I'm excited to bring you another collaboration with Wheatsville! If you're not from Austin, Texas, you probably don't know about this awesome market. Wheatsville Food Coop is a full service, natural foods cooperative grocery store, which has been serving the central Austin community since 1976. This month, I was challenged to welcome in Spring with a seafood recipe.
When I think of Spring, I think of the house I lived in when I was 8 years old, with the pond in the backyard. Every spring, the town would hold a fishing derby in that pond--it actually was on town land, but I considered it my back yard--and for the few years we lived there I'd rush down on that weekend in the spring to fish with my dad.
I rarely caught anything, but fishing is a fond memory I have with my dad, who passed away in 2007. Although we would catch trout or pike in that pond (and we'd never eat them, they always tasted too much like pond water), my dad would cook salmon for us often. It was one of the few things he could actually cook well, as he was a pretty terrible cook in all other cuisine.
In short, spring reminds me of fish, and reminds me of my dad, so I am so happy to make this recipe for you all. My dad used a cream sauce on his dishes, but for this I used browned butter to cut down on the heaviness. After all, the days are getting longer and the need for thick and creamy dishes is more of a winter thing.
I paired this fresh spring dinner with crispy roasted brussels sprouts and some boiled new potatoes with butter and chives. It would also go lovely with some fresh grilled asparagus if you don't want to turn on the oven. And feel free to drizzle the sauce over everything, it's delicious!
- 1 salmon fillet
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 boullion cube
- 1/2 stick butter
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp fresh dill, chopped*
- 1 lemon, half juiced, half sliced
-In a deep skillet, bring the water, wine, vinegar, and boullion cube to a boil. Make sure there is enough liquid in the pan to cover the fillet.
-Reduce to a simmer, then gently drop in the fillet, flesh-side up. Simmer for 5 minutes, or until firm and opaque. Set aside in foil to keep warm.
-In a small saucepan, brown the butter: over medium heat melt the butter and heat until foam has bubbled up and then subsided, swirling every couple of seconds. The butter will be light brown and have a nutty aroma.
-Remove the butter from the heat and stir in the dijon, dill, and lemon juice.
-Serve the salmon fillet topped with lemon slices and drizzled with the browned butter sauce.
*I forgot I bought fresh dill from Wheatsville for this recipe, and ended up using dried. It'll taste even better with fresh!
Photos by my extremely talented fiancé. If you'd like to hire him for any photo, logo, or other graphic needs, check out his website! Corysorel.com.
Do you live in Austin, Texas? Do you want to win a $30 Wheatsville gift card? Leave a comment and let me know you live in the ATX and I'll randomly pick one winner!
