Vive la différence: Salmon in Pinot Noir

Sometimes it pays to take chances in the kitchen. A couple of days ago, I was thumbing through the cookbook I'd just purchased ("My French Kitchen" by Joanne Harris) and decided to prepare her salmon in red wine. I don't usually serve salmon with red wine, much less cook it in an entire bottle of the stuff. But it was really good. And easy too. You start by melting 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter in a tablespoon of olive oil in a big skillet, then add a finely diced red onion, a chopped clove of garlic and 4 ounces of sliced mushrooms. Saute for 10 minutes.

Then sprinkle in 3 tablespoons flour and mix well (Julia Child says it's very important to cook the flour well before adding liquid to a sauce, so I did...) Then gradually add a 750-ml bottle of Pinot Noir or red Burgundy (I used Pinot Noir), mix 'til smooth and bring to a boil. Add 6 salmon fillets, with skin left on, spooning the wine over them evenly. Cover and simmer for 8 minutes. Lift out the salmon, keep it warm and bring the wine back to a boil. Spoon out the mushrooms and serve them with the salmon over rice. Very nice. Looks a little like beef burgundy when you serve it up, but tastes like beautifully poached fish. Perfect with a glass of red wine.