Salmon en Croute with Champagne Beurre Blanc

This is the perfect celebration dish! It can be setup as a self serve delight or it can be elegantly plated for all those extra special dinner soirees!

You could also serve this dish cold and in lieu of the decadent butter sauce, you could serve a basic vinaigrette instead. No matter how you choose to serve it, it’s the kind of dish that’ll elevate your party to the next level and have all your guests talking until next year.

Salmon en Croute with Champagne Beurre Blanc

Serves 4-8

Ingredients:

• 2lbs salmon loin, skin removed and trimmed
• 1 sheet puff pastry
• 1/2 large fennel bulb, thinly shaved
• 1/2 red onion, thinly shaved
• 1 shallot, finely minced
• 2 tablespoons fennel fronds, finely chopped
• 2 sticks cold butter
• 1/4 cup champagne
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1 egg
• Salt

Directions:

1. Add 2 tablespoons of butter to a large sauté pan o we medium-high heat. Once melted, add the fennel and onions and cook until softened. Add in the cider vinegar and cook until completely reduced. Season with salt and remove from heat to allow to come to room temperature.
2. Crack egg into a bowl with 1 tablespoon of water and whisk to combine. Set aside to use for your egg wash.
3. Season salmon fillet with salt on both sides.
4. Roll out puff pastry to 1/8″ thickness. Place room temperature fennel and onions in the middle of the pastry dough in roughly the place the salmon will be. Place the salmon fillet on top of the veggies with the bottom of the fish facing up. Brush edges of the pastry with egg wash and fold over the salmon, pressing the edges together to form a seal to completely encapsulate the fish.
5. Place the covers fish onto a baking try lined with non-stick parchment paper. Brush the outside of the pastry with the egg wash and then place into a 400 degree preheated oven and bake until crust is golden brown and flakey (about 40 minutes).
6. While the salmon is cooking, place a small sauce pan over medium-high heat and add two tablespoons of butter. Once the butter has melted, add the shallots and cook until softened (2-3 minutes). Once the shallots soften, add in the champagne and cook until the champagne reduces down to about 2 tablespoons (about 15 minutes). Remove from the heat and add the cream and the remaining cold butter and whisk until the butter has completely melted and emulsified. Add in the fennel fronds and stir to combine.
7. Once the salmon has finished cooking, allow to rest for at least 10 minutes.
8. Slice and serve with the sauce.