Salmon burgers with sauce gribiche

…or, Perfect Summer Dinner v. 1.0

I have a feeling there will be more of these “perfect summer dinner” posts, what with it only being the first week of it or so, so I thought I’d just preemptively number this and wish it well.

So I don’t know if I told you this (I have some of you in comments and such), but I’ve switched teams for awhile. No, I’m not a lesbian (ha! you wish) I’m just not eating meat for awhile. Since I had all the pork leftover from the roast (not to mention the whole loin I bought), still have the lamb, and still have the half a beeve, I’ve been literally forcing meat into every meal and my kidneys need a break. Oh, I’m sure I’ll crack soon – I have only had tofu or seafood since last Saturday. But before I switch back, ever so fickle, I made some wonderful salmon burgers, served al fresco. The burgers are actually store-bought salmon patties (whaddyagonnado) dressed up with a seasoned panko coating.

To really do this right, serve them with heirloom tomato salad (dressed simply with balsamic, walnut oil, fines herbes, a crack of pepper and a crunch of Maldon.
The warm spell demanded corn on the cob cooked the way my grandma always did: boiled with a spoonful of salt and sugar.

The only work I really had to do was in constructing the condiments. For the burger, I combined minced dill, tarragon, parsley flowers and a wee bit of chopped quickle with lemon zest, crème fraîche, a squidge of store-bought mayo, a bit of Dijon mustard and a drib of white wine vinegar. Salt to taste. (Yes, this is poser’s sauce gribiche because it has crème fraîche and doesn’t have boiled egg, but some of you are still adding cream to your buerre blanc so don’t even front.)

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A compound butter for the corn: minced thyme, oregano, and marjoram with some grated parm redge, garlic and S&P smashed into some good cultured butter.

This meal paired perfectly with Wandering Aengus heirloom blend cider. A match made in heaven!

Top the burger with a schmear of the sauce gribiche, a little thinly-sliced quickle and some butter lettuce (onion optional – I can’t go without, but Scott’s delicate palate is easily burned out by things like raw onion, horseradish, sharp mustard, etc.). Note the lovely pilsner glass in the background. It’s monogrammed! A birthday gift to Scott from his lovely mother Linda (he loves them, Linda!).

Hot fun in the summer sun!