What's Pressoir Cooking?

by Justine Puaud

January 4, 2023

Salmon Coulibiac
Holiday recipe for a festive evening

Happy New Year to you all! I hope you had a very festive holiday celebration and opened fantastic wines.

As some of you remember, gastronomy is part of my in laws’ DNA. They cook, they talk about cuisine when they eat and they think about the next meal after dinner. Christmas is an important celebration and we try to come up with new recipes and delicious menus.

My sister in law, who worked for 5 years at Le Flocon de Sel, the 3 Michelin starred restaurant in Megève, just joined the restaurant Le Carmin in Beaune. They made delicious salmon coulibiac for the holiday season and revisited the old recipe a bit. She loved it so much that she decided to make one for our Christmas dinner.

A few tips before sharing the recipe. She makes a brioche paste for the coulibiac instead of a puff pastry. She adds mushrooms with the spinach and put the rice on a side instead of adding rice and eggs into the stuffing. She makes a “beurre blanc” sauce (white butter sauce) on a side too…

Ingredients

For the brioche paste

18 oz (500g) sifted flour

8oz (200g) butter

4 eggs

0.5 oz salt

A pinch of sugar

0.5 oz yeast (7 ml instant yeast)

A deciliter of warm milk

For the stuffing

1¼ lb salmon tail fillet, skinned

1½ level tablespoons chopped, fresh parsley

salt and freshly milled black pepper

3 oz (75 g) butter

1 medium onion, finely chopped

4 oz (110 g) small button mushrooms, finely sliced

1 level tablespoon chopped fresh dill

1 level teaspoon lemon zest

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 oz (25 g) butter, melted

1 egg, lightly beaten

Instructions

Make the brioche dough the day before the dinner. It takes about 9 hours between making the dough and cooling. We use the recipe from the famous Escoffier’s Le Guide Culinaire. Check out the recipe here.

Once the brioche is ready, roll out the dough to about 12 x 15 inches or slightly larger. Once the dough is rolled out you can start the assembly.

Add the layer of spinach (sauteed with the shallots). Next, add the mushrooms, you’ll notice how dark they are. Let the mushrooms cook for about 15 minutes to allow them to caramelize to enhance the flavor.

The final layer is the salmon. Season the salmon well with sea salt and black pepper (don’t be afraid to overseason the fish). Then add pieces of the fresh dill on top of the salmon.

The last step is to add the top layer of puff pastry dough. Brush the edges of the bottom layer with the lightly beaten egg, before adding the top layer. The egg will help it seal. Next, use a fork around the edges to further seal the puff dough. If you have skills you can add your own special touch to the dough.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 50-60 minutes or until the puff dough is golden brown or the internal temperature has reached 165 degrees F.

Cook basmati rice for the side and serve with a beurre blanc sauce…

Bon appétit!