Recipe by Tony Smith
Serves 10-12
Perhaps the most well known and simple ways of cooking salmon has been to wrap the whole fish in cooking foil along with some aromatic herbs and some lemon.
For many the ‘bone factor’ detracts somewhat from the overall enjoyment of this method so here is a recipe that uses 2 salmon fillets which has the effect of re-forming the salmon into a whole fish without having to worry about avoiding those bones.
INGREDIENTS
2 Akaroa salmon fillets (around 1.6kg in total)
1 carrot thinly sliced
1 leek thinly sliced
2 stalks celery thinly sliced
1 courgette thinly sliced
50g butter
2 tbsp. olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 bay leaves
A selection of other fresh herbs, such as thyme, parsley, chives, mint
1 fresh lemon
Cooking foil and kitchen paper
METHOD
1. Preheat your oven or barbecue to 180˚c
2. Heat a frying pan and add the butter and olive oil
3. Stir fry the vegetables until they soften a little seasoning with salt and pepper.
3. Lay out a triple thickness length of foil a hands length longer than your salmon. Place on top of this a double length of kitchen paper.
4. Sprinkle over a little olive oil then a bay-leaf and a generous good layer of herbs and a third of the vegetables.
4. Season the salmon fillets generously on both sides; lay the first skin side down onto the vegetables and herbs. Add ½ the remaining vegetables, and some more herbs along with a squeeze of lemon.
5. Place on the second fillet to form the whole fish, topping with the remaining vegetables, bay-leaf and some more herbs.
6. Fold over the kitchen paper and then the foil, sealing with overlapping twists something like folding a Cornish pasty.
7. Bake for 30 minutes, carefully open a corner of the foil to check, if the package is really steaming it will be cooked. Rest
(To cook on a barbecue, cook sealed side down on the flat top for 5 minutes, then turn over and cook another 10 minutes.)
The salmon will rest and keep warm for some time so no rush to serve. Place on a large platter or board, carefully unwrap creating a rustic border.
Serve with a salad side new steamed potatoes and mayonnaise dressing or similar.