Gluten Free Pan Fried Salmon with Beurre Rouge (Red Butter Sauce)

For the last four years, if you asked me what the best salmon dish I ever had was I would have replied, "Canapes of smoked salmon on Guiness bread." Back in 2008, I had the pleasure of spending St. Patrick's Day in Dublin. While there, we took a tour of the Guiness factory and in celebration of the holiday, they were serving canapes made using Guiness. The salty chilled smoked salmon next to the warm, rustic Guiness bread was edible bliss. No salmon dish came close to touching it. Until last night.

Behold, the salmon dish that trumped the Guinness bread concoction.

Pan fried salmon with red butter sauce. It was my intention to pair this dish with purple sprouting broccoli, to enhance the flavors and to really play around with the presentation. But, unfortunately, I wasn't thinking and boiled instead of steamed my purple sprouting broccoli. My vibrant lovely broccoli that reminded me of wild sprigs of wisteria or lavender looked pretty humdrum when it came out of the pan.

For the beurre rouge (a butter emulsion made with red wine), place the diced shallots in a small sauce pan, add the wine and simmer. Let the liquid reduce by two-thirds. Once the wine has reduced, reduce the heat to the lowest setting and whisk in the butter, one cube at a time. This forms the emulsion. After all of the butter has been dissolved season the emulsion with salt, pepper and a few drops of lemon juice. Leave the emulsion on low, whisking every-so-often to prevent splitting, and prepare the salmon.

For the salmon, season the fish with salt and pepper. Fry skin side down first, for about 3 minutes. Flip over and fry for a further minutes. Serve with whatever combination of vegetables you'd like. If you use purple sprouting broccoli and fine beans, I'd recommend steaming as opposed to boiling.