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pretty good start to a chemical reaction.

If someone cooked this for us then we'd certainly be arranging an accidental hazardous

spillage and getting their clothes off ASAP.

This is a very fresh end piece of Norwegian salmon fillet.

It's almost odorless, and has quite a firm solid texture to it.

Actually the absolute best fish you can use in this recipe is fresh ocean trout.

But it's not as easy to procure as salmon in most places.

This is a pretty sexy looking fish so we're going to do something very sexy and sensual

with it.

It's a simple dish, and the secret is in the sauce and in the cooking method.

So let's do it.

First we're going to cut this larger piece up so we can deal with it properly.

To do this we recommend some brutal medieval samurai carbon steel technology.

Carbon steel is brittle, but extremely sharp.

They're the greatest knives on earth.

Need a lot of looking after, and can rust easily if you're not careful.

We've already cut the tail end section off.

So let's cut the thin piece down the side now, leaving us with a bit fillet.

These offcuts you can save to do many wonderful things with.

Our favorite is making puff pastry salmon and croutons rolls.

Here's our large fillet.

Now we're going to cut this into three pieces.

Okay here we go.

Remember to use gloves when handling salmon, especially if you're planning some romance

later on.

Or if you're seducing a chemist, then you could always try playing that classic timeless

guess the amine game.

Okay let's remove the skin.

Okay.

You can also deep fry the salmon skin and make very crispy tasty snacks, a bit like

pork crackling.

Here's our three fillets.

We're now going to show you the recipe using just one of these.

That leaves us two left over for a little soiree later on.

One more task though before this is ready to cook.

We've got to remove the bones.

Okay.

These are generally present in a line across the fillet, and you can sometimes see them.

Run your finger over the fillet and you will feel where they are.

Use some pincers to gently remove them.

Okay we're done.

We're going to cut this into three pieces.

We're now going to place our fillet on a plate and into the fridge until we're ready

to cook it.

Salmon is supposedly touted as being healthy because it contains a lot of omega 3 fatty

acids.

But we've read the literature and there's not a whole lot of evidence that there's a

real benefit to eating large quantities however.

They are certainly important for metabolic processes and can't be synthesized by your

own body, but it seems as though small amounts are sufficient to get the benefits.

Okay.

So with that in mind we're going to want to serve this with something that we know is

definitely good for you.

We're also going to need a sexy and sensual sauce to go with our salmon.

So why not kill two birds with one stone?

Yup, you've guessed it.

Butter.

Specifically French unsalted butter.

We couldn't get ecchier or lessque, so we're sadly going to have to slum it.

But President is also good and will work fine.

So we're going to serve this with something that we know is definitely good for you.

Here's 125 grams.

That should be enough for two people.

Get it into the fridge so it's nice and cold ready for use later on.

Okay so let's gather together the other ingredients for our sauce.

First of all we're going to need some white wine.

Which is convenient because we were going to need that to anesthetize our seduction

subject anyway.

And ether is just so sixties.

Three tablespoons of white wine.

Just over 30 mils by the looks of it.

And in addition to that, white wine vinegar.

This time we'll be using two tablespoons.

Here's our wine and vinegar base.

And now for our shallots.

We've already peeled them and here we've got 40 grams of the peeled shallots.

Unlike in the steak sauce recipe, this time you can leave the inner layer of the shallots

intact.

So this is a bit more efficient.

We're going to chop these up finely now.

The magic of TV.

There we go.

Forty grams of finely chopped shallots.

You should chop them finely as well.

Okay one more ingredient to sex up our sauce and give it some interesting flavors.

Two bay leaves and two sprigs of fresh thyme.

You can use dried herbs if you must, but if you do you're going to be crying over that

wine alone tonight.

Okay as well as the butter chilling in the fridge.

And now we're going to make our sauce.

Here's our sauce ingredients.

So let's do it.

Here's a small but heavy bottomed saucepan.

