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Scottish
Salmon Recipes
A
selection of salmon recipes from top Scottish chef Nick Nairn
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First, catch your
salmon.....
Wild Scottish salmon, fresh from sea or
river, will invariably be superior to the farmed variety.
Wild Scottish salmon, caught in commercial nets, is now a
scarce commodity commanding a high market price.
Similarly, if our dietary intake of salmon depended
on our skill with rod and line, many of us, myself included, might be
sadly under-nourished. Most of us will buy our salmon from the
fishmonger or supermarket. Much of this salmon currently comes from fish
farms.
Go wild for
Salmon!
The following is an extract from
"The Salmon Farm Monitor"
"As a special treat try wild Alaska
salmon instead of farmed salmon. The Salmon
Farm Protest Group do not advocate eating wild Scottish, English,
Welsh or Irish salmon as these stocks are perilously close to
extinction. However, there
are sustainable supplies of wild Alaskan salmon.
This is much tastier and healthier than farmed salmon, is
affordable and is already sold fresh in supermarkets such as Sainsbury
and M&S. Ask your supermarket for fresh wild salmon or try canned
wild salmon. This contains less fat and less contaminants than farmed
salmon. Suppliers of wild
Alaska salmon can be found at:
alaskaseafood.org"
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On Salmon Farming
From about the mid eighties,
declining stocks of wild salmon encouraged the growth of the
salmon farming industry along the Scottish west coast. Welcome
though the new fish farms were as a source of rural employment,
lack of planning and control in their location and operation had
dramatic environmental consequences, not least the rapid decline
of our fragile sea trout stocks. It would appear, however, that
the salmon farms are here to stay. It is to be hoped that stricter
controls combined with improved techniques and a growing
environmental awareness will halt and perhaps even reverse the
decline.
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Scottish Salmon
Recipes
These salmon recipes and
photographs have been reproduced from "Nick Nairn's Top 100
Salmon Recipes" with the permission of the author, Nick Nairn.
Nick is one of Scotland's top chefs, well known for his regular
appearances on BBC television. He also runs his own highly acclaimed
restaurant and cookery school. Please visit
Nick's website at
http://www.nairns.co.uk
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Nick's Salmon Recipes
Below are a few sample salmon recipes
from Nick Nairn's excellent book:
- Peppered salmon with whisky cream
sauce
- Spicy salmon broth
- Lemon butter baked salmon,
tagliatelle and parsley
- Seared salmon with hot potato and
tomato salad
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Salmon Recipe No 1
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Peppered Salmon with
Whisky Cream Sauce
Nick Nairn
Unlike the other recipes in this section, this
sauce is an integral part of the dish and is one of my favourite one-pan
recipes. It has evolved from a peppered beef dish which I then adapted
for chicken with great success, and it was only a matter of time before
the curious cook in me tried it with salmon. The result? A very tasty
dish indeed!
1 Mix together the crushed peppercorns. Smear the
salmon steaks all over with the mustard and then press the peppercorns
into the cut sides of the salmon - just enough to give it a nice thin
coating. Season with salt.
2 Heat a frying pan until hot. Add the butter and,
as soon as it starts to foam, lay in the salmon steaks. Reduce the heat
to medium and fry the steaks for about 3 minutes on one side to brown
them.
3 Turn up the heat, flip the steaks over, then
splash in the whisky. Boil fast until the whisky has almost disappeared,
then pour in the cream. Carefully scraping up any bits that are sticking
to the bottom of the pan around the steaks, bring to a fast bubble.
4 Boil for 1 - 2 minutes until the sauce starts to
thicken, then taste and season with more black pepper if necessary, and
some salt. By this time the salmon should be just cooked - test with the
tip of a knife; if it is still a wee bit pink, simmer over a low heat
for a further minute. Stir in the chopped chives and serve immediately,
garnished with the extra chives.
Copyright Nick Nairn 2002
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Preparation time 20 minutes
serves 2
1 tablespoon black peppercorns, crushed
½ tablespoon white peppercorns, crushed
2 x 175g (6oz) salmon steaks or darnes(
see page 10-12)
1 level teaspoon Dijon mustard
freshly ground sea salt
15g (½ oz ) butter
1 tablespoon whisky
150ml (¼ pint) double cream
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives, plus
extra to garnish
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Salmon Recipe No 2
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Spicy Salmon Broth
Nick Nairn
I normally make this soup using a blend of fish
stock and mussel juices; however, I know that most home cooks don't have
ready access to that kind of kit, and so for this book I experimented
using a fish stock cube - not great. I then tried my personal favourite,
a Knorr chicken stock cube, and found that it made a really good soup,
although perhaps not acceptable to "pescatarians" ( I know, it
was a new one on me, too - it means fish - eating vegetarians!);
alternatively you could use a vegetable stock cube. The base can be made
in advance and freezes well. Add the salmon just prior to serving. Be
careful not to overcook the salmon; it needs only a couple of minutes.
