Poached River Char With Pearl Barley Winter Root Vegetables Napa Riesling Chive Veloute Recipes

NAGE OYSTERS AND ASPARAGUS IN PERNOD VELOUTE

Steps:

• Bring the chicken stock to a boil in a small saucepan. In a heavy -bottomed pot, melt 4 tablespoons of the butter over medium-high heat. Add the leeks and saute, stirring for 2 minutes. Turn heat down to medium and sprinkle the flour over the leeks. Saute, stirring for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add the boiling chicken stock all at once. Beat vigorously with a whisk to incorporate the flour into the stock. Return to boil and add the celery. Reduce to a bare simmer, and cook for 30 minutes.
• When ready to serve, divide the raw oysters and the cooked asparagus tips among 6 wide, shallow soup bowls. If you find the soup too thick, add some oyster liquor to thin it. Strain the soup, bring it to a boil, add the Pernod, and turn off heat. Swirl in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter with a whisk. Season to taste and pour immediately over the oysters and asparagus in the soup bowls, keeping the oysters just above the surface of the veloute. Garnish with fresh tarragon leaves, if available.
• As an appetizer: The best way to use this recipe, we feel. A great start to a late-winter/early-spring dinner that leads, perhaps, into a roast leg of lamb. A wonderful way to serve it is to place the bowls before your guests, with the oysters and asparagus already set in them. Then, bring a tureen to the table and ladle the veloute over all.
• As a main course: If you simply increase the amount of oysters and asparagus-say 8 per person rather than 4-you'll have a light but filling main-course soup. Serve warmed French bread with it, and a light frilly salad tossed with fresh goat cheese.

VELOUTE

Steps:

• In a saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add flour and stir (using a wooden spoon). In a separate saucepan have hot stock over low to medium heat. While constantly whisking, gradually add hot stock to the roux (the butter and flour mixture). Simmer mixture while continuing to whisk. Sauce will thicken in a few minutes. ***To basic finished veloute sauce, add 1 cup sauteed mushrooms, Tabasco, and 1/4 cup grated Parmesan. Toss with pasta. Garnish with parsley.

PAN SEARED HALIBUT WITH GARLIC CHIVE SPAETZLE, LOBSTER AND FAVA BEANS WITH A WILD MUSHROOM VELOUTE

Steps:

• Mix milk, flour, 5 whole eggs, nutmeg, 1 teaspoon of salt and freshly ground pepper and minced garlic until the dough forms. Allow to rest for 30 minutes. Over a pot of salted boiling water, pass the dough through a perforated pan or spaetzle maker. Once the dumplings float, strain out of the water and place them on a tray until room temperature. Moisten with a little oil and store for up to 2 days, refrigerated.
• In a pot place 2 tablespoons of butter, 2 shallots, 1 cup of leeks and 1 cup of mushrooms and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes. Then add the fish stock and reduce by half. Add your 1-quart of cream and reduce by another two thirds. Place in a blender until smooth and pass through a strainer. Adjust with salt and pepper.
• You will need 2 pans for cooking and a small pot for your sauce. In a pan on medium-high heat, add the oil and allow 30 seconds to heat up. Then place the fillet of fish away from you in a pan so it doesn't splash you. While the fish is cooking, put the other pan on high heat, place half of the butter and allow to brown slightly. Once slightly brown add the spatzle and allow to cook for about 1 1/2 minutes. At this stage add the fava beans and lobster; allow to cook for no more than 2 minutes.
• Your fish should be almost cooked by this point with a nice golden brown crust, flip and finish for 1 minute. Place the sauces on warm plates with the spatzle saute in the middle and the drained fish on top.