Pea Purée, a la Top Chef

OK, we all know the story about Alex and the pea purée (check out the Power Lunch episode). Here's my version of a dish using the pea purée (this is my spin on the recipe that was recreated by Michael Voltaggio):


1 cup peas (I used frozen organic peas)
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup chopped leeks
1/2 small shallot
Olive oil

First, start by bringing the cream to a small boil (careful not to let it burn). Then add the peas. Meanwhile, in a small pan, I sautée the leeks and shallot. Only sweat the leeks and shallot. You don't want any color. Once the peas start to turn "pea green", remove from the heat. Strain off the cream, but reserve it. You'll use the cream when you purée the peas. Next, take the peas and add them to a blender (I used an immersion blender to do this), along with the shallot and leeks. Pour in the cream as you blend the peas. You might not use all of the cream to purée the peas, but eyeball it to your liking. Drizzle in some olive oil to emulsify the purée.

In the dish pictured here, I pan seared a cod fillet and made a tarragon butter sauce.

Tarragon butter sauce:
butter
tarragon
shallot
white wine
lemon juice

In a pan, I melt 4 TBSP. butter. I sweat half of a shallot in the butter (until they become soft but no color), and then add 1/4 cup of white wine. I squeeze in about half of a lemon and cook on high heat. After it begins to boil, simmer the mixture and let it reduce. Continue to stir. When the sauce starts to thicken, remove from heat. Add a tablespoon of chopped tarragon.

(Photo: Pan seared cod in tarragon a butter sauce with pea purée and sautéed spinach)