You can check by breaking one of the pieces open - it should still be
nice and pink inside.
1 Heat the oil in a large pan and add the
ginger, garlic, chilli and lemongrass. Cook over a low heat until
softened.
2 Add the stock and splash in the Thai fish
sauce, soy sauce and lime juice. Bring to the boil, then turn down the
heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the spring onions and cook for a
further 3 minutes.
3 Add the fish with the coriander and
simmer for 2 minutes or until the fish is cooked. Taste, season with
salt and pepper and add more fish sauce or soy sauce if you like - it
should be quite punchy! Ladle into warm bowls and serve.
Copyright Nick Nairn 2002
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20 minutes
Serves 4
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
25g (1oz) fresh root ginger, peeled and cut into
matchsticks
2 large garlic cloves, peeled and sliced into slivers
1 large fresh red chilli, seeded and cut into matchsticks
1 whole bird's eye chilli
1 stem of lemongrass, chopped
1.2 litres (2 pints) chicken or vegetable stock
3 tablespoons Thai fish sauce (nam pla)
1 tablespoon light soy sauce ( preferably Kikkoman's)
juice of 1 lime
4 spring onions, finely shredded
175 - 225g (6 - 8 oz) salmon fillet, cut into
medallions ( see page 10 -11)
3 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh coriander
freshly ground sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
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Salmon Recipe No 3
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Lemon Butter Baked
Salmon, Tagliatelle and Parsley
Nick Nairn
This dish is so simple yet so tasty. If
you've got time, you could use home-made pasta here; if not, dried thin
tagliatelle or linguine will do a fabulous job. What make this dish so
good are the salmon juices, which mingle with the butter and lemon in
the oven, so when you're pouring them over the pasta, use a spatula to
scrape out every last drop.
1 Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark
6.
2 Melt the butter in a small
roasting tin and add the lemon rind and juice. Season with plenty of
salt and pepper.
3 Lay the salmon fillets in the
roasting tin and turn them around in the lemony butter, ending up
skinned-side down. Place in the oven for 7-8 minutes until cooked
through but still moist inside. To test whether the salmon is done, give
the fattest part a gentle squeeze and it should give slightly - if it's
still wobbly, pop it back into the oven for another couple of minutes.
If it feels solid, it's overcooked.
4 Meanwhile, throw the pasta into
a large pan of boiling salted water and cook according to the packet
instructions until al dente. Take the salmon out of the roasting
tin and place on a warmed plate. Drain the pasta, mix with the lemony
buttery juices collected in the salmon roasting tin and add the parsley.
Divide the parsley between four warmed plates. Set the baked salmon
fillet on top and tuck in!
Copyright Nick Nairn 2002
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time 25 minutes
Serves 4
50g (2oz) butter
finely grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
freshly ground sea salt and freshly ground black
pepper
4 x 175g (6oz) salmon fillets, skinned
350g (12oz) dried tagliatelle
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
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Salmon Recipe No 4
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Seared Salmon with Hot
Potato and Tomato Salad
Nick Nairn
I discovered how good this combination is
quite accidentally when making supper at home one evening. The
potatoes absorb the juices from the tomatoes, olive oil and
balsamic vinegar, and provide the perfect background to a nice slice of
seared salmon. I'm convinced many of the best ideas and combinations in
cooking come about by accident rather than design.
1 Cook the potatoes in a pan of
salted boiling water for about 20 minutes until just tender.
2 Meanwhile, mix the garlic, olive
oil, balsamic vinegar and seasoning together in a mixing bowl. Add the
tomatoes and basil and mix well.
3 When the potatoes are cooked,
drain and cut in half and add to the tomato mix, tossing well to coat.
4 Heat the sunflower oil in a hot
frying pan, add the salmon escalopes and fry for 2 minutes on one side
only. Turn on to a plate, fried-side up, and season with salt pepper and
lemon juice.
5 Add the Parmesan to the potato
and tomato salad mix and divide between 4 serving bowls. Place a salmon
escalope on top of the salad and serve.