First we add the shallots.

And now the wine and vinegar.

And finally the bay leaves and thyme.

And now we'll get this on a low heat.

What we want to do is very gently boil the mixture and reduce it down until all the juices

from the shallots come out.

And then the mixture simmers down until there's hardly any liquid left.

Go nice and slow.

And don't allow it to burn or even go slightly brown.

Remember that unlike ethanol.

Acetic acid from the vinegar.

Vinegar doesn't form an azeotrope with water.

So to remove the acid component we do really need to boil it down until there's almost

no liquid left.

This is looking good now.

Don't let it burn.

Get it off the heat when it's nearly dry.

Now we've measured out 20 mils of water.

We add this to the still hot pan.

And this goes back on the low heat for a minute just to get it warm again.

Don't boil this time.

So here's our chilled butter.

We now cut it with a knife.

off a lump and using a fork, we'll get this into the pan and we'll use the

butter to stir the mixture around.

As the butter melts and incorporates with the whisking motion, it should form

a milky colored emulsion. And keep this going, slowly adding the butter. You may

need to reheat the pan occasionally or take it off the heat if it gets too warm.

Just don't let it get too hot or boil. Pretty soon you've got a nice-looking

emulsion sauce developing in there. Don't wimp out, you've got to use all of that

butter.

Here we go. All incorporated. What we've got going on now is the ultimate non-polar

solvent extraction as the fats in the butter suck out all of the flavors from

the shallots and herbs. Let's get this off the heat now, and the first thing

we're now going to do is strain the mixture into a clean bowl in order to

remove the lumps.

Use a spoon and really squeeze every bit of juice out of those shallots. And there

we go. Not very difficult, but we've just prepared a classic French sauce known as

a beurre blanc. Do taste it and then use some salt and white pepper to adjust the

seasoning until the flavor is at a peak.

And now leave this in a warm place. Do not chill it down or otherwise the sauce

will separate and it will become oily and absolutely revolting. Don't leave for

too long or you will get food poisoning. So let's quickly cook the fish. It's nice

and chilled having been in the fridge, and that's how we want it ready to cook.

So let's first season with some good quality flaky sea salt. If you like to

grill or barbecue meat and fish, Maldon or fleur de sel is a good

investment. Trust us.

And now a little olive oil. And the same on the other side of the fillet.

So we're ready to cook. We're going to use the same ridged skillet pan we used

for the steak.

The cast iron and very good heat capacity are the tricks to success.

A little oil. Wait until the oil starts to smoke and the pan gets really hot

before trying to cook. Otherwise your fish could stick to the pan.

Time for ventilation.

Let's rock.

Doesn't take long. You want it crispy and brown on the outside and changing direction on the skillet creates a nice checkerboard appearance.

effect on the fish the salmon now goes on to a warm plate and we'll let it rest

there while we prepare a vegetable accompaniment saute a little bit of

spinach in a hot pan with some butter for just a few minutes then allow the

excess water and butter to drain off

assembly time place the fish on top of the spinach on a plate pour over the

juices which accumulated on the plate these are gold do not waste them gently

reheat the beurre blanc sauce and serve around the outside

and we have romance

you've probably got quite a lot of beurre blanc sauce left over but after

you've arranged that spillage and got those clothes off we'll leave it to

your imagination as to what to do with it

okay well the only thing now missing is to finish off that wine we were forced

to open in order to make the sauce it's a hardship we recommend a white wine

with a bit of power but enough acidity to cut through the oily salmon and the

buttery sauce classically you don't serve too fine a wine with a sauce

containing vinegar though so there's no need for a grand crew a minerally premier

crew should leave and we're ready to serve!

from the northern burgundy will adequately suffice and what you're

looking for from the salmon is for the outside to be almost crispy in texture

but with the inside cooked and flaky but not overcooked and retaining the

glossy silky texture and attractive orange pink coloration

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