Spring Salmon - Gourmet Goddess Returns

Well, it’s been a while but I’m back in the kitchen after a rather longer than intended winter break. The few weeks I thought I would be away from cooking and blogging turned into almost two months, thanks to an overseas work trip to New Zealand (with a week or so of road trip around the North Island thrown in at the end) and our household being laid low by illness in past few weeks. Let’s just say that the cooking that has been happening (when it was happening at all) was very basic and far from Gourmet Goddess worthy, so I promise that you haven’t been missing out on much in that department!

Since my last post, the weather has completely changed, Winter has left us here in Australia and we welcome the start of Spring - and the appearance of a whole lot of gorgeous Spring produce. I love this season, as all my favourite fruit starts to come in to season, especially strawberries, blueberries, mangoes and the first stone fruit – peaches, nectarines and plums. Asparagus is everywhere, and it’s local (although still check the labelling and reject any dodgy imports which may still be around) At this time of the year it is great quality and also inexpensive so there’s no reason why you can’t eat it every day if you wanted to.  One of my favourite things in the world is asparagus, soft poached eggs and creamy goat cheese and I eat this often at this time of the year. Delicious! I have updated the “what’s in season?” section on this page to give you an idea about what you should be looking for at the greengrocer right now. Have a look at the list and get some inspiration for some spring dishes.

I thought I would share a super healthy, light and delicious spring recipe as my first post of this season. It is fast to put together, very good for you and uses a selection of lovely spring vegetables. It is also super low carb (if that sort of thing turns you on) Feel free to add whatever fresh herbs take your fancy, or some chilli for a spicy kick. This would also make a really nice lunch platter – cook a few salmon fillets and arrange them on a larger serving plate to serve a whole bunch of people. I made this dish for dinner last night and it literally took me 15 minutes from preparation to table – and I wasn’t even rushing. Easy and yum!

Pan Fried Salmon with Corn Salsa

You will need:
2 Salmon Fillets (about 150g each), 1 cup cooked corn kernels (I cook the corn on the cob and then cut off the kernels), 3 radishes finely chopped, 1 small Lebanese cucumber de-seeded and finely diced, 1 cup diced fresh cherry tomatoes, 2 tablespoons Spanish onion finely chopped, 1 tablespoon chopped continental parsley, 1 teaspoon finely chopped lemon balm (if you don't have this, substitute with fresh mint), salt & pepper, a drizzle of olive oil for pan frying.

Dressing: 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, dash of Tabasco, 1 teaspoon sugar, salt and pepper. Fresh lemon to serve.

Method: Check the salmon and remove any bones you might find with a pair or tweezers. Wipe the salmon with some paper towels and set aside.

In a bowl, combine the corn, radish, cucumber, tomatoes, onion, parsley, lemon balm (or mint). Season with salt and pepper.

Whisk together all of the dressing ingredients. Season generously and pour over the salsa mixture. Combine and put aside until ready to serve.

Heat a non stick pan to a medium heat. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over the pan. Cook the salmon until golden on the outside but still slightly springy to touch. Be careful not to overcook the salmon or it will dry out.

Serve with the salsa and fresh lemon right away.

Serves 2

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Spring Zing - Rainbow Trout

During the week we visited the fishmonger, with the intention of choosing some nice fillets of something or other to cook on the BBQ that night. Looking at all the different fish they had for sale, the one that really stood out were beautiful, glossy and super fresh rainbow trout. I couldn't go past how great they looked and decided to ditch the fillet idea and bought two of them, one for each of us to have whole. The fish were about 30cm long. They were scaled and cleaned by the fishmonger to make the prep work at home easy. Rainbow Trout has such delicious pink and flavoursome flesh, similar to Salmon and they are ideal for cooking on the BBQ.

Spring is well and truly in the air, so I also bought some new season potatoes and red radishes, and built my accompaniments around them. I wanted a dish that was simple and vibrant, so good fresh ingredients were important. I also added some green herbs, a touch of fennel and plenty of fresh lemon. Very zingy flavours and very spring!

Starting with fresh, in season ingredients

To prepare the fish, I just patted them dry inside and out, and the filled the cavity with sliced red onion, dill, lemon, garlic and fennel. I seasoned the inside with Kampot pepper (fabulous super aromatic black pepper that comes from Cambodia - if you don't have Kampot pepper, normal black pepper is fine) and a little sea salt. To ensure that the flavourings stayed put, I tied each of the fish up with cooking string. The fish were then brushed with olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper and cooked on the BBQ with the lid on for about 25 minutes. I didn't turn the fish during the cooking process.

Preparing the trout for cooking

While the fish was cooking, I finely sliced cucumber, red onion and radishes and mixed them with a generous handful of parsley and a touch of fresh dill to make a simple, crunch salad. The dressing was simply a drizzle of fruity extra virgin olive oil, a squeeze of lemon and some salt and pepper to season. To finish the accompaniments, I just boiled a few baby Chat potatoes and then tossed them in a little butter and a sprinkling of the fresh dill to finish.