Copyright Nick Nairn 2002
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time 25 minutes
Serves 4
400g (14oz) salad potatoes ( such as Anya or
Charlotte)
1 garlic clove, crushed
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
freshly ground sea salt and freshly ground black
pepper
350g (12oz0 cherry tomatoes, halved
25g (1oz) fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon sunflower oil
4x 115g (4oz) salmon escalopes (see page 10)
juice of ½ lemon
25g (ioz) Parmesan cheese shavings
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Salmon Recipes
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These are just four of the one hundred
inventive salmon recipes in Nick's book. Other original recipes include
"Orange and Coriander Marinated Salmon", "Hot-smoked Salmon Chowder",
"Smoked salmon, Cream Cheese and Black Pepper roulades", "Salmon,
Lemon and Saffron Soup", "Char-grilled Salmon Steaks, Asparagus and
Poached Egg", "Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict", "Salmon
Sashimi", "Salmon Laska", "Cajun Spiced Salmon with Cucumber
Salad", "Seared Salmon Nicoise", "Salmon and Mango
Salsa", "Salmon Satay",
"Salmon Pilaff with Saffron, Raisins and Pine Nuts",
"Oatmeal-crusted Salmon with Mustard Sauce" and "Hot and Sour
Salmon".
Many more great salmon recipes
can be found in Nick Nairn's book "Top 100 Salmon Recipes", as shown
below.
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Salmon Recipe Book
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"Top 100 Salmon
Recipes"
by Nick Nairn
Salmon recipes to suit all tastes, from one of
Scotland's top chefs, renowned for his enthusiasm for fresh ingredients
and inventive cooking. Written with clear step-by-step instructions,
each recipe is simple to prepare and uses readily available ingredients.
Buy it on Amazon.co.uk
Buy
it on Amazon.com |
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MORE FISH DISHES
For more books
on cooking fish and fish recipes, visit our
new Bookshop
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Cooking Perfect Salmon
by Nick Nairn
Quick and easy
Preparation time 5-10 minutes
Serves 4
4 x 140g (5oz) salmon fillets or
steaks
freshly ground sea salt and
freshly ground black pepper
a squeeze of lemon juice
One of the greatest attractions of
salmon is how well it adapts to different cooking methods.
Whether steamed, poached, grilled, baked, fried, smoked or eaten
raw as sachimi, each method produces different results in terms
of texture and taste.
Whichever method you choose, it is
vital not to overcook it. Really, it comes down to personal
preference, but I believe that salmon should be served the same
way as steak: medium rare. In practice, this means that the
salmon should still be pink inside when it is served. To test,
give it a gentle press or squeeze. Perfectly cooked salmon will
give slightly, but not too much; if it's wobbly or jelly-like,
then it's undercooked. Salmon which is firm to the touch is
definitely overcooked and you'll find eating it akin to chewing
on cotton wool.
Baking Preheat the oven to
200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6. Dot the fillets with butter or drizzle
with olive oil, season and place them on a greased baking tray.
Put them in the oven for 7-8 minutes.
Char-grilling Using a ribbed
cast-iron griddle pan is the easiest way to recreate the charred
smoky flavour of the barbecue. To prevent the salmon sticking to
the pan, make sure you oil the salmon, not the pan and don't be
tempted to fiddle with the fillets while they're cooking. To
form the characteristic "stripes", cook for two to three minutes
on one side, then rotate the fish through 90° and cook for a
further two minutes. Repeat on the other side. Season and serve.
Grilling Preheat the
grill to the highest setting. Line the grill pan with foil, dot
the salmon with butter or drizzle with olive oil and grill for
two to three minutes on each side. Season and serve.
Pan-frying/searing Heat a
non-stick frying pan until very hot, then add a little
sunflower oil. For thin cuts, fry the fillets for 2-3 minutes on
each side, to get a caramelized crust; for thicker cuts, reduce
to a medium heat once the salmon has been added, then cook for
5-7 minutes on one side and a further 2 minutes on the other
side. Season and serve.
Poaching Fill a wide frying
pan with water, just deep enough to cover the fillets. Once the
water is barely simmering, poach the fish for about 5 minutes,
until opaque and just set. Using flavoured stock or even some
lemon juice adds an extra dimension to the taste. For
cold-poached salmon, slip the salmon into the simmering water,
remove from the heat and leave to cool. The salmon will poach
slowly in the cooling water. Season and serve.
Steaming This is the
healthiest way to cook salmon. Throw some aromatic herbs, say
tarragon or thyme into the base of a steamer, add water and
bring to the boil. Place the salmon, lightly oiled, into the
steamer basket, put on the lid and steam for 5-8 minutes, making
sure the steamer doesn't boil dry. Season and serve.
Copyright Nick Nairn 2002 |
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