Ode to Alamo Square

Back in one of our old 'hoods in SF our dear friends own Alamo Square Seafood Grill. When their kids were little we would walk over and have dinner with them and the kids "special" was Grilled Salmon with Frites and béarnaise sauce - YUM! So since it was too far a drive last night to go there (but if you can I highly recommend it) I decided to try it for myself. The cedar planked salmon is one of our favorites - you don't turn it but it gets a lovely browned crust-like top from the smoke. I cheated and used Alexia frozen fries baked in the oven - not as good as Alamo's, but ok. Then I decided to make a quick béarnaise sauce - and it was quick and easy! Just sautéed 1 chopped shallot in 1/4 cup champagne vinegar - or white wine vinegar until it was almost all evaporated. Then in my blender I put 2 egg yolks (yummy yellow!) and then the slightly cooled shallot mixture and whizzed that for a min. Then I drizzled in 1 melted stick of hot butter with the blender going (I know that amount of butter sounds bad, but it wasn't like we ate the whole thing!) I even had some fresh tarragon (which is key) that survived the winter and put in a couple sprigs and blended for another couple seconds. Really nothing to be scared of if you've never made it before - turned out great and was lovely with the salmon and as a dipping sauce for the fries! Bon Appetite!!