to layer on like scales on a fish after you've slathered the fish with the Sauce Verte. Other members in Whisk Wednesdays thought the cucumbers were boiled or salted and drained, but I just used raw cucumbers.

Fluted lemon wedges and optionally some tomato slices finish up this pretty dish.

Recipe: Truite de Mer, Sauce Verte (Whole Poached Salmon Trout with Herbed Mayonnaise)

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

You can find the recipe for Truite de Mer, Sauce Verte (Whole Poached Salmon Trout with Herbed Mayonnaise) in the book Le Cordon Bleu at Home (affiliate link). To see how the rest of the Whisk Wednesdays group fared with their recipe, click here (or check out the sidebar) and then click on each blogger!

Tasting Notes
Served cold, this is a fancy way to present fish. And it's one that can be made completely ahead of time. It reminded me of a composed salad and would be good as part of a buffet or cocktail party.

Next Time (Wednesday, January 7, 2009)
• Canard aux Navets (Roast Duck with Glazed Turnips) pages 257-258

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Running total: $920.59 + $13.16 (Court Bouillon) + $12.99 (Salmon) + $3.96 (Sauce Verte) + $4.80 (Garnish) = $955.50

Butter used so far: 8 pounds, 19 tablespoons

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The fun part about having a group to cook along with is the community. Last week, we were sharing emails about how many dishes each of these LCB recipes use, and everyone agreed it would be fun to post a picture of our sinks full of all the dishes. On a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 is a few dishes, this recipe ranks as a 4. We've made other recipes that required more, and the scalloped potatoes required days of scrubbing in my case. So here's my sink:

Note that we're taking a break from Whisk Wednesdays for Christmas and won't be posting a new recipe until the New Year! Have a great holiday!

This next class is all about poaching. The curriculum called for us to make pot-au-feu (chicken cooked in water), but Le Cordon Bleu at Home cookbook doesn't have this recipe in it. Another Le Cordon Bleu cookbook does have it (Le Cordon Bleu Complete Cook Home Collection), so the Whisk Wednesdays group could opt to make chicken pot-au-feu from this other cookbook or poach salmon in Champagne. I thought the salmon and Champagne sounded tastier.

Champagne
Poaching in champagne. Although I would have loved to use real Champagne from the Champagne region of France, I couldn't justify the cost so I used an Italian sparkling wine instead. This recipe uses Champagne in both cooking the fish and in the sauce.

Fish Stock
The first step was to make a fish stock. Onions, carrots, and the fish are cooked for a bit before bathing it in Champagne and water. A Bouquet Garni and some salt and pepper add some flavor to the broth. This bubbles away on the stove for awhile, building flavor.

Poaching
Next, I prepared the salmon by drying it with paper towel and seasoning it with salt and pepper. After buttering a roasting pan and sprinkling the finely chopped shallot in it, I put the salmon in the dish. Then, I added the remaining Champagne and water. Topped with a butter parchment paper, it was ready for its quick oven bath.

In my reading about poaching salmon, I came across this interesting method for poaching fish in the dishwasher. I'll have to give this a try sometime.

Sauce
Finally, I made the sauce. I started with a roux and added the reduced 2 cups of fish stock. This simmered for about 10 minutes before I added the liaison of cream and yolk, slowly so as not to curdle the egg. I seasoned the sauce, and it was ready to go.

Recipe: Saumon au Champagne (Salmon in Champagne Sauce)

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

Salt and pepper