Chef Enworth’s kitchen: the salmon challenge
The Lifestyle team challenged chef Enworth Davis of Muse to come up with two salmon recipes that would be easy to replicate in our kitchens at home. Go to www.royalgazette.com to watch him prepare the pan-seared salmon and check out the recipes below:
Salmon En Papillote
Ingredients:
Soft butter as needed
3oz leeks, julienne
4oz fennel bulb, julienne
3oz carrots, julienne
3oz celery, julienne
3oz sweet pepper, julienne
6 6oz salmon
Salt and pepper to taste
6oz herb butter (recipe below)
Method:
1. Cut six heart-shaped pieces of parchment paper large enough to contain one portion of the salmon and vegetables when folded in half.
2. Brush each piece of parchment paper with soft butter.
3. Toss the vegetables together. Place one-sixth of the vegetables on half of each piece of the buttered parchment paper.
4. Place one portion of the salmon on each portion of vegetables, season with salt and pepper.
5. Top each potion of salmon with 1oz of herb butter.
6. Fold each piece of paper over and crimp the edges to seal it.
7. Place the envelopes (papillotes) on a sheet pan and bake in a preheated oven at 400F for eight to ten minutes
8. When baked, the envelope should puff up and brown. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.
Herb butter
Ingredients:
8oz soft butter
1oz chopped chives
1oz chopped dill
1oz chopped parsley
1oz chopped chervil
1oz chopped tarragon
1oz chopped basil
2oz minced onion
2oz lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
Method:
1. Mix all ingredients together. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
2. Place the compound butter on plastic wrap.
3. Roll the butter in the plastic wrap to form a cylinder
4. Place butter cylinder in the refrigerator to harden.
5. When hardened, cut slices from it and use as desired.
Pan-seared salmon with apricot citrus glaze with a seasonal garden salad dressed with lemon vinaigrette
5oz salmon centre-cut
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
1½ tsp olive oil
1. Heat olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
2. Season salmon with salt and pepper
3. Place the salmon skin side up in the pan. Cook until golden brown on one side, about four minutes. Turn the fish over with a spatula and cook until it feels firm to the touch, about three minutes more.
Apricot citrus glaze
2oz apricot, diced small
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1tbs lime juice
1tbs orange juice
Method:
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and cook until mixture is reduced to half its volume.
Salad
Artisan baby lettuce
Cucumber
Tomato
Dried cranberries
Avocado
Local broccoli sprouts
Toasted almonds
Lemon vinaigrette
1oz lemon juice
1oz white vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp sugar (optional)
2oz vegetable oil
2oz extra virgin olive oil
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Method:
1. Combine all ingredients except oil and whisk until lightly frothy.
2. Slowly add oil until mixture becomes thick.
3. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
Enworth Davis’ progression as a chef is storybook material. He started cooking in his native Jamaica around the age of five. Because his parents started work early and finished late, he and his four siblings took turns preparing the family meals. He trained as a machinist/welder but soon grew dissatisfied and enrolled in a hospitality school. Less than a year later he joined the Super Club Resort Grand Lido. He spent three years training in Piacere, the luxury hotel’s French restaurant. According to the chef, it changed his life forever. He arrived in Bermuda in 2000 as executive sous chef at Daniel’s Head Village and is now part owner of Muse Restaurant & Sky Bar in Hamilton, where he’s also the executive chef.
Below, a few things about him you probably didn’t know:
What do you do during your time off?
Cycling, kayaking, reading.
What’s your favourite tipple?
Red wine.
Who’s your cooking idol?
[Canadian] chef Frank Sham, a ‘crazy’ chef whose work ethic is second to none.
What would you do if you weren’t a chef?
An artist (sculpting and painting). I presently do ice, butter and salt sculpting as well as other forms of food art.
