Baked smoked salmon, sparkling oyster cream, salmon cavier
Wine pairing
2015 Josef Chromy Vintage Sparkling
Ingredients
1kg fillet of Tasmanian salmon
6 shucked oysters
200g creme frache
Good olive oil
3 lemons
1 lime
1 orange
1 bunch rhubarb
2 cucumbers
1 head small fennel
1 bunch baby radishes
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 the 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
150 ml 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.
Serves 8
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