Thyme Encrusted Salmon with Blackberry Gastrique Recipe

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Thyme Encrusted Salmon with Blackberry Gastrique Recipe

While I am enjoying some summer playtime with my family, several of my favorite food bloggers are sharing their talents with you. Today, Rachel of The Fromagette gives us this very tempting Thyme Encrusted Salmon with Blackberry Gastrique. I first introduced you to Rachel when I made her Creamy Carrot & Jalapeno Soup, which is now one of our favorite soups. Rachel is not only a great cook, but a cheese expert to the “n”th degree. She owned a high-end cheese shop in Washington state for five years and is currently working on a book on everything you wanted to know about choosing, cooking with and eating cheese. Yep, I’ll be first in line for that book.

You can also find Rachel on Twitter and Facebook. And now, let’s hand things over to Rachel.

Well over a decade old, this recipe has stood the test of time. I still love the flavor combinations and the way it looks with the thyme leaves pressed into the salmon like old style dried flowers. Having an out of control sweet tooth, I am particularly enamored with adding a note of sweetness to salmon.

Blackberries grow abundantly in the wild here in the pacific northwest, so as the season approaches I am excited to revisit this perennial fave.We are not having much of a summer here so far, so unfortunately blackberries are making a late appearance. But soon {should I willingly endure such a prickly undertaking} they will be available everywhere I look – free for the picking.

Remembering last years debate of purchasing vs. picking had me rethinking hand-picking, but luckily there’s a bit of amnesia involved. I will undoubtedly be waist high in blackberries bushes with no turning back before realizing I could have gone an easier route by visiting one of our local fruit stands or the farmers market. Oh well… for me, summer is all about recapturing the romanticism in the old fashioned rituals of days past.

1-salmon

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Thyme Encrusted Salmon with Blackberry Gastrique

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Total Time

From the kitchen of The Fromagette. Adapted from Sunset Magazine.

Yields 4

Ingredients

  • 2 cups fresh blackberries
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 large shallot, minced
  • 1/4 cup dry red wine
  • Salt and pepper
  • 4 fresh salmon fillets (1 1/2- 2 lbs total), skinned
  • 1/3 cup fresh thyme leaves, plus a few sprigs for garnish
  • 1/2 tsp ground cloves
  • 1 tbsp olive oil

Directions

  1. In a food processor or blender, puree 1¾ cups of the berries, reserving the remaining ¼ cup to use as a garnish. Pour through a fine strainer into a bowl; discard seeds.
  2. To prepare gastrique: In a 1- to 2-quart pan, mix sugar with ¼ cup water; cook, uncovered, over medium-high heat until reduced to a thick caramel-colored syrup, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat; carefully add vinegar.
  3. Return to low heat and stir until caramel is dissolved. Remove from pan and set aside. Rinse pan.
  4. In the same pan, melt butter over medium-high heat; add shallot and cook, stirring often, until just golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Add wine and cook, uncovered, until most of the liquid evaporates (watch carefully), about 5 minutes.
  5. Add berry puree and cook, uncovered, until reduced by half, about 6 minutes. Add the gastrique to pan. Add salt and pepper to taste; set aside.
  6. Rinse fish; pat dry. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  7. Mix thyme and cloves; spread on a large plate. Set fillets on thyme mixture; press to adhere and let stand a few minutes. Turn over; repeat to coat all sides.
  8. Add oil to a 10- to 12-inch frying pan over high heat. When pan is hot, cook fish until lightly brown, 1 to 2 minutes per side; transfer to oven in same pan if handle is ovenproof (or transfer fillets to a baking pan).
  9. Bake fish in a 375 degrees oven until fish is barely opaque in thickest part, 4 to 6 minutes. Spoon 2 tablespoons of sauce onto each of 4 heated plates; place a fillet on top. Place whole berries on top of and around fillet. Garnish with thyme sprigs.

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Comments

  3. Amy says

    Aug 3, 2011 at 6:39 am

    Now this is a good salmon recipe! I had salmon with blackberry before at a catered event and I was super skeptical, but I loved it! Thanks for the recipe I cannot wait to try this, I usually make Salmon once a week and I only have like 4 recipes so they get turned over pretty quickly! I will tell you how it turns out!

    Reply

  8. Pretend Chef says

    Aug 3, 2011 at 12:07 pm

    This looks incredible. What a great recipe and one that makes me miss back home. Growing up half the fun of blackberry picking was polishing off the ice cream in the bucket we were going to use. Haha!

    Reply

  13. marla says

    Aug 4, 2011 at 7:16 am

    So fun to see Rachel over here!! This looks amazing…the sweet blackberry sauce is something I have never tries with salmon. Must do so 🙂

    Reply

  16. Shelly Donahue says

    Aug 4, 2011 at 7:48 pm

    This brings back memories of my first date with my husband! We sat overlooking Shilshole Bay at Ray’s Boathouse in Seattle eating Copper River Salmon with Blackberry Port sauce. I think I’ll have to make this very soon!

    Reply

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