Crab Stuffed Salmon Pinwheels w/Browned Butter Wine Sauce

I’ve been trying to add more fish to my diet lately.  So I stopped at the seafood market and my fish monger suggested the Salmon that he had just gotten in.  It looked so fresh and didn’t take much at all to convince me.  I even got him to remove the skin for me.  Usually I would cook the salmon with it on, but I decided once seeing the fresh crab claw meat, that I would stuff the salmon.  Once I got it home I decided due to its thickness, I could actually make pinwheels using the crab as a stuffing.  I didn’t have any lemons, but a very good friend and co-worker of mine had brought me some fresh key limes off his tree yesterday.  So I decided to utilize some of them in this dish as well.  I think the rest might end up in a key lime pie.  As you can see, I served it with some fingerling potatoes diced up and broiled with olive oil and spices.

So with all my ideas rattling around in my head, I took a look through the spice cabinet and decided to keep it light and let the salmon and crab shine.  Y’all this was so easy, and your friends and family are going to be totally amazed at the results.  Heck, I was at myself.  Hope y’all enjoy.

 

Ingredients:

• 1 (1 1/2- to 2-pound) skinned  salmon strip, pin bones removed
• Salt and pepper

Crab Stuffing:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup minced shallots
• 1/4 cup minced celery
• 1 teaspoon key lime juice (or lemon)
• 1 cup diced cooked crab claw meat
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1 large beaten egg
• 1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed or 2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup white wine
• kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper
   

1. Preheat your oven to 450?.

2. In a medium skillet, sauté shallot and celery in butter until translucent. Remove from heat, cool and transfer to a medium bowl. Add lime juice, crab meat, bread crumbs, egg and dill, mixing well.

3. Cut salmon into two lengthwise pieces. Season both sides with salt and pepper. Make sure to spread the filling on the darker side of the salmon for a nicer presentation.  Spread crab stuffing on each piece of salmon.  Starting at the wider end, roll salmon up into cylinders. Use kitchen twine to tie salmon about every 4 inches to hold together.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour or so to make slicing easier.

4. With a very sharp knife, slice salmon into 1 1/2- to 2-inch portions. Lightly coat a glass baking dish with cooking spray. Place pinwheels in pan, cut side down, and pour wine around them. Brush pinwheels with butter, cover loosely with foil and bake 15-20 minutes or until done.

5. While the fish is cooking, place the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Melt and cook until the butter browns, watch it carefully and swirl the pan as you go, it will turn fairly quickly, don’t let it completely burn, just a light brown color.

6. Once the butter turns, add the flour and stir then quickly add the heavy cream and wine.

7. Stir the sauce until slightly thickened then remove from heat and add some salt and pepper to taste.

8. Remove the salmon from the oven , cut off kitchen twine, and serve with a bit of the sauce drizzled over the top.