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.