Best Dinner I Ever Made. Ever.

Four months ago while in L.A., I had a most amazing salmon while sitting across a table from a most amazing friend at Cheesecake Factory.  I've been dreaming about that salmon ever since.  I wanted to recreate it, but didn't even bother while living in our little SF apartment.

Today, I bothered.

I've never seen such an exuberant reaction from my husband or my kids over dinner.  I could not keep those little plastic, Ikea plates full.  They inhaled it.  The house still smells wonderful.  Not the fishy, stale smell that sometimes lingers after salmon.  No, the house smells, as Bethelle put it, like apple pie.  No joke. But there's no sugar in the recipe.  Just a whole lotta' yummy goodness.

Here's the link to the recipe I used, but I'm going to paste the whole thing here so I can add my edits in italics.

Cheesecake Factory Herb Crusted Salmon

•  4 (5 ounce) salmon fillets
•  5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
•  3/4 teaspoon lemon pepper
• 10 tablespoons butter, divided
•  1 shallot, minced (food processor is awesome here)
•  1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
•  5 tablespoons white wine (I used chicken broth), divided
•  1/2 cup heavy cream
•  1/2 cup milk
•  1 teaspoon parsley (I used 1 tablespoon fresh parsley)
•  1 teaspoon dried thyme (I used 1 tablespoon fresh thyme)
• salt and white pepper to taste

• Place salmon in a shallow dish, and rub with 3 tablespoons lemon juice. Season with lemon pepper. Cover, and allow to stand 10 to 15 minutes.
• Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a saucepan over medium heat, and saute shallot 2 minutes, until tender. Mix in remaining lemon juice, vinegar, and ¼ cup wine. Simmer until reduced by at least ½. Stir in cream and milk. In a small bowl, mix parsley and thyme.  Season the salmon (not the sauce) with parsley, thyme, salt, and white pepper (I skipped the white pepper due to the earlier lemon pepper). Cook and stir sauce until thickened. Whisk in ¼ cup butter. Set aside and keep warm.
• Heat remaining ¼ cup butter in a skillet over medium heat. Place salmon in the skillet, skin side up, and cook 1 to 2 minutes, until seared. Set salmon aside. Deglaze the skillet with remaining 1 tablespoon wine, then mix that liquid into the cream sauce in the saucepan. Return salmon to the skillet, and cook 8 minutes in the sauce (crank up the heat here and it takes a bit longer if you like it cooked through), or until easily flaked with a fork. Serve with the sauce.
  
  
  At the Cheesecake Factory, this is served with roasted asparagus (toss in oil, salt, and pepper, spread in one layer in a roasting pan, 400 degrees for about 20 minutes) and special mashed potatoes, which are both excellent with the sauce from this recipe.
  
  
  I hope you make it.  And then tell me if your family loved it!