cookGrilled Home Cured Salmon with Crispy Onion Rings, Oranges and Grapefruit

By Paul Bloxham,Sky Taste. Serves 4 - 6

600g salmon fillet centre cut without tail, with skin
3 tbsp quality sea salt
3 tbsp sugar
1 bunch chopped fresh dill
Splash of vodka
1 pink grapefruit zested and segmented and pithed (juice kept back)
1 lemon zested and segmented and pithed (juice kept back)
2 oranges zested and segmented and pithed (juice kept back)
1 tbsp caster sugar
Few baby salad leaves (mesclun)
1 tbsp chives

1. Remove any tiny pin bones from the salmon with a pair of pliers or tweezers. Rinse the salmon under cold running water and pat dry. Place salmon, skin side down, on several large sheets of cling film. In a small mixing bowl, combine salt, sugar, dill, vodka and lemon, lime and orange zests. Spread the mixture evenly over the flesh side of the salmon, pressing it into the flesh. Wrap the salmon tightly in the cling film and place skin side down in a large baking dish. Place a dish on top of the salmon and weight the dish with several heavy tins or a brick and chill for at least 24 hours.

2. Unwrap the salmon and rinse the entire cure off under cold, running water. Pat dry and cut into 6 equal portions. Heat a griddle pan with a little olive oil and griddle the salmon for 1 minute each side and serve with the crispy onions rings and confit citrus fruits. For the oranges and grapefruit, pour the juices into a saucepan with the caster sugar and heat until the sugar is dissolved, cool and add the segments and chives. To serve stack 4 onion rigs together and fill the stack with salad leaves, pop the griddled salmon on the plate and spoon over the confit fruits.

For the onion rings:
2 large Spanish onions sliced into 2 cm thick rounds
250g plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 can of lager
Vegetable oil for deep frying
Milk to cover onions

1. Put the onions in a large bowl and cover with milk. Let soak for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, using a fine-sieve over a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, chilli powder, and cumin. Stir in the beer until a smooth batter is formed and thickly coats the back of a spoon. Set aside.

2. Drain the onions and transfer to paper towels pat until dry. In a large pot, pour in the oil to a depth of about 2 inches. Place over medium heat and heat to 175C. Working in batches, transfer about 8 to 10 of the onion rings to the batter and mix to coat well. Using tongs, pull several of the onions out of the batter, and let any excess batter fall back into the bowl. Carefully add to the oil and fry, flipping once, until golden brown and crispy, about 2 and a half minutes per batch. Using the tongs, transfer to a dry paper towel-lined bowl to drain. Sprinkle with salt to taste. Repeat with the remaining onions.

Valid HTML 4.01 Transitional Copyright © 2009 Hazelnet & Styleshout Valid CSS!