CulinaryTwists: January 2013

As I have mentioned before I love to put fun twists on dishes. This is a recipe that I put together and competed with while I was in school for a caramel competition. The owner of Becky's Blissful Bakery wanted the HCC Club at WCTC to use her wonderful caramel sauce in an savory application. You can also view some of the other recipes of other student chefs who competed. http://www.beckysblissfulbakery.com/caramels/caramel-sauce

Alaskan Salmon w/ Mango Caramel Sauce served with Caramel Wild Rice and Vegetable Medley

Ingredients

Sauce

1 Mango peeled and diced

1 cucumber peeled, seeded and diced

1 cup heavy cream
2 T of Caramel sauce

TT salt and pepper

Salmon & Rub

4 4-6oz filet of Alaskan salmon with skin off

2 T of smoked paprika

½ T of cayenne pepper

1 T onion powder

1 T Garlic powder

½ T Kosher Salt

½ T fresh cracked black pepper

Wild Rice and Vegetable Medley

1 yellow onion peeled and small dice

1 red bell pepper peeled & small dice

1 yellow bell pepper peeled & small dice

1 pint baby Bella mushrooms small dice

1 cup Lundberg wild rice blend
1 1/2 T caramel sauce

Directions

Sauce

Combine the mango, cucumber & cream in a food processor and puree very fine.

Put sauce into sauce pan and cook on a medium heat for 10 – 15 minutes

Add the Caramel sauce and stir until dissolved.

Add salt and pepper as needed for taste.

If a smoother sauce is desired you can strain finished sauce through some cheese cloth or a china cap.

Salmon & Rub

Combine all the dry spices and rub over both sides of the salmon and set to the side for 20 minutes.

Heat up pan to a medium high heat with a little bit of Olive Oil

Cook Salmon in hot pan 2-3 minutes each side be sure not to over cook

Wild Rice & Vegetable Medley

Cook rice according to instructions on bag. (keep in mind that the rice takes an hour to cook)

Combine onions & bell peppers in a pan and sauté them until they are cooked but not mushy about 5 minutes.

Add Bella mushrooms and cook for another 3 minutes

Season with smoked paprika, cayenne, salt & pepper to taste and let cook 3 more minutes

Add 1 ½ T of Caramel sauce and let melt and coat vegetables

Combine vegetable mixture with wild rice making sure to reserve some of the vegetable mixture for Garnish of your salmon.

Presentation

Put a dollop of the mango caramel sauce on the plate and set the cooked salmon on top of it. Take a small ring mold or ½ cup measuring cup and fill with wild rice & vegetable medley and place on plate next to salmon.

Take some of the reserved vegetable medley and place it on top of the salmon.

Give this recipe a shot and give your family a tasty dinner treat! Let me know how it worked out for you.