Chermoula Salmon with Parsley, Fennel and Lemon Salad

Chermoula is a North African spice made from a heady combination of cumin, paprika, chilli, mint and coriander among other things. You can buy chermoula as a spice or paste from delis, middle eastern stores or spice stores, or be adventurous and make your own! Once you have the spice mix, this dish takes 5 minutes to prepare and cook and looks super impressive and like you spent a lot more time slaving in the kitchen. Be sure to serve it with plenty of fresh lemon.

4 pieces of salmon, skin off, cut into scallop sized pieces (ask your fishmonger to do this for you)

3 tbspn olive oil plus extra for drizzling

3 heaped teaspoons of chermoula

good pinch sea salt

1 bunch parsley, leaves only

1 fennel or 2 baby fennel thinly slice (a mandolin is ideal for this)

1 tspn baby capers

1-2 lemons cut into wedges

Place the fish, oil, chermoula and salt in a snap lock bag and shake until fish is evenly covered. Leave to marinate for half an hour if you have time. If not, don’t worry. Preheat the grill to 220 degrees. Line a baking tray with foil, and place the fish pieces on it, taking care to separate each piece. Grill the fish for 2-3 minutes, turn pieces over and put back in the grill for 2 minutes. Meanwhile, place the parsley, fennel and capers on a serving plate. Top with cooked fish, drizzle with extra olive oil and squeeze over lemon wedges. Leave lemon wedges on the plate for colour and flavor.

Salmon Tarator - Family Style

I have already written a post about the very impressive tarator style salmon. This time I made it for a dinner party and used a whole side of salmon rather than individual pieces. I also slightly altered the salad that tops it. Everybody adored it – this is a sure fire dinner party winner!

There are three elements that can all be prepared in advance but need to be assemble just before serving – fish, yoghurt, herb salad

Fish

1 side of salmon

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees. Lay out one or two large pieces of sliver foil (I use two, one above the other with a slight overlap). Place a slightly smaller piece of baking paper on the foil and place the fish (skin side down) on the baking paper. Rub the fish with a small amount of olive oil and season well. Wrap tightly in the baking paper and silver foil so you have a sealed package or fish. Place on a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes. Turn the fish over and bake for a further 20 minutes.

Open the silver foil and baking paper and allow fish to cool down. Place the fish skin side up on the serving dish. Peel the skin off and discard it. Use a knife to remove the blood line and any grey bits. You will be left with a pink rectangle. Set aside.

Yoghurt

350g natural or greek style yoghurt

1 tbspn tahini paste

juice of 1-1½ lemons

generous pinch of sea salt

Whip together all ingredients. Taste and adjust salt and lemon according to your preference. Refrigerate until needed. (Note, this yoghurt is wonderful with the roast eggplant salad). 

If you can't be bothered making the yoghurt, you can substitute store bought techina from your local falafel takeaway or middle eastern food stockist.

Herb Salad

1½ bunches parsley, leaves finely chopped

½ bunch mint, leaves shredded

150g walnuts, toasted and chopped

2 long red chilies, finely diced

½ small red onion, finely diced

½ cup pomegranate seeds

1 heaped tbsn sumac

1 flat tspn cinnamon

juice of 1-2 lemons

¼ cup olive oil

Mix all ingredients together. If you are preparing this in advance, combine everything but the pomegranate, oil and lemon juice. Add these just before serving and toss to combine.

To assemble:

Use a spatula or the back of a spoon to spread a thick layer of yoghurt over the fish. Top with the herb salad. For super presentation, tuck a folded paper towel under either side of the fish before putting on the yogurt and herb salad and remove just before serving.

  

Dukkah Crusted Salmon

This is one of those blessed weeknight meals that take less than 5 minutes to prepare. All you need to do while the salmon is roasting is open a bottle of wine and make a crisp green salad or steam some green and dinner is done. Dukkah is a spice blend usually made with crushed nuts, sesame seeds, cumin and other spices. You can substitute with sumac, zaatar or chopped fresh herbs and lemon zest.  By double lining the roasting dish with foil and baking paper, cleaning up takes less time than preparing!

2 fillets of salmon

1 tbspn olive oil

5 tbspn dukkah

salt

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Line a baking dish with foil and baking paper. Brush salmon with oil. Sprinkle dukkah on a plate and press salmon into the dukkah. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Cover salmon with foil and bake for 10 minutes. Remove foil and bake for a further 10 minutes or until cooked to your liking (time will vary depending on the thickness of your fillet).

Sesame Crusted Salmon with Crunch Salad

This is one of my favourite ways to cook fish. It works especially well with tuna (as you can see in sesame crusted tuna with soba noodles), ocean trout and salmon. I think it looks nicer if you use a combination of white and black sesame seeds, but all I had tonight was black. I have been making this salmon for years, but I got the idea for this salad from my friend Shelley, who is mummyknows.com.au who adapted it from a James Duigan recipe. I have adapted it again to suit my tastes and ingredients on hand.  The salad is tangy and crunchy and cuts through the oiliness of the salmon magnificently. This is clean, lean and light food, but if you cook the salmon indoors it can become a bit smoky so if it is not too cold for you, use the griddle section of the bbq – just have your silver foil ready, and don’t overcook it.

 

2 fillets of salmon or ocean trout

1 tspn chilli flakes

¼  tspn salt flakes

3 tbspn sesame seeds (black, white or mixed)

drizzle of olive oil

salad

200g green beans, trimmed and steamed

200g butter beans, trimmed and steamed

1 baby fennel, thinly sliced

4 radishes, thinly sliced

2 carrots, julienned

1 sheet of nori cut into strips (optional)

dressing

2 tbspn olive oil

2 tbspn brown rice vinegar

2 tbspn soy sauce

2 tbspn orange juice

juice of ½ a lime

½ tspn brown sugar

Scatter chilli, salt and sesame on a plate. Spray salmon with olive oil. Press salmon into sesame mixture until the flesh side is covered. Heat a non stick fry pan or the bbq to high. Sear salmon skin side down for 3 mins. Turn to sesame side and sear for another 3 minutes. Remove from pan and wrap tightly in silver foil to rest for 10 minutes.

Combine salad ingredients on a plate. Combine ingredients for dressing and whisk. Pour dressing over salad reserving 1 tbspn. Place salmon on salad and drizzle over remaining dressing.

Crispy Salmon Tarator

This salmon is a real show stopper. It looks fantastic, tastes incredible and is great to wow a crowd. If you have a lot of people over, you can also make this using an entire side of salmon instead of pieces. It works equally well with white fish too.

4 pieces of salmon

2 tspn coconut oil

¾ cup natural yoghurt

juice of ½ a lemon

1 generous tbspn tahini paste

salt to taste

½ bunch parsley, chopped

¼ bunch coriander, chopped

¼ bunch mint, chopped

1 red chilli, finely diced

100g walnuts, toasted and chopped

2 tspn sumac

½ tspn cinnamon

3 tbspn olive oil

juice of ½ lemon

pinch of salt

Combine the fresh herbs, walnuts, chilli and spices. Mix the olive oil, lemon juice and salt. Dress the salad and set aside.

Heat a non stick pan to high. Add the coconut oil, and then sear the salmon skin side down for 4 minutes. Turn the flame to medium and turn the salmon over and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Remove the salmon form the pan, wrap in silver foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile whip the yoghurt with the tahini, add lemon juice and salt to taste.

To assemble, place salmon on a plate, spoon over tahini yoghurt and top with tarator salad.

(If you want to skip a step, it works just as well with tahini sauce from your local felafel shop).