After our son grew up and moved away, my husband and I celebrated Easter quietly the next several years. There were no children to surprise with Easter baskets, no little ones to engage in an egg hunt. Often, there were only two of us at the table.
That all changed when our son married and started a family of his own. Last year, he invited us to Boston, a short drive from our small New England town, to celebrate Easter with his wife and their new baby girl.
Yours truly, who takes grandparenting seriously, devoted a morning to assembling an Easter basket and combed countless toy stores in search of a fuzzy bunny for our granddaughter. When I offered to help prepare Easter lunch, though, our son, a talented amateur cook, insisted that he plan the meal.
This year, I suggested that our Boston crew drive to our house for Easter. I’m planning an easy menu for this day when so many attend church services before gathering at the table. Salmon and asparagus, two harbingers of spring, are to be the centerpiece and will be conveniently roasted together, although on two separate baking sheets.
The asparagus will need 6 to 8 minutes in the oven to become tender and lightly charred, while the salmon will require a few minutes more. The coral-hued fillets and the tender, sleek spears will be accompanied by a cucumber-and-watercress salad and a gratin of redskin potatoes.
A beurre blanc (French for white butter) sauce will make an indulgent garnish to use sparingly on the fillets. To make it, chopped shallots are simmered in white wine until the liquid has evaporated, then butter is whisked in, a little at a time, until the sauce becomes creamy and opaque.
The sauce can be made an hour in advance and kept warm in a skillet of warm water.
To make the sauce, halve the stick of butter lengthwise, then slice each half into -inch pieces. Set butter aside. Place shallot and wine in a medium, nonreactive saucepan over medium heat. Cook, watching carefully, until almost all the liquid has evaporated, about 3 to 4 minutes.
Arrange two oven racks, one at lower and the other at center position.
Line two baking sheets with aluminum foil, and oil each generously with olive oil. Place fillets, skin-side down, on one sheet, and season generously with salt and pepper. Drizzle teaspoon vinegar over each fillet. Spread asparagus in a single layer in the other baking sheet, and drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil, then toss to make sure the spears are coated with oil. Sprinkle asparagus with 1 teaspoons salt.
Roast in preheated 450-degree oven, with the asparagus pan on the center rack and salmon pan on the lower rack. Roast asparagus until tender when pierced with a knife and slightly charred, 6 to 8 minutes. Watch carefully.
Remove and cover loosely with foil to keep warm. Roast salmon until flesh is opaque and flakes easily when pierced with a knife, 10 to 12 minutes. Watch carefully. Remove and cover with foil.
Stir fresh dill into the warm beurre blanc sauce. Arrange a salmon fillet and a bundle of asparagus spears as a garnish on each of 6 dinner plates. Drizzle a heaping tablespoon of sauce over each fillet; garnish with a dill sprig. Serve immediately. Makes 6 servings.
Note: To check fillets for bones, run your fingers over the surface of the salmon, and remove any protruding bones with a pair of tweezers.