You guessed it...I didn't really cook a whole pike, I used salmon, which had already passed through someone else's filet knife. But I did make this incredibly great beurre blanc sauce for the fish from the Le Cordon Bleu recipe. Incredibly. Good. And easy. All you need are shallots, wine, white wine vinegar, thyme, a bay leaf, creme fraiche, fresh lemon juice, salt, pepper, and butter. It takes just a few minutes. As you can see from the photo, Mark liked the sauce...a quick taste test indicated that he would prefer his piece dripping in sauce...and, oh, yeah, plopped on the asparagus as well. A keeper of a recipe, used sparingly probably, because I am not certain even Mark can afford all these additional calories each time we have salmon.
So, without further adieu, I give you Brochet au beurre blanc (Whole Poached Pike with White Butter Sauce), found on pages 307-308 {discussion of Beurre blanc (Emulsified butter with shallots) page 192} of Le Cordon Bleu at Home...well, minus the Whole Poached Pike thing as I used the salmon filet. To round out the meal, I threw together a little fettuccine Alfredo (because it is so French and all...sure, right, it was actually because Mark requested it), steamed some asparagus, and lightly sauteed some fresh mushrooms. Trust me, I dragged a tiny bit of each selection through a little beurre blanc sauce and it is downright sinful.
The most difficult part of French cooking is reconciling oneself to the vast amount of cooking vessels you will use for any given dinner: a fish poaching pan, a saucepan for the court bouillon, another for the beurre blanc and then a pot and pan for the pasta, a saute pan for the mushrooms, a steaming pan for the asparagus...yep, lots of pans. But SO worth it. Mark raved about it...it's always nice when the husband raves about accomplishments in the kitchen. Frankly, if he didn't, I wouldn't be doing this as I could truly get through life on salads and soups.
If you want to make this recipe at your own home, just purchase the cookbook Le Cordon Bleu at Home and give it a go. The techniques you need are shown clearly in the book, so rest assured it is all very simple if you take it one step at a time.
If you would like to see how the other Whisk Wednesday members fared in the class, click here, or better yet, come and join us! I have to say, you really will not be disappointed in checking out Shari's blog each Wednesday as she always includes a lot of extra information, the history of the dish, product reviews (for instance this recipe she compared seven different butters), little video clips on techniques, etc. That's why she is our whisking guru...she is amazing in the kitchen and her photography will leave you breathless. Go ahead...check it out!