Roasted Asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce

Thanksgiving, a time to get together with family to eat turkey and roasted asparagus with hollandaise sauce.  This year I contributed a vegetable to my family thanksgiving. I choose to follow in the footsteps of the Barefoot Contessa with her recipe. It was quite easy and definitely flavorful.

This recipe is from the

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Roasted Asparagus with Hollandaise
Copyright 2010, Ina Garten, All Rights Reserved
Serves: 8 servings

Ingredients
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks)
4 extra-large egg yolks, at room temperature
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 pinches of cayenne pepper
2 pounds fresh asparagus
Good olive oil

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Melt the butter in a small sauce pan. Place the egg yolks, lemon juice, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 3/4 teaspoon pepper and cayenne in the jar of a blender. Blend for 15 seconds. With the blender running, slowly pour the hot butter into the blender and blend for 30 seconds, until the sauce is thick. (You can leave it in the blender at room temperature for up to 1 hour. If it is made in advance, add 1 tablespoon hot tap water and blend for a few seconds before serving.)

Break off the tough ends of the asparagus and, if they're thick, peel them. Place the asparagus on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, then toss to coat the asparagus completely. Spread the asparagus in a single layer and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Roast the asparagus for 15 to 20 minutes, until tender but still crisp.

Pour the hollandaise sauce over the warm asparagus and serve.

The Hollandaise and the Asparagus are easy to cook. This is a vegetable that is easy to put together and is an elegant addition, and worth serving for Thanksgiving.

Panko Crusted Salmon by Ina Garten

Yes I eat a lot of salmon and a lot of chicken in my house. This fish is easy and delicious. I made this last night. This is the first recipe I had where I placed the saute pan into the oven to cook.  I used a honey Dijon mustard as opposed to a straight Dijon mustard.

This is what the fish looks like out of the oven.

Panko-Crusted Salmon
Source: How Easy Is That? by Ina Garten
⅔ cup panko
3-4 tbsp. olive oil, divided
2 tbsp. finely minced fresh parsley
4 (6-8 oz.) salmon fillets, skin on
1 tsp. lemon zest
2 tbsp. Dijon mustard
½ tsp. kosher salt
Lemon wedges, for serving
½ tsp. ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 425˚ F. In a small bowl, combine the panko, parsley, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and toss with a fork until the crumbs are evenly coated; set aside.

Place the salmon fillets skin side down on a work surface. Generously brush the top of each fillet with the mustard and then season with salt and pepper. Press the panko mixture thickly on top of the mustard on each fillet to help the panko adhere.

Heat the remaining olive oil over medium-high heat in a 12-inch oven-safe skillet. When the oil is hot, add the salmon fillets, skin side down, and sear for 3-4 minutes without turning to brown the skin. (If you don’t want to eat the skin, this step also helps the skin stick to the pan so the fillets can be easily removed without the skin later on.)

Transfer the pan to the preheated oven for 5-7 minutes, until the salmon is almost cooked through and the panko is browned. Remove from the oven, cover with foil and let rest 5-10 minutes. Serve warm with fresh lemon wedges.

I leave you with this quote:

"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious...the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science."

Albert Einstein

Scientist (1875-1955)

Panko-Crusted Salmon

Tonight for dinner I had sockeye salmon for dinner. It was yummy. Here it is...

The original recipe came from Tracey's Culinary Adventures.
Here is the recipe...

Panko-Crusted Salmon

adapted from Barefoot Contessa, How Easy is That? by Ina Garten

⅔ cup panko breadcrumbs	4 (6-8 oz) salmon fillets, skin on
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley	2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
grated zest of 1 lemon	1 tablespoon canola (or vegetable) oil
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil	lemon wedges, for serving

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Combine the panko, parsley, lemon zest, ½ teaspoon kosher salt and ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper in a small bowl.  Add the olive oil to the bowl and stir until all of the crumb mixture is evenly coated with the oil.
With the salmon fillets skin side down on a work surface, use a pastry brush to spread the mustard generously over the tops of the fillets.  Season the fillets with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, then distribute the crumb mixture evenly over the fillets and press to adhere.

Place the fish in a pyrex baking dish. Brown the crust in the oven for about 5-7 minutes.  Take the fish out of the oven and cover the pan with aluminum foil. and place it back into the oven. Bake in the oven for another 5 to 7 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from the oven, and let rest for 5-10 minutes.  Serve with the lemon wedges.

We really enjoyed the dinner. Hands down it was better than last night's Shepherd's Pie.