Steps in Preparation

01:30 – Preparing Rice
08:33 – Preparing Beet Salad
15:17 – Preparing Salmon
29:10 – Preparing Mandarin Vinaigrette
33:50 – Preparing Salsa
44:11 – Plating the Meal

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Fine Dining Mexican Style with Chef Fernando Olea

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Join one of Santa Fe’s most distinguished and well respected chefs, Fernando Olea, while he prepares Salmon Baked in Banana Leaves with a Fresh Basil sauce and a flavorful and beautiful Beet Salad. All prepared with easy to find ingredients that you might already have in your refrigerator at home!

Beet, mandarin, baby arugula, fresco cheese, pecan halves, fresh basil, tomato, 2 jalapeños, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, mandarin juice, sesame oil, champagne vinegar, sugar, salmon, mandarin oranges, lemon, banana leaves, fennel bulb, jasmine rice, vegetable oil

Ensalada de Vetabel (Beet Salad)

For the Salad:

  • 1 beet
  • 1 mandarin orange
  • 2 ounces baby arugula
  • 2 ounces fresco cheese
  • 1/4 cup pecan halves

  1. Peel the mandarin and separate the wedges.
  2. Small dice the cheese and beet.
  3. Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a small pot. Placed diced beets in boiling water for one minute. Remove and place in a bowl in an ice bath and let it set for a few minutes. Rinse it and dry with a paper towel. Set aside
  4. In a small bowl, mix all the salad ingredients and drizzle with the vinaigrette.

For the Mandarin Vinaigrette:

  • 1/2 cup mandarin juice
  • 1/2 cup sesame oil
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 cup Champagne vinegar
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar

Chop the garlic very fine and combine with the other ingredients.

Salmon en Hoja de Platano
(Salmon in Banana Leaves)

For the Salmon:

  • 2 pieces of salmon (4-6 ounces each), clean and boneless
  • 1 1/2 Mandarin orange
  • 1 lemon
  • 2 banana leaves
  • 2 Tablespoons sesame oil
  • 1 fennel bulb (small)
  • Salt and pepper to taste

  1. Finely slice 1/2 mandarin orange
  2. Finely slice 1/2 lemon
  3. Slice the fennel bulb into thin pieces.
  4. Juice 1 mandarin orange and 1/2 lemon.
  5. Pass banana leaves over a medium hot pan to soften them.

For the Rice:

  • 1/2 cup jasmine rice
  • 1/4 white onion
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • Lime (few drops)
  • Salt and pepper to taste

  1. Mince the garlic and finely dice the onion and set aside.
  2. Pour the vegetable oil into a small saucepan and bring it to medium hot heat. Add the rice and fry until crispy. Strain the oil when done. Bring 1 1/2 cups of water to a boil in a small saucepan with a lid. Add the rice, onion, garlic, salt, and pepper. Cover and lower the temperature. Cook until the water is consumed and the rice is soft.

Salsa de Albaca (Basil Sauce)

  • 2 ounces fresh basil
  • 1 tomato
  • 2 jalapeños
  • 1/2 onion
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • Salt and pepper to taste

  1. Cut the tomato into 8 pieces.
  2. Cut the onion into 4 pieces.
  3. Place everything in the blender and blend until smooth. Add a bit of water if needed.

Final Assembly:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Place the banana leaves on a baking sheet and place a scoop of rice on each leaf.
  3. Place the salmon on the rice and drizzle with sesame oil, mandarin juice, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
  4. Cover the salmon with the fennel, mandarin, and lemon slices.
  5. Wrap leaves around the salmon, creating a packet.
  6. Bake for approximately 12 minutes.
  7. Remove from the oven and place banana packet on individual plate and serve with basil sauce.