Rainbow Trout with fennel and lemon

served with a crisp radish salad and new potatoes

Once the fish were cooked, they were carefully removed from the BBQ, placed on a bed of the crisp radish salad and served with the potatoes and some extra fresh lemon. Delicious. You could also cook this dish in the oven if you don't have a BBQ with a lid - I would do it in a medium to hot oven for 20-30 minutes, depending on the size of the fish.

This dish was so simple to throw together and would be a great no fuss spring/summer entertaining idea. Keeping the fish whole really ramps up the flavour and it looks great on the plate - it also makes preparation hassle free. If you aren't familiar with Rainbow Trout, give them a go - they are pretty inexpensive and should be available from most fishmongers at the moment.

In Gourmet Goddess gardening news, I have just planted a whole lot of tomatoes and peppers (the long "bullhorn" kind) that I hope will thrive over the coming months so that we can eat them in the summer. There are also new herbs - two kinds of basil (green basil and the vibrant opal basil, with bright purple leaves) thyme, continental parsley, mint. I have spinach and beetroot (the last of the current harvest which I will pick very soon) as well as carrots, lettuce and lemongrass. In the last week, the nasturtiums have gone crazy - I think I will have plenty to use in salads over spring. The garden is also starting to show colour - masses of pansies in purple and crimson and yellow and the jasmine that I planted a year ago is flowering too. I plan to add a few more spring plants and herbs over the next few weeks. I'm looking forward to plenty of time in the garden to enjoy it all as the plants all wake up from winter hiberbnation.

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French? Fantastique!

One of my great pleasues in life is spending time with old friends over a few bottles of good wine, great conversation and of course, delicious food. Last night my gorgeous friends Justin and Marek joined Michael and I for a long overdue catch up over a french inspired meal (see, watching Julie and Julia at the cinema the other day has brought out the francophile in me!) I was fortunate to have the day off, so I had the luxury of plenty of time. As well as the shopping and dinner preparations, I also took the opportunity to make a batch of chicken stock - I used some on the day but also put some in the freezer to use later. It is such an easy thing to do if you have time - home made stock has a flavour that a mass produced, bought product just can't match. I do keep commercial stock in the pantry but there is nothing like one that you have made yourself.

So, what did I cook? I decided to include a couple of french classics as well as some of my own dishes with a french twist. I consulted my trusty beaten up copy of Larousse Gastronomique for inspiration and came up with the following menu.

Spinach, cheese and chive souffle
Watercress and radish salad with toasted hazelnuts and garlic prawns (served with a Dijon dressing)
Coq au vin with potato galette and sauteed asparagus
Rhubarb and strawberry meringue parfait

I have never cooked a souffle before so I was a bit nervous about it. I have never been someone who really uses recipes - I prefer to cook by taste and touch and to let my instincts guide me. With a dish like a souffle however, you pretty much need to follow a recipie. I actually found it hard to do what I was told (I can already hear my mum saying - what's new?!) but the result was absolutely beautiful. Light as air and delicious. Unfortunately, in my haste to get the souffles straight from the oven to the table before they start to deflate, I forgot to take a photo of them. Sorry everyone. I do think that they deserve a blog entry of their own, so I will make them again and post the recipe and photos when I do (very soon, I promise!)

The next course was a light salad - quite simple but full of flavour and great textures. I combined watercress, thinly sliced radish, toasted hazelnuts and prawns that I marinated in olive oil, garlic and paprika. The dressing was olive oil, a touch of honey, Dijon mustard, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper. This dressing combo works well with many kinds of salads and is a real favourite. The crunch of the hazelnuts was really delightful and there is a great contrast of nuttiness and the peppery taste of the radish and watercress.

The main course was the classic Coq au vin. I prepared this earlier in the day and let it cook for a long time. At the last moment, I removed the tender chicken from the pot and finished the sauce off with a splash of cream and then let the sauce reduce and thicken. I based the recipe on one of the versions of Coq au vin in Larousse Gastronomique but tweaked it a little (if you are interested, it is the Madame Maigret's recipe. It is listed in the book under Coq au vin)

My guests really loved the tenderness of the chicken and the rich, moreish sauce. I served the chicken with lovely fresh asparagus which I sauteed with just a touch of sea salt and pepper. I also made a potato galette - a layered cake of potato and leek that I cooked for a very long time until the potato was deeply caramelised and crisp on top. To make the galette, you slice the potato very thinly and layer it with sliced leeks. Season each layer with pepper and a small amount of salt, brushing the layers with a little melted butter. I used a cake tin lined with baking paper to cook it in.

For dessert, I revisited a dish that regular readers will remember from back in July - a parfait of rhubarb, meringue and strawberries. I had saved a batch of the rhubarb/strawberry mixture from back in July and had frozen it, so it is the same mixture you will see in the photos for my entry on the 25th July. Check out my archives from July for the recipe. I used delicious organic cream on the top this time with some vanilla extract and a touch of caster sugar.

The boys and I all had a wonderful evening - there was plenty of laughter and great conversation, as well as some very good red wine provided by the generous Justin and Marek. I love my friends :)

I was very happy with how the four dishes worked together and even happier to have conquered my very first souffle. Julia Child would have been proud :) In the words of the great lady herself - Bon appetit!!!

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