Irish Confit Salmon with tomato, onion and cucumber salad, dressed with lemon and coriander oil

It's St Patrick's day and I have few reasons to bring you a fine recipe prepared by a country top chef using the best of Irish products.

First and foremost, two of his brothers fell in love whilst visiting Ireland, so now his side of the family has an Irish contingent. On each of my visit, I've found the Irish hospitality amazing. On the first wedding, the father of the bride pointed out the similarities between French and Irish: a strong sense of family and a love for a good party. That leads me to the second reason.

and then, in this dish, an original recipe by Aktar Islam of Lasan Restaurant, the salmon is cured then confit, creating a melt-in-the-mouth consistency that also captures the vibrant flavour of Irish salmon. To cure and to confit are two techniques which are at first a little scary but they are incredibly simple as long as you use a good thermometer and follow the instructions.

Happy St Patrick's day

Irish Confit Salmon with tomato, onion and cucumber salad, 

dressed with lemon and coriander oil

Serves 4 

Ingredients 

 4 x 100g fillets of Irish salmon

½ tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp chopped dill

1 tsp whole black peppercorns

1 tsp cracked coriander seed

Zest ½ a lemon

500ml olive oil

2 cloves of garlic

For the salad:

Handful of mixed leaves – rocket, watercress, baby leaf spinach and red chard

Selection of tomatoes, quartered

½ red onion, finely sliced 

½ cucumber, in strips 

1 tbsp coriander oil

Pinch cracked black pepper

Pinch chat massala

Salt to taste

1 tbsp lemon juice

Method

To cure the salmon:

Mix the salt, sugar, lemon zest and dill together and rub over the salmon fillet. Wrap the fillets with cling film and leave in fridge for 30 minutes. Wash the salmon under cold water and pat dry with kitchen towel and wrap in fresh clingfilm and place in the fridge.

For the salad:

Using a peeler make thin cucumber strips, sprinkle with salt and set aside for 20 minutes.  Wash the cucumber under cold water and leave to drain on a colander and pat dry. Make the coriander oil by taking a handful of coriander and blitz with 50 ml of olive oil. 

To confit the salmon:

Warm olive oil in a pan, use a thermometer; keep the temperature to 60°C.  Place the salmon fillets in oil along with peppercorn, coriander seed and garlic. At this point the temperature will drop, regulate the temperature and maintain it at 45°C and leave the fillets in the oil for 15 minutes.  Remove the pan from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.

To serve:

For each portion; take a handful of mixed leaves, tomatoes, onion and cucumber; drizzle with coriander oil and lemon juice.  Sprinkle over with chat massala, salt and cracked pepper. Finally, flake the salmon over the salad and serve. 

Useful links related to the post 

Which Thermometer

Irish board Bord Bia which provide me with the right to reproduce this recipe, no sample nor money was exchanged words are my own