Tag: salmon

Jennifer Segal’s Slow Roasted Salmon (Ocean Trout) with French Herb Salsa

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 6

I hate to admit it – and rarely do – though there are go-tos I have when the cooking pressure is on and we have guests for lunch. (Generally speaking we don’t cook many dishes twice.)

This is one of them.

It’s a winner on every level.

It is simple.

It looks incredible: looks that betray its simplicity. Think elegant, yet rustic: provincial.

And predictably: it tastes awesome.

As a starter. As a side. With a salad. With baby potatoes. With dressed-up fries.

Really anyway you can serve it, it’s genius.

There is a reason I’ve plated this half a dozen times at least.

(Which is all I am admitting to!)

Ingredients

1kg salmon (I use ocean trout) filet with skin, pin boned
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3/4 tsp sea salt flakes

French Herb Salsa

3 tbsp finely diced shallot
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tbsp finely chopped Italian parsley
1 tbsp finely chopped chervil
1 tbsp finely chopped chives
1 tbsp finely chopped basil
1 tsp finely chopped tarragon
5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp sea salt flakes
Freshly ground pepper

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 105c.
  2. Place the salmon on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle the salt evenly over the top. Place in the oven and roast for 40 – 50 minutes, until the fish begins to flake in the thickest part of the filet.
  3. For the salsa, combine the shallot and vinegar for 15 minutes. In a separate bowl combine the herbs, olive oil, salt and a few grinds of pepper.
  4. Flake the salmon into large rustic chunks (on the skin); combine the herb mixture with the shallot mixture, testing the amount of vinegar you need.
  5. Dress over the fish and serve warm.

Gordon Ramsay’s Grilled Salmon with Garlic Mushroom and Lentil Salad

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Serves: 4

This blog has never been about anything but obtainability and this recipe is proof of that.

Nat offered a late mid-week lunch (with a Champagne) if I crunched a tonne of work in the morning (and then again post-lunch) and who was I disagree with the offer to good to refuse.

I initially thought I was up to cook, so headed straight to Gourmet Traveller: I am after all a kid of the 80s.

Nat of course headed straight to Gordon: she’s a kid from the less cooler 90s.

Though turns out I’m the less cooler one.

This is just such a bloody wonderful, obtainable, sorry not-sorry, simple dish.

It well crosses the line of effort and sophistication to smash the boring Chef’s salads I so often serve up on a Saturday after kids’ sport and shopping.

One hat, no. You won, yes.

(And yes: don’t eat farmed salmon. Wild caught salmon is out there and your kids will thank you for it.)

Ingredients

200gm Puy lentils
1 bay leaf
2 thyme sprigs
800ml vegetable stock
1 tbsp olive oil
200gm chestnuts mushrooms, cut into eights
200gm Portobello mushrooms, sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
4 x 100gm wild salmon fillets
100gm rocket leaves
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the dressing

1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
1 tsp runny honey
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp water

Method

  1. Put the lentils into a saucepan along with the bay leaf, thyme and stock. Bring to the boil over a medium-high heat, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 15 – 20 minutes until tender.
  2. In the meantime, heat a large-based frypan over a medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Once hot, add the mushrooms with a pinch of salt and cook in the pan for 6 – 8 minutes stirring now and again, until soft and caramelised on the edges.
  3. Add the chopped garlic and continue to cook for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat.
  4. Once the lentils are tender, drain well and discard the herbs. Put the lentils into a large mixing bowl and add the mushrooms. Mix together gently to avoid breaking up the lentils too much.
  5. To make the dressing, put all the ingredients into a clean jar with a punch of salt and pepper. Close the jar, shake until the dressing comes together and emulsifies.
  6. Preheat the grill to high: grill the salmon for 6 – 8 minutes to your liking.
  7. Pout half the dressing over the warm lentils and toss gently to get everything coated. Fold in the rocket, place the salmon on top and pour over the remaining dressing. Serve immediately.

Sarah Akhurt’s Saffron Salmon Tagine

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Serves: 4 – 6

I found this recipe last year in the online Sainbury’s Magazine.

It really is very good and very straightforward to prepare, especially the night before when the parents-in-law are coming for a weeknight dinner and the mother-in-law is essentially a pescatarian.

Reheat and throw in the chunks of salmon and boom, there is dinner served in record time after you get home from work.

We even prepared this amazing couscous, only needing the hot stock added to it; and only 10 minutes to have this great Moroccan orange and tomato salad if you make the vinaigrette the night before.

It isn’t the most sophisticated tagine I’ve cooked, though it’s a cracking weeknight dinner that ticks all the parents-in-law boxes.

Yum.

