A Salmon Tale....

I love salmon. The lovely pinkish flesh, the delicious buttery taste and that luxurious texture. One of the best bits of the salmon is the tail - often overlooked in favour of the chunkier parts of the fish, it has a delicate marbling of fat through it that makes it moist and super tasty. It rarely has any bones (occasionaly if you buy a super large sized piece you may find one or two, but this isn't common) and it is easy to cook. Salmon tail is also a great way to enjoy this beautiful fish if you are on a budget - salmon steaks can be quite pricey, but with the tail you are not getting bones and it is not as chunky as the rest of the fish. Win!

Apart from tasting amazing, salmon is also incredibly good for you, crammed with Omega 3 oils, high amounts of protein and chock full of vitimin D. Great for your skin, your hair and the rest of you!

Regular Gourmet Goddess readers will remember the fish cooking technique I learned in Paris last year - placing the fish on a bed of herbs or aromatics, to cook the fish gently and infuse it with heaps of flavour. Well, today's recipe uses that same technique, this time with fennel as the star flavour. I know many people are hesitant to use fennel - but it really works beautifully in this dish, imparting a delicate herbaceous character to the salmon that is just gorgeous.

The salmon before it went into the oven -

nestled cosily on a bed of fennel,onions,red onion,parsley and garlic.

I decided to team the salmon with a salad of watercress and pink grapefruit. The peppery nature of the watercress and the sweet tang of the grapefruit is a lovely contrast to the rich, buttery taste of the salmon. I added a very simple poppyseed vinigarette for the dressing.

With the salmon itself, I made a very simple, throw together with one hand behind your back, caper butter. You could easily add garlic or other herbs to this if you wanted to, but it was a weeknight, I was hungry and it was "cooking night" on SBS, so I wanted something fast and easy so I could get my weekly dose of Adriano Zumbo and Anthony Bourdain!

This whole dish took about half an hour to create, so it makes a great midweek meal or stress free dinner party dish. And here it is, in it's pinky, salmon-ish glory.....

And after....succulent salmon and infused with all those great flavours,

served with caper butter, a watercress and pink grapefruit salad and poppyseed dressing.

You will need:
For the salmon - 1 salmon tail, 1 tablespoon chopped continental parsley, 2 cloves sliced garlic, half a red onion cut into thin slices, the green part of 1 fennel bulb cut into slices, salt and pepper, a splash of olive oil.

For the sauce - 1 heaped tablespoon salted butter, 2 teaspoons roughly chopped capers, salt and pepper.

For the salad - 1 bulb fennel sliced finely (white part only - you will use the green part for the roasting of the fish), 1 pink grapfruit cut into segments with the white pith removed, half a red onion sliced finely, a couple of handfulls of watercress (trim the larger tough stalks off so that you are mostly left with the delicate leaves)

For the salad dressing - 2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar, 2 tablespoons good quality olive oil, 2 teaspoons poppyseeds, 1 teaspoon sugar, pinch of salt, pinch of cayenne pepper, a little black pepper to taste.


Method:
First, preheat the oven to 220C. Then, line a baking tray with baking paper.
Combine the parsley, garlic, onion and green part of the fennel and place it on the baking tray in a thick layer the size of the salmon tail.

Check that the salmon does not have any bones by feeling the surface of the flesh - it is unlikely that you will come across any in the tail, but if your fishmonger has given you a large peice, you may occasionally find one or two. Use tweezers to remove any that you find.

Rub the salmon all over with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Lay the fish on top of the fennel mixture. Set aside.

Now make the salad dressing - simply whisk together all of the dressing ingredients until it starts to emulsify (you will know this is happening when it has thickened slightly) Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Set aside.

Place the salmon in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of the salmon. Watch how it is going so that you do not overcook it - the flesh should yield slightly when you press on it.

While the salmon is cooking, toss together your salad ingredients and arrange on your serving plate, without the dressing.

Now make the caper butter - just combine all of the ingredients in a warm pan until the butter is melted. Set aside.

When the salmon is cooked, take it out of the oven and allow it to rest for 5 minutes. Lift the salmon off the bed of fennel and place on your serving dish. Spoon the caper butter over the salmon.

Dress the salad and serve with the fish. Delicious.

Serves 2 for a main course or 4 for an entree.

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Today's Catch - Sensational Salmon.

Hi everyone - We are back from New Zealand and so impressed by the fantastic food that we ate while we were. You know how much I love seafood and I have to say it was pretty much a seafood - fest! I have been told that seafood that comes from colder water has a better flavour - don't know if that is actually true - but the best seafood I have eaten this year has been from the waters around Scotland and New Zealand. There could be something in it? I am preparing a run down of my favourite NZ food experiences to share with you all, so stay tuned for that. Is it wrong that most of the photos I took when I was away were of food?

So, staying on the seafood theme, today's recipe uses fresh salmon fillets, with clean flavours and an elegant presentation that would suit a dinner party. I took the salmon fillets, fresh herbs, a handful of gorgeous green pistachio nuts and a pink grapefruit from the fruit bowl to create this tasty dish that is a breeze to make and a delight to eat. I used quite large fillets, but you could use small ones and have this as a lovely light entree. Just remember to reduce the cooking time if you choose the mini option.

I love citrus with seafood, and the pink grapefruit gives just the perfect balance of sweetness and tartness, as well as that lovely blush of colour. You don't even need a complicated dressing for this salad - I just used a drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil and a touch of salt and pepper. The juice from the grapefruit and the oil is all that is needed. For the accompaniment, I used a tangy continental yoghurt as the base for a creamy sauce that has a little kick of horseradish to compliment the richness of the salmon. This sauce also works well with simply grilled chicken or other seafood, so give it a try. My recipe today serves two.

Pistachio and Poppyseed Crusted Salmon

with Parsley and Grapefruit Salad

And Horseradish Yoghurt sauce.

You will need:
For the salmon - 2 salmon fillets, 1 large egg, 2 teaspoons water, 2 tablespoons plain flour, 1/3 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1 cup breadcrumbs, 1 tablespoon pistachio nuts (unsalted and unshelled), salt and pepper, vegetable oil for shallow frying.

For the salad - 1 cup continental parsley leaves, 1/3 spanish (red) onion finely sliced, 2 tablespoons finely sliced red pepper/capsicum, Flesh of 1 pink grapefruit - be sure to remove all of the white pith. a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.

For the sauce - 1/2 cup natural yoghurt (I use the thick continental kind), 1 tablespoon mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon horseradish cream.

Method: First pin bone the salmon fillets, being sure that you remove all of the bones. Bones in your fish is a particularly bad look! A pair of tweezers is best for this.

Whisk together the eggs and water. Set aside. In a bowl or old plastic bag, combine the flour, cayenne and a few generous pinches of salt. Set aside.

In a food processor (or mortar and pestle), crush the pistachio nuts until they are quite fine. Combine these with the breadcrumbs and poppyseeds and a generous seasoning of salt and pepper.

Dust the salmon with the seasoned flour, then the egg mix, then the crumb mixture. Put them in the fridge for about 10 minutes.

To make the salad, just gently combine the ingredients and season with salt and pepper.

To make the sauce, combine all ingredients and mix well.

To cook the fish, heat a pan with a shallow layer of oil and cook each side until golden. This will not take long because of the natural oils in the nuts. Transfer to fish to a baking tray and cook in a moderate oven for 5-8 minutes depending on the size of the fillets.

Allow the fish to rest for a few minutes before slicing diagonally for presentation. Serve the fish with the salad and a spoonful of sauce.

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