In Heaven, There Are Limes, Basil, Garlic & Pistachios

And a few more things, like butter and salmon.

Last night, the Beer Man was off building rockets and dining on fine food chez Auntie Am, so I made myself a small dinner. Browsing through Epicurious, using the magic words of “salmon” and “basil” I came across a wonderful recipe for Salmon with Pistachio-Basil Butter.  Sure sounded good!  But!  I had a lot less salmon, didn’t want a lot of butter, and had tons of garlic, basil, and pistachios.  Dutifully, I opened a bottle of 2006 Babich Marleborough Sauvignon Blanc (after fighting with its seal for ten minutes), poured myself a glass, and set to work.

First thought – complementary foods.  Jasmine rice, and a chopped tomato-cucumber salad.

Next thought – how much is enough?  The original recipe called for one stick of butter, which is way too much for two small salmon fillets, but the intensity of garlic and lime and salted pistachios seemed very alluring.  My results were something like this . . .

Pistachio-Basil Butter
1/2 c. roasted, salted pistachios
3 cloves garlic
juice of 1/2 lime
1/2 stick butter, at room temperature, and cut into small pieces
1/4 c. packed basil leaves

Pulse the garlic, lime juice, and basil leaves together. Add the pistachios. When fine, add the softened butter, and blend until as smooth as possible.

Meanwhile . . .
Preheat oven to 400 F. Oil pan. Lay out the salmon fillets in pan and pour about 1/2 c. white wine into the pan. I had a very small pan, and poured in wine to come about a third of the way up the sides of fillets. Bake the salmon for ten minutes, then place about 2 T. of the butter on each fillet. Bake another five minutes. Remove from oven, and serve.

Observation
I had leftovers of the butter mixture, so tried some of the butter after it had baked for 5 minutes, and some which had not. The flavors blended nicely during the time in the oven, and the butter did not melt and dissolve all over the fish. And the unbaked butter? See below.

Caution!
Someone mentioned in the comment area for this recipe it was really difficult to not just sit down and eat the butter mish-mash. Absolutely correct! This stuff is deadly delicious.