Ingredients

Pinch of saffron strands
300ml hot chicken or vegetable stock
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
2 red onions, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tbsp rose harissa paste
500gm mixed colour cherry tomatoes, halved
2 preserved lemons, skin only, finely sliced
1 x 400gm tin chickpeas, rinsed and drained
50gm pitted green olives
4 large, skinless salmon fillets, chopped into large chunks
Handful of chopped coriander to serve

Method

  1. Add the saffron strands to the hot stock and set aside to infuse. Heat the oil in a tagine (or shallow casserole/heavy saucepan) and fry the onion for about 8 minutes or until very soft. Add the garlic and continue to cook for a further minute, before adding the spices and harissa paste. Continue to cook for a couple of minutes, stirring.
  2. Add the tomatoes and preserved lemons to the pan and cook for a couple of minutes before adding the saffron stock, chickpeas and olives. Continue to simmer uncovered for around 10 minutes, until the tomatoes have started to break down and the liquid has reduced slightly.
  3. Pause here if cooking the night ahead for the parents-in-law and refrigerate. Pour a glass of wine. You’ve earned it.
  4. With the sauce bubbling, add the salmon chunks to the pan, nestling them into the sauce. Cover with a lid and simmer gently for 7 – 8 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through. Season to taste and serve with the coriander.

Colu Henry’s Sheet-Pan Harissa Salmon with Potatoes and Citrus

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 4

This is another NY Times Cooking 5-star dish that hits it out of the park.

It is absolutely delicious. The marinade is wonderful.

It’s dead simple.

And all you need is one pan for cooking.

We’ve recently had five kids in the house – two cousins had come to stay – and whilst it was a fun and full household, it wasn’t without its moments. Certainly, post bedtime, we needed a wine or two!

As well as the hastily agreed need for a home date-night: essentially, open a nice wine, share a meal and talk about holidays, meals, plans, the family etc.

And despite the hasty agreement, this dish was a breeze whilst at the same time serving the kids noodles and refilling glasses of apple juice.

Served with a green salad and wow, this is one to line up for a cracking weekday dinner. It’s even better the next day

I have slightly adapted the recipe.

Ingredients

4 skin-on salmon fillets
Salt and black pepper
2 – 3 tbsp mild or spicy harissa paste
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, grated
1/2 tsp orange zest
1/4 c orange juice (from about 1/2 orange)
500gm baby potatoes, quartered
1 small red onion, peeled and cut into small wedges
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 c coriander, leaves and stems roughly chopped
3 tbsp spring onions, thinly sliced on an angle
Sea salt, for serving

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 230c. Lay the salmon on a plate and season. In a shallow bowl, whisk together the harissa, ginger, garlic, orange zest and juice. Spoon the mixture over the flesh and sides of the fish and let marinate at room temperature.
  2. Meanwhile, line a large baking dish with baking paper. In a large bowl, toss together the potatoes and onion with the olive oil and season. Arrange in the baking dish in one layer, leaving space for the salmon fillets to be added later. Roast until the potatoes are starting to brown; 20 – 35 minutes.
  3. Add the salmon to the baking dish, skin-side down and roast until the fish is opaque and cooked through and the potatoes are crisp: 8 – 12 minutes. Scatter coriander and spring onions over everything and season with sea salt.

The most delicious healthy (cheats) seafood bouillabaisse

.Reading time 1 minute.

Serves: 6-8

This recipe is a no-brainer. It doesn’t take long and doesn’t involve making your own fish stock but you wouldn’t even know.

It’s healthy, hearty, warm, and delicious. A provincial stable from humble beginnings; the undisputed king of fish stews just got a whole lot easier.

Ingredients

For the stock

6 c fish stock
1tsp aniseed
2 bay leaves
1tsp saffron threads

For the base

8 tomatoes cut into small cubes
6 cloves of garlic minced
2 onions thinly diced
2 salmon fillets (no skin) cubed
2 white fish fillets (no skin) cubed
handful of raw and peeled prawns
1 large bunch parsley chopped

Method

  1. Add the fish stock ingredients to a pan and bring to a boil.
  2. On medium heat, paint olive oil on the bottom of a heavy-based pot and put in tomatoes, garlic and onions.
  3. Lay the seafood on top of the tomatoes, garlic, and onions and leave for about 3 mins (enough to heat up the pot).
  4. Ladle the boiling fish stock into the pot and cover the seafood.
  5. Sprinkle half the parsley on top and cover. Bring to a soft boil for about 10 mins until seafood is cooked.
  6. Sprinkle the remaining parsley on top and serve with warm crusty bread.

Gretta Anna’s Coulibiac (Russian Salmon Pie)

.Reading time 4 minutes.

Serves: 8

This is one hell of a decadent – and very pleasantly unusual – pie.

Something that Tsar’s no doubt enjoyed a hundred years back.

Scan the ingredients and you would have to agree.

There is a bit of effort in it – thanks Nat – and the handling of the filo pastry was touch and go; make sure you reduce the smoked salmon and mushroom mixtures until well thickened.

