The Sears Chef Challenge Event 4: Orange-Sesame Crusted Salmon with Gingered Chinese Long Beans

Hard to believe that today was the last and final event in the Sears Chef Challenge!  It’s been great fun and an incredible experience.  Best of all, I’m competing for two wonderful charitable causes – the  Saddleback Church Food Pantry and The Sheepfold. Individual videos of each chef are being created from event 3 for voting, which begins on June 26 through July 10. Please, vote for me daily and help me win for these two giving and caring organizations!

Today we were at the Sears in Buena Park, CA. It’s so close to Knott’s Berry Farm that you can see the roller coasters.  My roots go back to Buena Park as my family lived there until I was five. My dad’s first church was the little white Church of the Reflection in Knott’s, long before it was an amusement park. Walter Knott himself agreed to allow my dad to hold services there if he would also hold a service for employees on Sunday before the park opened.  My history with Knott’s is still to this day why I am completely crazy about boysenberries! But today we are talking about salmon.  In season right now, what could be better (not to mention good for you) than fresh, wild salmon.

Our recipe today came courtesy of Chef Rachelle Boucher of Drawn to the Kitchen With Chef Rachelle. Have fun reading her terrific blog. She’s always up to something special! Chef Rachelle created a simple and colorful Asian-inspired salmon entrée and side dish of gingered Chinese long beans.

When I tested the recipe earlier this week the salmon was beautiful but the Chinese long beans were either non-existent or looked terrible at the market. When this happens to you – an ingredient is not available or not up to standards – find a logical substitute. Rather than driving out of the way to an Asian grocer I opted to use baby green beans. You’ll also find them labeled by their French name, haricot vert. Haricot vert, or baby green beans, are one of my favorite vegetables. They cook quickly, are tender to the bite and very versatile. Baby green beans work beautifully as a warm side dish and chilled as a green bean salad, nice as we anticipate hot summer weather.

To get the green beans ready ahead of time for today’s demonstration, I blanched them in boiling salted water  for 4 minutes, then “shocked” them in a bowl of ice water. Shocking in ice water stops the cooking process and sets the bright green color of the beans.  After chilling down, the beans can be drained and held refrigerated until needed. All you need to do is heat them up and finish with a sauce, in this case tossing with soy sauce and a little brown sugar.

To finish the green beans, heat up a sauté pan, fry pan or skillet. Cook the garlic, ginger and the white portion of the green onions in a little oil for a minute or two. Be careful not to burn the garlic. Add the green beans, stir together and heat through. Remove the green beans from the heat and add soy sauce and brown sugar. Stir to coat the beans and season with salt and pepper, to taste. You can use kosher or sea salt and fresh ground pepper, but I have another suggestion – roasted Szechuan pepper salt from Penzeys. Lightly spicy, aromatic Szechuan peppercorns are roasted then ground with flake salt to a fine powder. It’s a fantastic, almost floral-smelling pepper and salt blend that is a natural for Asian recipes. I’m hooked on it and use it for all kinds of seasoning needs.

For the salmon I mixed both black and white sesame seeds for a striking presentation. Marinate the salmon about 30 minutes at room temperature in oil and orange zest. To coat the salmon in the sesame seeds place the seeds in a pie plate or other shallow rimmed dish. Place salmon presentation side (opposite side of the skin) down into the seeds and press gently so the seeds adhere. Gently turn the salmon filets over keeping as much of the sesame coating intact as possible.  If a few seeds fall off, sprinkle extra seeds on to cover the spot. Cook in a hot non-stick fry or sauté pan, sesame seed side down, until the sesame crust is crisp and the white seeds are becoming golden. Turn salmon over and lower heat; cook salmon to completion.

This dish can be enjoyed two ways – either warm or cool. For the cool presentation, cook the salmon and set aside or even chill in the refrigerator. Fill a dinner-sized plate with crisp salad greens of your choice. I used organic baby arugula which has a lightly peppery flavor. Top the greens with the green beans. Top with the salmon. Spoon orange segments around the salad plate and drizzle the greens with the sauce as a dressing. Sprinkle with sliced green onions if desired for garnish.

