In this episode of Chef AF, I chat with Chef Dawn Burrell about her incredible journey as an Olympian to finding her passion for a career in culinary, becoming a finalist on Top Chef Portland, and her James Beard Award Nomination.
Burrell who traveled the world with the USA’s Track and Field team says it was a great way to spend her early twenties, she was traveling and there was the airport and hotel time sprinkled with culture and great food. Her traveling played a role in her love of food and she says, “You know when you eat the food of the people, you are learning about their history and their culture without even knowing if you're in tune in that way.” Burrell says that her love for food came from her grandmother and aunts.
I ask Burrell about culinary becoming a full-time career for her and she shares that during a difficult time in her life when she was facing retirement from track and field, she needed to find something else that she loved to do. She says, athletes have blinders on and you can lose sight of other interests and things you can do in life. She says, “So I had to quickly figure out for myself in my adult life and I landed in culinary, I really remember I had the fondest childhood memories of food and I always wanted to know more.”
Burell has been extremely busy as a chef since culinary school. She was the sous chef at Uchiko, and the executive chef at Kulture, she had a James Beard nomination and became part of Lucille’s Hospitality Group opening the restaurant Late August, a culinary collaboration with Chef Chris Williams.
Burrell also talks about two industry non-profit organizations she supports, I’ll Have What She’s Having, a women-led non-profit, raising community awareness and funds in support of better health and healthcare in the food and beverage industry and Lucille 1913, a conscious community collective that is building a vertically integrated ecosystem to combat food insecurity and waste; creating training and employment opportunities in traditionally under-resourced neighborhoods; and empowering communities to discover a self-sustainable livelihood through food.
To hear Chef Burrell talk about being an all-star guest judge on Top Chef Season 19 and her recipe for Salmon with Buttermilk Broth & Gai Lan, plus find out why she decided on culinary school, check out this episode of Chef AF “It’s All Food” or you can listen at Spotify!
Recipe
Salmon with Buttermilk Broth & Gai Lan
Salmon Cure Ingredients
- 20 oz salmon (scaled, skin-on)
- 1 T coriander
- 1 tsp allspice
- 8 lime leaves or 4 inches of lemongrass
- 4 T sugar
- 4 T salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 2-3 oz olive oil
To Cure Salmon: Cut salmon into six portions, and place in shallow baking dish and set aside. On medium cutting board, slice lime leaves into 1/8 inch slices. Add allspice, coriander, sugar, salt, pepper, and lime leaves into a food processor. Blend until lime leaves break down into small particles and mixture is combined. Remove 3 oz of cure from the food processor, and reserve the rest for later use. Rub cure on the flesh side of salmon portions avoiding the skin side completely. Allow to cure for 30 minutes After 30 minutes, rinse salmon thoroughly, pat dry, and place on a sheet tray lined with a towel. Allow to dry for two minutes.
To Cook Salmon: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Preheat olive oil in medium, oven-safe sauce pan on medium high heat. Salt salmon literally on skin side. Carefully place salmon in hot sauce pan skin side down. Avoid flame ups by removing the pan from the heat when placing salmon in the pan. Return pan to flame and allow to cook skin side down until crispy. When skin is crispy, turn salmon over so that the skin side faces up. Transfer sauce pan to the oven for 5-7 minutes or until medium rare. Remove pan from oven and salmon from pan.
Olive Puree Ingredients
- 4 oz Castelvetrano olives
- .5c extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic sliced
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 2 oz spinach
- 3-4 ice cubes for blending
For Olive Puree: Create an ice water bath in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan, heat water until boiling. Salt the water generously and place spinach in boiling water for 1 minute. Strain spinach from boiling water and place in ice bath. When spinach is cool, remove from bath, squeeze out excess water, and reserve. Place garlic, shallots and olives into a small sauce pan. Place pan on medium heat on the stove and allow mixture to cool. When cool add olives, aromatics, and oil to blender and puree on high speed. When smooth, add spinach, salt, and 2 ice cubes to keep the mixture cold. When a puree is achieved, transfer sauce to a bowl on top of ice to cool quickly. This will help the sauce to retail its color. Adjust seasoning and reserve. | Shallots: Slice remaining shallots thinly, and place in 2 oz of lime juice and 1T salt and 2T sugar.
Buttermilk Broth Ingredients
- 1.5c buttermilk
- 2/3c heavy cream
- 2 oz clementine, orange, or mandarin juice
- 10 Makrut lime leaves, torn or 4 inches of lemongrass, sliced
- 2 oz honey
- 1 tsp salt
Buttermilk Broth: Combine all ingredients, and allow flavor to marry for 30 minutes. When serving, strain out leaves, and reserve.
Gai Lan Ingredients
- 1 lb gai lan (Chinese broccoli)
- 2 cloves of garlic sliced
- 1 T of black sesame seed crushed
Gai Lan: Slice gai lan with thick stems in half. Preheat olive oil in medium high heat. Add sesame seeds and garlic to heated oil. Sauce until fragrant and caramelized. Add 1/2c of water or vegetable stick, and simmer on high heat until stems of vegetables are tender. Allow liquid to cook off. Season with salt to taste and reserve for plating.
For Assembly: Set aside a decorative bowl with a flat bottom. Strain buttermilk mixture, then pour half into bottom of the bowl. Cut one serving piece of cooked salmon in half. Place the two salmon halves into the buttermilk mixture vertically. Take pieces of cooked gai lan, and place throughout buttermilk mixture. Place puree into squeeze bottle, and squeeze dollops on top of each piece of salmon, then two dollops into the buttermilk mixture. Sprinkle shallots atop salmon and buttermilk mixture to garnish. Finish with crushed sesame seeds.