Ocean trout salad

Sarah Knight, a young chef from Sydney was a national finalist in the Electrolux Young Chef of the Year 2012, here she shares with us one of the recipes she created via appetite for Excellence sponsored by FRDC

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Cooking difficulty: Medium

Serves: 4

Preparation:

Cooking:

Pickling tips for molluscs

Mussels should be steamed and opened before pickling, and abalone, cuttlefish, squid and octopus should be tenderised and par-boiled before pickling.
Cook fish with the skin on

Skin on the finfish will provide a natural basting because most oil is stored in the skin.
Butter & olive oil works great with seafood

Butter, margarine or olive oil can be used to add moisture and flavour.
Tips for deep frying

Do not fry seafood with other foods, because the flavours will mix.
Cephalopods should be fried for a minimum time to ensure tenderness.
Do not salt seafood before frying as the salt can cause the oil to break down.
Lemon juice, vinegar or tartare sauce are the traditional accompaniments for deep-fried seafood as they help cut the richness of the oil.
Tips for glazing seafood

Once frozen, seafood can be removed from the "freezer", unwrapped, dipped under cold, running water, and then re-wrapped for freezing. This coats it with a glaze that helps reduce dehydration during its time in storage.

Ingredients

1 side salmon, skinned, pin boned, blood line removed

1 cup sugar

1 cup salt

3-4 whole raw beetroot, peeled and roughly chopped

500g kipfler potatoes, washed

100ml extra virgin olive oil

3 bunch of dill, picked

Salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste

3 egg yolks

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons chardonnay vinegar

300ml grape seed oil

2 tablespoons of freshly grated horseradish

Salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste

To Finish

2 bulbs of fennel, sliced thinly on a mandolin* (if you don’t have a mandolin, then just thinly sliced)

3 blood oranges peeled and cut into segments

Fennel fronds

Chardonnay vinegar

Extra virgin olive oil

Toasted fennel seeds

Method

Beetroot cured salmon

Place the beetroot, sugar and salt into a food processor and blend to a thick puree, if it is a little thick, add a splash of water. mixture should remain very wet. Place half the beetroot mixture into a large oven proof tray big enough to hold the salmon fillet flat. Place the salmon fillet into the mixture. Pour the rest of the beetroot mixture over the salmon fillet. Place tray into the fridge and leave over night to cure. The next day wash the salmon fillet thoroughly. Slice thin slices of the salmon and place in the fridge until ready for use.

Dill Potatoes

Fill a large pot half way with cold water and bring to the boil. Add a pinch of salt and kipfler potatoes. Reduce heat to a simmer and heat until potatoes are cooked through. Once the potatoes have slightly cooled, peel and place into a large bowl, break down potatoes with a fork and then season well with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Place the picked dill and extra virgin olive oil in a food processor and blend until a fine puree. Mix dill puree through the potatoes once the potatoes have cooled slightly. Cover the potato mixture and leave at room temperature until ready for use.

Horseradish Mayonnaise

In a food processor add egg yolks, Dijon mustard and chardonnay vinegar and blend on a low setting. While the machine is still running gradually add the grape seed oil in a thin even stream so that it emulsifies and makes the mayonnaise. Once all the grape seed oil is incorporated, add in the horseradish and then season with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Place mayonnaise into a squeeze bottle and place in fridge ready for use.

To serve

Start by dressing the fennel with the extra virgin olive oil, chardonnay vinegar and toasted fennel seeds in a large bowl, making sure that the fennel is coated with the dressing.

Arrange the dressed fennel on each plate, followed by the horseradish mayonnaise, dollop in and around the fennel.

Take the dill potatoes and make small quenelles** then arrange on each plate.

Place the sliced salmon onto each plate, weaving it in and around the fennel and potatoes. Finish the plate with the blood orange segments and the fennel fronds.

Chefs Tips

The dish is a plated salad so it’s important to build the salad up. It should look natural and high not placed and flat.

* Hand held Mandolins can be bought at good cooks/chefs stores

** A quenelle is a food item made into an oval or egg shape by using two spoons dipped in water to ‘turn’ the food until it is a smooth, oval shape

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Ocean trout salad

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Ocean trout salad

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