The Saffron Flowers of Zafriste - Recipe Within!

Hello all! I am so glad that you've come across my book. I am Chef Vasile Balimente. I prepare some of the finest cuisines in Carovige. In many letters, I've received the question of where I get my Saffron from. Well, dear reader, I assure you that I do not involve myself in the Saffron War. I’m sure that many of you are wondering what exactly are these Saffron Wars I speak of. Allow me to explain! Zafriste sports some of the finest crops in Ulvad! It’s a terrible shame that they are very territorial and places heavy, heavy tariffs upon their goods whence sold to outside countries. In the past few years, many a Carovigian noble have sought to steal from the legendary saffron field that belongs to the royal families of Zafriste. Their violet petals proudly display their orange and red stigma. To many, they are just ravishingly lovely things to put in your garden, but their true potential is the stigma! The noble families of Carovige and Zafriste constantly hire mercenaries and private armies to fight over these great fields. It is said, within the fields, are the spirits of those who have fought and died for these precious flowers vigilantly watch over and protect the flowers from the men who wish to fight over them. The curse of peace, they call it. It has been four years since the Lord-Regent of Carovige made a declaration to the nobles who created conflict in Zafriste, “If ye shall place footmen on the territory of our allies, ye shall be punished with treason. If ye shall steal from our allies in good conscience, ye shall be punished with high treason!” This ‘ultimatum’ has yet to hold any real meaning. Nobles still constantly send spies and footmen to steal from the fields. Some of these conflicts have been quite bloody! Usually, the footmen are nothing more than hired thugs pining for a few crowns, but there has been nearly a score of deaths over such an exquisite flower! Nobles then take any supply they have for me to use in some of my famous recipes amongst the court and my restaurant, Simple Spices. My most famous recipes use local ingredients. Very rarely do I have ingredients imported, of course. As saffron has a notably lovely taste and is quite expensive to have brought in, we do not wish to use too much, as the subtle flavor of saffron is what my patrons yearn for. As such, this recipe is simple and delicious: lemon salmon with a creamy white wine reduction sauce served atop saffron rice. Let’s begin! Ingredients: Seared salmon with a lemon-dill white wine reduction sauce 2 Salmon filets ½ cup white wine (dry is my personal preference) 2 tbsp white wine vinegar 1 Shallot, minced 2lb butter, chilled ½ tsp white pepper 2 tbsp of fresh lemon juice 4 tbsp fresh dilled, chopped Salt to taste Saffron rice pilaf 1 lb Basmati rice 1 tsp. Saffron threads 1 qt. Seafood stock (or boiling water) 3 fl. Oz of Ghee or clarified butter 1 Cinnamon stick (2 in.) 4 Cloves, whole 1 tsp. Honey ½ onion, finely diced ¼ Cardamom seeds Salt to taste The rice shall take the longest, so we start by preparing it first. Wash and drain your rice. In a pan, steep your threads of Saffron (as you would with tea leaves). In another pan, bring one quart of water to a boil. In a saucepan, heat your Ghee, then add cinnamon with your cloves. Add your onions and saute until they are soft and golden in color. Add your rice and cook until the grains have too reached a golden color. You must constantly stir as you add your stock (or water) to the pan along with honey, salt, and cardamom. Bring the pan to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Gently stir in the steeped saffron threads with its water. Cover and simmer until your rice has absorbed all of the liquid. Once it has absorbed the liquid, fluff your rice and serve. Whence your rice is absorbing the final liquid, move it away from the heat as we begin to prepare our delicious salmon. We shall begin our fish by bringing a pan to heat with a small amount of fat or oil. Season the filets with salt. The filets should gently sizzle as they hit the pan. Whence they do, you are at the correct heat. We simply wish to sear our salmon to get a lovely color upon it. Turn each filet and repeat until the top and bottom of each filet is the same lovely bronze color. We now wish to keep our salmon warm until the sauce is finished. In another saucepan, combine your vinegar, wine, salt, white pepper, and shallot. Reduce until you have about 2 tablespoons left within the pan. It is important that we reach that amount as if there is anything more the sauce shall be too thin. Next, we shall take our chilled butter and cut it into small ounce-sized cubes. The pan should be on low heat. Gradually, a few pieces at a time, whisk in the cubes. The butter is chilled so that we may keep our sauce from getting too hot and breaking. Once all the butter is incorporated, remove the pan from the heat. We shall strain the sauce and keep it at a warm temperature to keep it from breaking. At this time, bring the lemon juice to heat and whisk it into the strained sauce. Stir in our dill (save a small amount for plating). Excellent! Now that everything is complete, we must put it all together. Create a bed of rice on each plate. Place one filet atop each bed. Gently cascade our sauce atop each filet. Garnish with your chopped dill. Serve immediately. I suggest pairing this meal with a medium sweet or dry white wine. Wines with hints of citrus are absolutely magnificent with this meal.

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