Baked smoked salmon, sparkling oyster cream, salmon caviar

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Wine pairing

2015 Josef Chromy Vintage Sparkling

Ingredients  

1kg fillet of salmon 

6 shucked oysters 

200g crème fraiche 

Good olive oil 

3 lemons

1 lime 

1 orange 

1 bunch rhubarb 

2 cucumbers 

1 head small fennel

1 bunch baby radishes 

1 bunch thyme 

1 bunch parsley 

1 bunch mint 

1 bunch chives 

1 clove garlic 

1 tsp white wine vinegar 

Salt and pepper 

1 small jar salmon roe 

50 ml sparkling wine 

Ceviche cure

70g table salt 

30g caster sugar

Juice and zest of 1 orange 

Juice and zest of 1 lime 

Chopped green fennel tops from your bulb of fennel

Oyster cream

Meat of 6 fresh oysters 

250g crème fraiche 

30 ml sparkling wine

20ml olive oil 

1 lemon

Salt and cracked pepper

Lemon dressing

Juice of 2 lemons 

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1 clove garlic – minced

2 sprig thyme - bruised

1 tsp Dijon mustard 

150ml good olive oil 

Salt and pepper 

Put all ingredients in a jar and shake well, allow to infuse for at least half an hour 

Method 

If you can, get the salmon pin-boned and skin on, from a fishmonger, as the fillet will be nice and thick. Carefully cut the belly fat off and trim any edges that aren’t smooth. The Salmon will present better later. 

To make your cure mixture, blend the ingredients in a food processor, coat the fillet and set aside for 2 hours in the refrigerator. Rinse fillet with cold water, then dry with paper towel. To cold-smoke the fish, place the salmon fillet into a deep casserole dish and cover well with plastic wrap. Using a small hand smoker, make a small hole in the wrap to fit the nozzle in, fill the bowl of the smoker with some fine apple or hickory wood chips and smoke the fish until the chips have burned out.  Remove the nozzle and cover the small hole. Allow smoke to sit with the fish for at least 30 minutes. This will impart a gentle smoke flavour to the Salmon, make it moister and more tender when baked. (There is a huge difference to doing this process yourself rather than buying cold smoked fish. There is no comparison in the finished result! Look for hand smokers and fine wood chips at hospitality and catering stores).

Place the salmon fillet skin down in a baking tray, preferably one with high sides. Rub the flesh with plenty of extra virgin olive oil, then sprinkle with sea salt, cracked black pepper and chopped thyme leaves from 8 stalks or so. Cover with foil and bake at 100 degrees C with no fan, for 1 hour. You’re looking for an internal temperature of approximately 46 degrees C. Serve straight from the oven.  

To make the cream, use a hand blender or small food processer. Shuck the oyster meat into a container or blender, add the juice of 1 lemon, sparkling wine and olive oil and blend until smooth. Fold through the crème fraiche and season with salt and pepper. For the best presentation, put into a small squeeze bottle and refrigerate. You can dollop if you don’t have a bottle. 

For the salad, peel the rhubarb and very finely slice in 10cm strips, then put into ice water so it curls up. Finely slice cucumber, baby radish, and baby fennel and add to a mixing bowl with the drained rhubarb and half a bunch of torn parsley, mint and chives cut into 4cm sticks. 

When ready to serve, place the salmon fillet gently onto a wooden board or serving platter, dress the salad with some lemon dressing and gently surround the salmon fillet. Place your slices and dices of ceviche over the salmon and salad and repeat with the oyster cream and salmon roe. Pick a few small herbs off the remaining herb bunches to garnish, and finish with a little more olive oil over the top.