Recipes: Culinaria: Russia by Marian Trutter
Lososina Tushonaya S Susom Iz Petrushki
(Steamed Salmon in a Parsley [and Butter] Sauce
To steam the fish:
2 Large Salmon Fillets (cut into small portions)
7 tbsp butter (yes, you are reading that correctly)
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup pickeled gherkin brine
1 bunch parsley, finely chopped
1 bay leaf
For the sauce:
1 shallot, finely chopped
7 tbsp dry white wine
3/4 cup fish stock (reserved from steaming the fish)
2/3 cup butter (yes, more and yet more butter), cut into tbsp pieces
Salt and pepper (but you really don't need much salt if you are using salted butter)
1 bunch parsley, finely chopped
To steam the salmon, melt the butter, add the wine, brine, parsley, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover and steam fish for just about 3 minutes. Set aside and keep warm.
For the sauce, saute the shallots in the wine until the liquid has evaporated. Add the reserved fish stock and boil until it reduces to half its volume. Add the butter a piece at a time stirring constantly. This seems to be some kind of Russian style hollandaise sauce. Add the parsley and heat through, adding the fish back to the pan to warm it. Serve with blissfully plain boiled potatoes.
This is a good recipe. It's indescribably rich (as though it could be otherwise with all that butter!). However, two of the people eating it hate sweet pickles (Jay and I). Here're the changes I would make: 1. Cut down the butter slightly when cooking the fish. 2. Cut the brine to 1/8 cup, unless you LOVE sweet gherkins, then you might actually want to finely chop a few and throw them in. 3. Use a steamer basket to keep the fish out of the stock and prevent its being overcooked. 4. Strain the fish sauce through a sieve to remove the brown parsley. 5. Cut down the butter even further for the sauce and maybe add a little more wine.
All in all, everyone enjoyed it, but Yoga was compulsory today in order to feel secure in the right functioning of all arteries.
About the book:
Some people only discover what they are capable of when they are acting in the service of others. Pierre Bezhukov discovers this in the last chapters of Book 11. He is driven to do something for Moscow but realizes he hasn't the right temperament to make a good assassin. Instead, he finds himself wandering through flaming Moscow nearly delirious. He rescues a young girl from the fires and then prevents a French soldier from violating a beautiful young woman. He is arrested for his actions and taken into solitary confinement but he has yet to reveal his identity. This might be the event of his life that makes him change from a purposeless nobleman into a man.
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