Monday, January 20, 2014

Baked salmon with cauliflower 'crumbs' and mustard dill béchamel

I was reading an article about the versatility of cauliflower, which is apparently on its way to displacing kale as the new 'it' food in 2014. Look for it at a mason jar-and-reclaimed wood-bedecked communal dining gastropub near you. 

The article described a chef who grated cauliflower into vegetable-based 'breadcrumbs'. I decided to try it myself. In his version, he had tossed the caulicrumbs with garam masala but I left them plain so the flavours wouldn't overwhelm the mustard dill sauce. 

xx

Finely grate 3/4 cup raw cauliflower (see note below). Squeeze the juice of half a lemon onto a large fillet of salmon, then spread cauliflower crumbs on top. Bake salmon at 400F for about 15 minutes. 

While the salmon is cooking, melt 2T butter in a small saucepan. Then, sprinkle in 2T  flour and whisk vigorously until a roux forms. Gradually pour 1 cup of milk, continuing to whisk regularly. Add 2T Dijon (I used a truffle-flavoured version). Continuing cooking and whisking until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, approximately 10 minutes. Remove from heat and season generously. Stir in 1/2 cup chopped dill. 

Serve the sauce as an accompaniment to the salmon. 

Note: I found the cauliflower crumbs were still moist after baking. Next time, I plan to spread them on a baking tray lined with foil and broil until they start to brown and (hopefully) lose some of the moisture.


4 comments:

  1. I love Salmon! this looks delicious. I know the Bechamel Sauce makes this over the top good!

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  2. Cauliflower is taking the place of kale? Not soon enough, in my opinion. I know kale has a lot of great benefits but compared to so many other vegetables that are healthy in addition to tasting great, it really doesn't compare in my book. I am a big fan of cauliflower, though, and I'm always looking for new ways to cook it. The idea of cauliflower crumbs has me very intrigued, I'm going to have to get them a go!
    xox,
    Cee

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  3. I LOVE cauliflower and think it IS super versatile though it's a bit tricky to work with because of all the moisture in it! I love making it into "rice!"

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  4. omg yum....... this sounds incredible.

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