Crispy Salmon with Lentils du Puy and Two-Mustard Creme Fraiche

Crispy Salmon with Lentils du Puy and Two-Mustard Creme Fraiche
(Click here for recipe.)
Has anyone ever played the game (popular amongs chefs, if my voyeuristic chefography reading is any indication) where you name what your “last meal” would be? Anthony Bourdain mentions this in his books and it was once adapted into an Elimination Challenge on Top Chef. Apparently, chefs like to discuss what their dream “last meal” would be and try to out-do each other in their inspired (and usually quite nostalgic) gluttony. There’s even a great song (by Asleep at the Wheel, I think?) about a death row inmate, ordering his last meal of over-easy dinosaur eggs, tiger steak and cross-eyed cat fish (more in an attempt to postpone the inevitable than to have a gourmet experience, but still….)
This is the second time that I have prepared salmon with lentils at home (here’s the first version) and I have decided that I love it enough to put it on the “short list” (I have a hard time narrowing it down – my love of soft-shell crabs is getting in the way) of potential items for my “last meal.” The combination of buttery salmon and peppery lentils is just perfection, in my mind. I like this preparation more than the first version that I tried. The mustard sauce is outstanding and I enjoyed the lentils better without all of the leeks (the flavor of the shallots in the second version is much more subtle and just kind of melts into the background).
In you’re so inclined, leave me a comment and tell me what your last meal would be…