For the warm presentation I change the sauce a bit. Heat a non-stick sauté or fry pan over medium heat. Pour the orange sauce in the pan and cook briefly until it gets bubbly. Add 1-2 tablespoons orange liqueur such as Grand Mariner or Cointreau and cook for 1-2 minutes. If you’d like the sauce thickened add 2-3 teaspoons of cornstarch slurry (equal amounts of cornstarch and cold water stirred together). Whisk into the orange sauce and cook for 1-2 minutes until the sauce thickens. Place hot green beans on a warmed dinner plate and top with the warm salmon.  Pour the orange sauce around the green beans and serve. Steamed brown rice or black Chinese Forbidden Rice would be a beautiful accompaniment. Forbidden rice is one of my favorite rices. It has an incredible deep purple-black color, nutty flavor and cooks perfectly in 30 minutes. Garnish with sliced green onions.

A few more notes on preparing these recipes. Use a microplane zester to get fine zest from the oranges and the fresh ginger root. Start by preparing the sauce, then move on to the salmon and green beans. I’ve arranged the recipe so you read it that way and made a few edits. Considered a vegetable oil, I use grapeseed oil. Grapeseed oil has a clean, light neutral flavor and a high smoke point. This means the oil can reach a high temperature before burning, making it great for sautéing and stir-frying. If you are not familiar with grapeseed oil, give it a try.

Orange-Sesame Crusted Salmon with Gingered Chinese Long Beans

Recipe Courtesy Chef Rachelle Boucher

Serves 4

Sauce Ingredients

2 oranges, peeled and segmented (zest oranges before segmenting and reserve for salmon)

2 teaspoons natural rice vinegar

2 teaspoons light brown sugar

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon good quality mustard (like Dijon)

Salt & pepper to taste

Salmon Ingredients

4 salmon fillets (6-8 oz each), skinned, pin bones removed

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest

Salt & pepper to taste

1 cup good quality white or black sesame seeds (combination of two is best visually)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil for pan searing

Gingered Chinese Long Beans Ingredients

1 large bunch Chinese long beans, cut into 1 1/2” pieces, stem ends removed (or baby green beans, see above)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 teaspoon sesame oil

2 large cloves garlic, finely minced

2 teaspoons grated ginger

6 green onions, thinly sliced white and pale green parts only (green tops thinly sliced, reserved for

garnish)

1 cup chicken or vegetable stock or water (not needed if using baby green beans)

1 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce

2 teaspoons light brown sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

1) For the sauce – stir together orange segments, rice wine vinegar, brown sugar, soy sauce and mustard. Season to taste. Set aside.

2) For the salmon – in a medium bowl stir together 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and 2 teaspoons orange zest. Place salmon in the bowl and gently turn to coat. Remove salmon to a plate and season both sides with salt and pepper. Allow to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

3) On a clean plate sprinkle approximately 1/4 cup sesame seeds and place a salmon fillet on top of seeds presentation side down. Press gently so the seeds adhere. Gently remove salmon to a clean plate or piece of waxed paper. Coat remaining fillets and set aside, adding seeds as necessary. Discard any unused seeds that have touched raw salmon.

4) Heat a large non-stick frying pan on medium heat and add vegetable oil. When oil is hot, add fillets and cook on medium for approximately four minutes on each side. You may need to cook for a minute more depending on the thickness of fillets. Remove fish to a plate just before desired doneness and let rest for 5 minutes to come up to finished temperature.

5) For the beans: Wipe out non-stick pan with a paper towel and place on medium-high heat. Add 1 Tbsp vegetable oil and 1 tsp sesame oil. When oil is hot, add long beans and stir-fry for two minutes. Add stock or water and reduce heat to medium, cook until beans are al dente and liquid is evaporated, add more liquid if needed. Add chopped garlic, ginger and the white portion of the green onions and stir-fry for one to two minutes. Remove from heat and add soy sauce and brown sugar. Stir to coat the beans and season with salt and pepper. Alternatively – follow my directions above for using baby green beans.