Also, we agreed that using fresh salmon might lighten the pie slightly, though the smoked salmon is subtle and the whole point of this pie is to live the good life.

Lobster or prawn bisque can be found at good delis and fishmongers.

Otherwise, I commend the Coulibiac to you. It is such a classic.

Ingredients

10 sheets filo pastry
100gm butter, melted
2 c walnuts, chopped
Beaten egg, for brushing
350gm sour cream (optional)
3 spring onions, finely diced (optional)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Rice Mixture

1/2 c medium-grain white rice
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tbsp chopped dill
4 golden shallots, chopped
2 tbsp toasted pine nuts

Mushroom Mixture

400gm mushrooms, chopped
90gm butter
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
200ml pure cream
2 tsp cornflour mixed with 2 tbsp water
1 1/2 tbsp chopped marjoram

Smoked salmon mixture

1 x 400gm tin prawn or lobster bisque
400 ml pure cream
170gm smoked salmon, chopped
1 x 185gm tin crabmeat, drained and chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped

Method

  1. To make the rice mixture, cook the rice until tender. Season with salt and pepper, then mix in the dill, shallots and pine nuts. Place in the refridgerator until required.
  2. To make the mushroom mixture, sauté the mushrooms in the butter in a frying pan until soft, then season with salt and pepper and add the cream. Stir in the cornflour mixture to thicken, then add the majoram. Place in the refridgerator until required.
  3. To make the smoked salmon mixture, place the bisque into a saucepan with the cream and and bring to the boil, whisking until it thickens. Add the salmon and crabmeat and season with salt and pepper. Add the boiled egg. Place in the refridgerator until needed.
  4. Preheat the oven to 190c and grease an overnproof serving dish.
  5. Place 2 sheets of filo pastry on the bench top with 2 further sheets alongside the first two. Brush the top sheet of each set of filo pastry sheets with melted butter and chopped walnuts. Add 2 more sheets of the follow to each set and add more melted butter and chopped walnuts. Add the last 2 sheets of filo, one on top of each set.
  6. Leaving a 5cm space top and bottom (to allow for tuck-in when rolling), place a 10cm band of each of the three mixtures (using half of each mixture), one on top of the other, down one set of pastry. Brush the pastry edges with beaten egg and fold the pastry over the top and bottom. Fold the pastry in on both sides of the mixture to form a roll, tucking in both tops and bottoms as they are rolled.
  7. Repeat with the other set of pastry and remaining filling.
  8. Place the two rolls in the prepared serving dish and brush with melted butter. Sprinkle with remaining chopped walnuts and bake for about 40 minutes until crisp and golden
  9. Combine the sour cream with the spring onions and season with salt and pepper. Serve the coulibiac in slices with the sour cream, or leave it unsauced.

Charred Cabbage with Chestnuts and Prawns

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 4

This recipe is in the Gourmet Traveller 2021 Annual, an always reliable and always excellent publication.

So much so, we have had whole long-weekends revolve around their annual collections of the best and most popular receipts from their magazine across the year.

This dish is seriously delicious.

It’s also simple.

And it is unquestionably 1-hat territory, if not nudging some of the 2-hat dining rooms winning their hats around simplicity and brilliant execution.

What a way to start a meal.

Ingredients

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 Savoy cabbage (600gm) cut into wedges
1 c each dry white wine and vegetable stock
80gm butter, chopped
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
4 banana prawns, peeled and finely chopped
1 tsp caraway seeds
240gm canned chestnuts, sliced
1/2 c thickened cream, warmed
1 tbsp finely chopped chives, to serve

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 220c. Heat half the oil in a large, non-stick frying pan over high-heat. Cook cabbage cut-side down until charred, and flip and do the same with the other cut-side. Transfer to a large roasting pan.
  2. Pour wine and stock over the cabbage and dot with half the butter. Roast until tender, turning halfway: about 20 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a large, non-stick frying pan over a high heat. Add garlic and cook until just golden and fragrant. Add remaining butter and cook until starting to foam. Add prawn meat, caraway seeds and chestnuts, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until prawns are just cooked through. Add the cream and cook until combined.
  4. Serve cabbage wedges with prawn and chestnut mix, topped with chives.

Kay Chun’s Coconut-Miso Salmon Curry

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 4

This curry I found on NYT’s Cooking had 7k+ 5-star reviews so… it had to be done.

Add one more 5-star.

What a mild, moorish dinner.

The caremalised miso with the coconut milk, the lime and then the fresh herbs. Wow.

I used a premium coconut milk and the difference was obvious. Don’t cut this corner.

And it’s so simple. Monday-night home date-night sort of stuff.

You could add fresh chilli at the end, though whatever you do, get that lime juice in and a solid handful of those herbs.

