So often, salmon is served over-cooked with dry flesh. The way I cook the salmon in this recipe means it has a crispy skin but moist flesh. I serve it with buttered new potatoes and home-made tartare sauce – a great combination.
Method
1. First make the tartare sauce. The first step is to make mayonnaise, which will then be a base for your tartare sauce. Whenever possible, I recommend making your mayonnaise by hand rather than by machine. In a mixing bowl and using a metal balloon whisk, whisk together the egg yolk, mustard and white wine vinegar until thoroughly blended.
2. Whisking all the while, gradually pour in the groundnut oil, pouring it down the side of the bowl so that it trickles slowly into the mayonnaise mixture. I use groundnut oil as olive oil would be far too strong. Any light-flavoured oil – sunflower or vegetable – will do. Gradually the mixture will emulsify, becoming thicker, velvety and smooth.
3. As the mixture begins to emulsify, you can add the oil in faster. The great thing about making it yourself is that you can make the mayonnaise as thick as you want it.
4. Mix in the capers, gherkins, shallot and parsley. Add these in to your taste; your palate should dictate. Where possible, I’d recommend setting the tartare sauce for an hour to let the flavours develop before serving. Don’t forget to taste it again before serving to adjust the flavouring.
5. Now prepare the buttered potatoes. Place the potatoes in large pan of water, bring to the boil and boil until tender. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the hot potatoes to a dish containing the cubed butter, season with a pinch of salt and add in the mint leaves. Cover the dish with cling film and set aside for 20 minutes.
6. Once the potatoes have been set aside, preheat the oven to Gas Mark 5, 190°C, 170°C fan, 350°F.
7. Make a seasoning paste by crumbling together a Knorr Fish Stock Cube into the olive oil. Spread the paste evenly over both sides of the salmon steaks to season them.
8. Heat two large ovenproof frying pans on the top of the stove and add half a tablespoon of olive oil to each. The trick here is not to have the pans too hot to start with. You want them hot but not red-hot. Add three pieces of salmon to each fish hot pan, skin side-down, and then increase the heat. Fry for 5-6 minutes until the skin is browned.
9. Transfer the pans with the salmon steaks in them, still skin-side down, to the oven and cook for a further 5-6 minutes. By cooking them skin side-down, without turning them over, the skin becomes crispy and the flesh remains moist, rather than drying out.
10. Take the salmon from the oven and transfer to a serving dish. Squeeze the juice from the lemon half over the salmon steaks, top each piece of salmon with a spoonful of tartare sauce, garnish with parsley and serve with the buttered potatoes and the tartare sauce.
