Home-Cured Blackberry Salmon

Fish contains essential vitamins and minerals such as iron, zinc, iodine and vitamin B12, and is low in fat. However oily fish like salmon contain the omega 3 fatty acids. Omega 3 can help reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, dementia and age-related macular degeneration.

The government's National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) suggests a dietary target of 610mg of omega 3 per day for men and 430mg per day for women. It estimates that 2 to 3 serves of oily fish per week will provide 250-500mg of omega 3 fatty acids per day.

I love to use cooking techniques that make the most of food - which is why this recipe is all about ‘curing’. It doesn’t involve the application of heat, and won’t really change the fish’s original state. By limiting the amount of fiddling, we’re actually retaining as much of the nutrients as possible, so all the omega 3 ends up in our bellies, instead of being wasted!

This method may seem tricky, however anyone can do it, and by anyone, I mean it passes what I’ve affectionately named ‘the Grace test’! All you need is 20 minutes the first day, 20 minutes the second, and on the third, you’re ready to go!

The message for today is EAT FISH FOR GOOD HEALTH!

Ingredients

For the blackberry cure:

2 thick belly fillets of skinless salmon, from sustainable source (ask fishmonger)

1 punnet blackberries, bashed in a mortar and pestle

2 juniper berries

25 ml gin

1 orange, zest of

1 lemon, zest of

1 tbsp. caster sugar?

3 tbsp. iodised rock salt

For the herb cure:

½ bunch fresh dill, finely chopped

½ bunch fresh tarragon, leaves picked, finely chopped

25 ml gin

Apple and radish pickle:

1 green apple, cut into matchsticks

5 bulbs of radish, washed, finely sliced (wafer thin)

½ orange, juice of

½ lemon, juice of

1 heaped tsp. sea salt

½ tsp. caster sugar

To serve:

Fresh bread rolls, buttered

2 handfuls of watercress (or any greenery)

Method

1.    Place the two salmon fillets in a medium sized snap-lock bag. 

2.   For the blackberry cure, blitz all the ingredients in a food processor for 1 minute of so until a smooth paste.

3.   Pour the cure into the snap-lock bag with the salmon, give it a jiggle to make sure the salmon is completely covered, push all the air out and seal. Place the bag in a bowl and leave it in the fridge for 24 hours

4.   For the herb cure combine all the ingredients and toss them together in a bowl.

5.   Take the salmon out of blackberry cure, shake a little to remove some of the cure and then place onto a clean plate

6.   What I like to do is grab a knife and scrape most of the blackberry cure of, leaving a little

7.   Place the salmon fillets into another clean medium-sized snap-lock bag, add the herb cure, give the back a jiggle, push the air out and seal

8.   Now massage the herbs into the salmon while its in the bag, making sure all the salmon is covered

9.   Place the bag in a bowl and leave in the fridge for a further 24 hours

10.                 Your salmon is now perfectly cured and ready to go! Remove the salmon from the bag, place on a clean chopping board and scrape most of the herb cure off, leaving a little.

11.Slice the salmon on an angle, as thinly as you can and lay them onto a serving platter

12.                   To make the apple and radish pickle, place the radish and apple in a small bowl. Whisk the salt and sugar into the orange and lemon juice, pour over the radish and apple and toss. Leave for 10 minutes.

13.                   Serve the salmon with the apple and radish pickle, some watercress and buttered bread rolls