Salmon with Morels in Cream Sauce

Morels are in season and I bought few at the store this weekend. Price does bite at $30 per pound! However, you don't need to buy many of them to make a nice dish. After doing a google search on recipes with morel mushrooms I came up with this creation last night. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

2 pieces of salmon cooked my usual way (the post about it is here)
8-10 medium and large morel mushrooms, cleaned and chopped to taste
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 teaspoon of freshly chopped thyme
1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup of white wine
3/4 - 1 cup of chicken stock
1 tablespoon of Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Preparation:

Pour olive oil in a small pan and on medium high heat saute shallot, thyme and morels for 3 minutes stirring. Deglaze with white wine and add chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low. Let the chicken stock reduce and mushrooms to cook for about 10 - 12 minutes. Next add heavy whipping cream and stir well. I let it boil a little bit stirring frequently until I got desired consistency. Salt and pepper to taste. To serve put salmon on a plate and pour morel sauce on top. I also had some elbow pasta to soak up that cream!

Nicoise Salad at Home

It is about time I made Nicoise Salad with seared Ahi Tuna. I always get it in the restaurants so why not make it at home? Two weekends in a row I have been doing just that. The salad is very easy to make however it takes some time to prepare all the ingredients. The recipe for two people is below.



Ingredients:

3/4 lb of fresh Ahi tuna
6-7 fingerling potatoes, peeled and cooked
10-12 green beans, blanched
10 green/black olives
2 hard boiled eggs, cut in half
5 cherry or plum tomatoes, cut in half
Olive Oil for cooking
Salt and Pepper

For dressing:
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons of Olive Oil
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1/2 of small shallot, finely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons of dijon mustard
1 sprig of fresh thyme, finely chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. In a small bowl whisk together all the dressing ingredients. Salt and Pepper to taste. Set aside.

2. Rinse Ahi Tuna with cold water and pat dry. I cut my piece into two pieces. Salt and pepper generously on both sides. Pour 1 tablespoon of Olive Oil in a pan and on medium high heat sear tuna on both sides for about 1-2 minutes a side (depends on how rare you want your fish to be). Transfer cooked tuna on a cutting board and slice it into 1/2 inch pieces.

3. Now it is time to assemble the salad on a plate. On each plate arrange eggs, tomatoes, potatoes, green beans, olives and tuna. Drizzle with a dressing. Salt and Pepper if needed. You can also add other ingredients such as cucumber, radishes, beats, asparagus and so on.