GRILLED SALMON FILET WITH ASPARAGUS & BÉARNAISE AIOLI

Procedure

Preheat grill to high heat and brush with oil.

Separately, rub salmon and asparagus spears liberally with olive oil and season with salt. Place salmon on grill serving-side down and cook approximately 5 minutes before flipping over. (Most types of fish cook uniformly at ten minutes per inch of thickness. Salmon should be slightly rare in the middle to allow the wonderful richness of the Omega-3 fats to come through).

Grill asparagus for 2 minutes on each side or until tender.

To serve: Place 5 spears of asparagus in the center of each plate. Top with béarnaise aioli and salmon.

For the Béarnaise Aioli (yields 1½ cups):

Tie the peppercorns and 6 sprigs of tarragon in cheesecloth. In a heavy-bottomed sauce pan, simmer with the shallots, vinegar and wine until the liquid has been reduced by about 90%. Allow the béarnaise reduction to cool.

Place egg yolks in the bowl of a food processor. With the machine running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil and rice oil until it becomes thick. (If you don’t feel comfortable using raw egg yolks or would like to save a little time, 1¼ cups mayonnaise may be substituted for the egg yolk and oil mixture). Remove mixture from food processor, place in a bowl and fold in the lemon juice, béarnaise reduction, chopped tarragon and chervil. Season to taste with salt and Tabasco. Refrigerate until ready to use or up to 4 days.