White Wine Poached Salmon with Faux Caviar, White Chocolate Wasabi Sauce

I admit I stole this off of Richard from Top Chef Season 4. I thought it was a brilliant combination of white chocolate and salmon on his part; I poached my salmon in lieu of smoking, to ease preparation.

Poached Salmon

- Salmon filets cut into square pieces
- 2 cups white wine
- 2 cups water
- diced leeks
- salt, pepper

1. Poach salmon in white wine mixture for about 20 minutes.
2. Poaching can be done either in the oven or on the stove-top. Cover poaching container with aluminum foil tightly, to form a "tent".
   
3. Spoon poaching liquid onto salmon to keep it hydrated, while making the other components.

White Chocolate Wasabi Sauce

- White chocolate
- heavy cream
- wasabi powder
- celery root

1. Cook celery root in heavy cream until soft. Puree.
2. Make a white chocolate ganache, add to celery root puree.
3. Mix equal parts wasabi powder and water to form paste, add into white chocolate celery root mixture.
4. Add cream as necessary to achieve desired consistency.

Faux Caviar

- pearl tapioca
- soy sauce
- balsamic vinegar
- olive oil
- red wine

1. Cook tapioca about halfway, so that the middle is still white.
2. Add into a mixture of red wine, soy sauce, and balsamic vinegar, to dye the pearls a deep black.
3. Re-float in olive oil before serving.

The lighting was a bit off, but I was reasonably satisfied with the product.