One Sublime Salmon Dish

So many great bites were, um, bitten in 2013 and one of my favorite dishes came late in the year.  Our last official Posse dinner of the year took place at Tannin Wine Bar and Kitchen in the Crossroads and the dish that sent me spinning was their Roasted Scottish Salmon.

I'd been wanting to hit up Tannin for a while, not just due to the positive notices I'd heard, but because two former compatriots of mine, Joe and Jacob, were working their culinary wizardry there.  Our group was given the private dining room in the back, which was a wise move on their part knowing our boisterous bunch as I do.  After catching up with and introducing Joe and Jacob to the gang, the evening kicked off in apropo fashion; with wine and cheese.  I nursed a glass of Petite Rouge Blend Torrette that matched up in fine fashion with the green-marbled sage flavor of the wonderful Sage Derby cheese and the sweeter Honey Almond Chevre.

Not long after, that Roasted Scottish Salmon arrived...perfectly roasted as a matter of fact, and resting regally on a bed of pillowy hominy, with fennel and red peppers and a nice zing from Spanish chorizo.  The spark to the dish for me was an astoundingly flavorful anchiote sauce.  One of the components of a sauce like this is anchiote paste: a bright orange seasoning paste from the Yucatan made of ground annatto seeds (derived from anchiote trees; seeds are "slightly peppery with a hint of nutmeg"), oregano, cumin, cinnamon, pepper and cloves.  If this paste helps produce flavor like this, then I need to be picking up some and giving it a whirl.  The lovely glass of Domaine Filliatreau Cabernet Franc paired with the salmon just added to the beauty of the experience.

This dish was indeed sublime and several Posse people had it and righteously dug it, but there were other entree highlights at the table as well.  The bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin in the dijon cream sauce won raves as did the bright housemade sweet potato ravioli in an almond brown butter sauce with brussel sprouts.

Dessert was certainly no slouch either.  In pure Posse fashions, several were tried and many were savored, but the highlights were of the chocolate variety: Espresso Molten Chocolate Cake with a downright revelatory Turkish coffee Kahlua ice cream and comforting, warm and rich fudge-stuffed peanut butter cookie with caramel sauce.

It was a banner evening at Tannin, and Joe and Jacob are clearly doing great things here...in fact, Sous Chef Joe had a hand in that salmon dish...and our raves certainly proved that we are looking forward to the return trip.