Note: I used two cups of water and not three and I would do it again.

Ingredients

2 tbsp canola oil
1 medium red onion, halved and sliced 5cm thick
1 10cm piece fresh ginger, minced
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
1/2 c white miso
1/2 c coconut milk
750g salmon, cut into large pieces
5c baby spinach
1 tbsp fresh lime juice, plus lime wedges for serving
Steamed jasmine rice for serving
1/4 c chopped fresh basil
1/4 c chopped fresh coriander

Method

  1. In a large pot, heat the oil over a medium heat. Add the onion, ginger and garlic and season. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add the miso and cook, stirring frequently, until the miso is lightly caramelised: about 2 minutes.
  2. Add the coconut and 3 cups of boiling water and bring to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes until the liquid is reduced slightly. Lower the heat and add the salmon and simmer gently until just cooked through. Turn off the hear and stir in the spinach and lime juice until the spinach is wilted.
  3. Serve with rice, topped with the fresh herbs and lime wedges for squeezing.

Roast Ocean Trout with Chilli-Turmeric Paste

.Reading time 1 minute.

Serves: 4

This recipe is awesome.

Think a good lashing of a wonderful, oily paste on a thick piece of ocean trout (or salmon), roasted at a high temperature.

Served hot with a drizzle of coconut cream and a squeeze of lime, this is what you would call vibrant. I mean, ocean trout in any setting is the finest of the fish, though add this wonderful paste and this is just moorish.

It would be just as good with barramundi or even chicken breast.

Just make sure you have a glass of cold, crisp white ready to go!

Ingredients

4 fillets of ocean trout
Coconut cream, for drizzling
Lime wedges and steamed rice, to serve

Spice paste

4 long red chillies, seeds removed
1 lemongrass stalk, white part, finely chopped
10gm piece of turmeric, coarsely chopped
1 small golden shallot
2 tsp dry-roasted, coarsely ground coriander seeds
1/4 c olive oil

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 240C. For spice paste, using a hand-blender, blitz ingredients with a pinch of salt until smooth.
  2. Heat a small frying pan over a medium heat. Add spice paste and stir until lightly roasted (1 – 2 minutes), then set aside to cool.
  3. Spread spice paste over fish and bake until just cooked through (8 minutes for medium-rare). To finish, drizzle fish with coconut cream and squeezed lime juice. Serve with rice.

Gordon Ramsay’s Pan-fried Sea Trout, Peas & Chorizo Fricassée

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Serves: 2

This is simply a great, 1-hat bistro lunch.

Nat took a day of work – as we all really need to do during this endless Sydney lockdown – and presented this with a glass of Krinklewood Verdelho (if in the Hunter Valley, visit their vineyard: it is wonderful as are the wines) and as we sat in the sun, we agreed that it was moments like these that made the long weeks and routine bearable.

The fricassée gives the dish a rustic, moorish backbone – chorizo, potato, paprika and peas – and the warm caper dressing just finishes it.

We have never cooked a disappointing Gordon Ramsay recipe and this lunch just continued that tradition.

This dish would be perfect for any Saturday lunch though my pro tip: have it on Monday and beat the lockdown!

And vino of course!

Ingredients

2 fillets of sea/ocean trout (or use salmon)
2 tbsp butter
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 lemon, halved

For the fricassée

100gm cured chorizo (1 small chorizo), diced
350gm waxy potatoes (we used kipflers)
Large pinch sweet smoked paprika
125ml fresh chicken stock
150gm cooked peas

For the warm caper dressing

3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp small capers, drained
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
Small bunch tarragon, chopped

Method

  1. For the dressing: Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a small saucepan. Add the capers as well as the onion and cook for 3 minutes until softened. Add red wine vinegar and cook down until evaporated. Add in the rest of the oil plus the tarragon and leave to infuse.
  2. For the fricassee: heat the oil in a saute pan, add the chorizo and fry for two minutes until crisp and the red oil has rendered out. Add the potatoes and paprika and cook for 5 minute until the chorizo is starting to get browned edges.
  3. Add the chicken stock, bring to a boil; and then simmer for 10 minutes or until the stock has evaporated and the potatoes are tender. Stir in the peas and cook for another two minutes. Set aside and keep warm.
  4. For the fish: Score the skin of the trout and season generously.
  5. Heat the butter inside a non-stick frying pan. When it begins to sizzle. cook the fish skin-side down. Gently fry for 8 minutes until the skin is crisp and golden and the fish on its way to being cooked.
  6. Turn the fish and squeeze over the juice of half a lemon, basting the fish with all the lemony pan juice for a 1 minute whilst it cooks. Set aside in the pan.
  7. To plate: Spoon a pile of the fricassee into the centre of each plate. Gentley sit the fish on-top, skin side up (if using). Spoon the caper dressing around the outside and serve.