Salmon with Toasted Lavender Almond Sauce

Adapted from Chef Mitchell and Steven Rosenthal, Postrio, San Francisco, CA. Trendy lavender is the perfect floral accompaniment to the nuttiness of blanched almonds, blended into the creamy sauce to complement a seared salmon entre.

Difficulty

Hard

Ingredients

Serves: 24

Almond-Lavender Sauce

.5 ounce Butter
8 ounces Shallots, sliced
4 ounces Leeks, white only, sliced
2 cups Dry vermouth
4 cups Heavy cream
2 tsp. Lavender, dried
8 ounces Blanched sliced almonds, toasted
As needed Salt and white pepper
As needed Lemon juice

Preparation

To make Toasted Almond-Lavender Sauce: In saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Add shallots and leeks; cook, covered, until soft but not brown.
Add vermouth; simmer until reduced to 1 cup. Add cream; bring to a simmer. Add lavender; cover and remove from heat. Let steep 5 minutes.
In blender, blend cream mixture and almonds until smooth; strain through fine strainer. Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice.
For each serving, to order: Season 1 salmon fillet with salt and pepper
In sauté pan over high heat, heat 2 teaspoons oil; place salmon in pan with skinned side up. When salmon is golden brown, turn over and place pan in 400°F oven
Bake for 5-8 minutes, depending on thickness of salmon, or until just cooked through.
Place salmon on serving plate; spoon 1/4 cup of Toasted Almond-Lavender Sauce over and around salmon. Garnish with 1 lavender sprig.

Did you know?

In addition to almonds being a delicious ingredient in our recipes they’re also heart healthy, gut healthy, and full of vitamins and nutrients - explore Health & Nutrition to learn more. Not only that, almond farmers are dedicated to sustainability - find out how they’re Growing Good.