Winter 2010

Stuffed Salmon with Bay Shrimp & Crab
(serves 4)
From McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurants
Stuffed Salmon
1 cup beurre blanc sauce (recipe below)
4 5-ounce salmon fillets
6 ounces bay shrimp
6 ounces Dungeness crab meat
6 ounce brie cheese, cut into ½ inch cubes
3 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
Pinch of salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 400°F. Prepare the beurre
blanc sauce and set aside. Split the salmon
fillets lengthwise to form a pocket for the
stuffing. Combine the shrimp, crab, brie, dill,
salt and pepper. Gently blend in the mayonnaise
to bind the mixture. Divide the stuffing
mixture between the four pocketed fillets.
When full, let the flaps cover the stuffing so
that only a small amount is exposed. Bake in
a lightly buttered baking dish for 10 to 12 minutes.
Transfer to dinner plates and spoon the
beurre blanc over the fish. Combine wine,
vinegar, peppercorns and shallot in a noncorrosive
saucepan (stainless steel, Teflon,
Beurre Blanc Sauce
(makes 1 cup)
6 ounces white wine
3 ounces white wine vinegar
3 whole black peppercorns
1 shallot, quartered
1 cup heavy cream
6 ounces cold, unsalted butter,
cut into pieces
3 ounces cold, salted butter,
cut into pieces
Calphalon). Reduce until the mixture is just 1 to
2 tablespoons and has the consistency of syrup.
Add the cream and reduce again until the mixture
is 3 to 4 tablespoons and very syrupy. Remove
the pan from heat. Add the butter pieces,
about 2 ounces at a time, stirring constantly and
allowing each piece to melt in before adding
more. (If the mixture cools too much, the butter
will not melt completely and you will have
to reheat it slightly. Strain and hold warm on a
stove-top trivet or in a double-boiler over very
low heat until you are ready to use.
“Voila! It was a picnic that was just
over-the-top delicious,” Newman recalls.
“It was the picture of bounty, and how
fortunate we are here.”
In Portland, Dungeness appears on
seasonal menus at Jake’s Famous Crawfish,
a downtown landmark for more
than 110 years and considered one of
America’s top seafood restaurants. It
features more than thirty types of fresh
fish and seafood, with an emphasis on
traditionally prepared fresh Northwest
products.
It is one of the McCormick &
Schmick’s Seafood Restaurants, where
Bill King is vice president of training
and culinary development. King came
to Oregon thirty-two years ago, after
beginning his career on the Atlantic
Coast, in and around his hometown,
Wilmington, Delaware.
Dungeness is as popular in Oregon
today as it was then, King says. He considers
the subtle sweetness of the meat best
suited to being served cold, in salads and
appetizers.
“I love nothing more than eating a whole
crab in the shell, cracking it, and taking
the time to pick it apart and eating it cold,
dipped in mayonnaise with a little Tabasco,”
he says. “The absolute premier portion
of crab is the legs, when you get the
white meat out of the shell, you have these
football shaped pieces that are as sweet as
anything, and they have a little more flavor
and body and great texture.”
The texture holds up well to being sautéed,
in crab cakes and used in stuffing, for
dozens of recipes, says King, whose cookbook,
A Chef’s Bounty, has recipes featuring
crab and other local ingredients—from
Marionberry elk chops to hazelnut-crusted
venison.
The process of deftly extracting crab
from its shell and savoring each bit is a
gastronomic pleasure linked to one of
King’s best memories. He had just begun
working as a chef at the original McCormick
& Schmick’s, formerly on First and
Oak streets in Portland. It was one of the
first dinner dates he ever had with his
wife, Jennifer, whom he had been dating
for about six months.
“We each ordered Dungeness crab, and
we sat and ate and talked, sipping some crisp
white wine for about three hours, picking
away at the crab and getting to know each
other,” King says. “I have vivid memories of
that, and that’s part of why I still love eating
Dungeness that way today.”
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