Salmon Pinwheels
Rosemary Stuffed Roast Salmon with Truffle-Onion Sauce

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This wonderful and spectacular recipe is courtesy of Jenise Stone, Moderator of the Food Lovers Discussion Group.

Jenise says, “This is a very elegant and spectacularly attractive way to prepare salmon. These salmon pinwheels are pure seduction with the aromas of rosemary and truffles. It's also much easier and lower fat than the complex flavors would suggest. The stuffing comes together in about five minutes, is patted onto the butter flied salmon filet, and rolled. My inspiration for this dish was a request to prepare a dinner for an out-of-town colleague of my husband's. I was asked to feature fish as the main course and make the meal vaguely Italian. Well, I had this idea for a truffle sauce rolling around in my head. I had played with the combination of truffle powder in a Béarnaise sauce I made a few months before, and was planning to do something with that, adding rosemary, and serving it with grilled salmon. But standing in line at Wild Oats, waiting to buy salmon, I saw some flank steak pinwheels in the meat case. Suddenly I had a whole new idea! The rosemary moved from the sauce to the fish itself, and out of all that came what I consider the best salmon dish I've ever made. Pinot noir is the obvious wine match, particularly one with a little bit of age on it to catch the truffle aroma.“

Salmon Pinwheels

1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons finely diced onion
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1 cup Panko crumbs* or Fresh Homemade Bread Crumbs
2 tablespoons water
Coarsely ground black pepper and salt to taste
1 1/2 to 2 pounds (6-inch piece) salmon fillet
Olive oil
Truffle-Onion Sauce (see recipe below)

* Panko [PAHN-koh] - Japanese type of bread crumbs are larger crumbs, stays crisp longer, and is considered better than ordinary bread crumbs when using on seafood. These bread crumbs are very popular with chefs.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Melt butter in a small saucepan; add onion and sauté until translucent. Add the rosemary and Panko or breadcrumbs. Add, water one tablespoon at a time, stirring with a fork until the breadcrumbs are nicely moistened. Taste and add pepper and salt if needed. Remove from heat and set aside.

Wash salmon and pat dry. Remove salmon skin and any bones. Position the fish so that the belly (fatty, thinner piece) is toward you (South) and as if the tail and head, were still there, are West and East respectively. Butterfly the filet by cutting from south where the meat gets thicker to north, such that the filet will open away from you, and to within about 3/4 inch of the end.

Fold the fish open. Spread the rosemary crumb mixture from North to South, stopping about 2 inches from the bottom. Roll the fish North to South, then secure with string. Rub the outside with a little olive oil to prevent the fish from drying out.

To bake, place in a large open casserole dish (glass is a gentler surface for fish than metal) and roast in oven for approximately 35 to 40 minutes or until a meat thermometer registers an internal temperature of 140 degrees F. Remove from oven, and let rest for a few minutes (lightly covered in aluminum foil) before slicing. NOTE: Remember the salmon continues to cook after it is removed from the heat source (meat temperature will rise 5 to 10 degrees after it is removed from the oven and the juices redistribute).

While salmon is cooking, prepare the Onion Sauce.

Carefully transfer salmon to a cutting board and cut into 4 individual servings. Serve each serving with 1/4 cup Onion Sauce under the salmon on individual serving plates.

Makes 4 servings.

Truffle-Onion Sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon truffle flour**
1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
2 heaping tablespoons finely diced onion
1 cup milk
Salt