Escalopes of Salmon with Champagne & Chive Sauce
Submitted by fullmoon
Thin salmon escalopes grilled in barely a minute and served in a frothy champagne and chive cream sauce. An elegant, restaurant-style dish that cooks fast yet looks dinner-party special.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
15 minCOOK
10 minREADY
30 minThis is the kind of dish that looks like it took all afternoon and actually takes minutes. Slicing the salmon thin, into escalopes cut on a slant, is the whole secret: at barely a quarter-inch thick, they cook through in about a minute under a hot grill, staying silky and just-set rather than dry.
The sauce is pure French finesse. Shallots soften in butter, champagne and fish stock reduce down to a concentrated, glossy base, and cream pulls it together.
The showpiece move comes at the end. A separate spoonful of cream whipped with a little champagne and chives gets folded into the hot sauce, sending it into a delicate foam.
Pour it around the salmon and rush it to the table while it’s still frothing, before the bubbles settle.
Pro Tips
- Run your fingers along the fillet and pull every pin bone with tweezers. Nothing ruins an elegant escalope like a hidden bone.
- Hold the knife at a 45-degree angle as you slice toward the skin. The slant gives you wider, thinner pieces that cook evenly in seconds.
- Reduce the champagne and stock by a full three-quarters before adding cream. That concentration is where all the flavor lives.
- Serve the instant the whipped cream goes in. The foam is fleeting, so warm your plates ahead and have everyone seated.
Variations
- No champagne open? A dry sparkling wine or even a crisp white works in its place.
- Swap chives for fresh dill or tarragon to shift the herb note.
Ingredients
Directions
For the sauce, melt 10g/¼oz of the butter in a saucepan, add the shallot and cook, without colouring, until softened.
Add the 120ml/4fl oz of champagne and boil for 2 minutes, then add the stock and sugar.
Boil rapidly until reduced by three-quarters. Add half the cream, bring to the boil and reduce until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon.
Meanwhile, prepare the salmon escalopes. Remove any bones from the fillet with tweezers or by trapping them between the point of a small, sharp knife and your thumb.
Then, with a large filleting knife or carving knife, cut the salmon into 12 slices about 5mm/¼in thick, holding the knife at a 45-degree angle to the fillet and cutting at a slant down towards the skin. This will give you wider slices.
Brush each escalope with a little of the oil, season lightly with salt and then put them on a lightly oiled baking tray.
Preheat the grill to high. For the sauce, whisk the remaining cream with the 1 tablespoon of champagne and 2tsp of the chopped chives until it forms soft peaks. Set aside.
To finish the dish, grill the salmon escalopes for about 1 minute, then put them on four warmed plates.
Bring the reduced sauce to the boil, whisk in the remaining butter, then the whipped cream mixture and pour around the salmon. Sprinkle with the remaining chives and serve immediately, while the sauce is still foaming.
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