Seared Arctic Char, Shitake Mushrooms and Asparagus with Beurre Blanc

This is the second instalment from my adventure at the farmer's market. This recipe is incredibly easy and has very few ingredients. The beautiful thing about these ingredients is that they are all complimented well by butter. Recipe below is for 2 servings, but could be easily adjusted. You could experiment with different fish (salmon and arctic char are very similar, the char is just milder, or you could use trout). It's also worth noting that while arctic

char offers many of the same benefits of salmon, it's also on the Monterrey Bay Aquarium's list of sustainable seafood choices.

Ingredients:

- 1 small fillet of arctic char (about 1/2 lb)

- handful of mushrooms (I am using shitake, but if you can get chanterelles, us those!)

- 8-10 stems of asparagus

- 1 shallot, chopped

- 1/8 cup white wine

- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar

- 1/4 cup cold butter

To make the beurre blanc:

1. Combine shallot, white wine, and vinegar in a saucepan and bring to a boil, then reduce (to reduce, simply cover the pan with a lid and leave until mixture is reduce by about 1/2).

2. On low heat, whisk the cold butter into the mixture in small chunks. Continue to whisk until butter sauce is smooth and butter is fully blended. If it is not blending, you may need to remove from heat to whisk it in.

Instructions on preparing the char, mushrooms and asparagus:

1. Asparagus will likely take the longest to make, so start with this step. Break the woody part at the bottom of the stem off the asparagus.

2. If you have a steamer, use this to cook it. If not, half fill a medium size saucepan with water (it should be large enough to fit the asparagus leaning against the side) and bring to a boil. Add asparagus cover and reduce heat to medium. It will be finished when it has softened, but not wilted. About 6-8 minutes.

3. While the asparagus is cooking, fry the mushrooms in butter in a large fry pan over medium heat. They will be done when they have "sweated" out some moisture. About 3-5 minutes.

4. To sear the char, heat some butter in the pan on high. Add the arctic char, skin side down. Once the edges of the flesh start to change colour, flip the fish and cook the flesh side. When it slides around easily in the pan, it is finished. This should only take a few minutes.

5. Plate the mushrooms on top of the char, with asparagus on the side. Serve the beurre blanc over the char.

Wine pairing - 2008 Bonterra Chardonnay, from the Mendocino Valley, CA. I was looking for a good, buttery, oaky chardonnay (so I don't end up drinking Sandhill every time I make a butter sauce, although worse could happen) and I found exactly what I was looking for from this organic winery in California. This wine initially gives off a complex bouquet of butterscotch, spice, vanilla, and toasted nuts that is so characteristic of an oak-aged white, and the palette is filled with the taste of cooked apples. This wine has a long, buttery finish - excellent pairing for a beurre blanc (although you may be tempted to use a sauvignon blanc with both seafood and asparagus, the butter-based sauce demands a less delicate and more robust wine). I would also pair this with stronger cheeses. At $19.99, this wine offers excellent value as well!