Salmon with Mushroom and Fennel Ragout

Since reading The Salt Book I have been much more aware of how, and with what type of salt, I salt my food.  I have in my possession a small amount of Fleur de Sel, and have been anxious to try it out to see if it is the miraculous seasoning it is claimed to be.  I gave it a road test on two totally different dishes this weekend.

The first road test was the humble boiled egg.  Now I am not usually a big fan of the boiled egg - I like my eggs poached in salty, vinegary water (no glad wrap pouch for poaching for this girl!!)  Actually this was a double test - they had been banging on at Thermomix training about making boiled eggs in the Thermomix.  They kept going on about how wonderful they were - they were virtually steamed eggs - the yolks were perfectly centred, yadayadayada!!  OK let's test this out.  Yes, they were good - yes the yolks were perfectly centred - but they did not sing in my humble opinion until I added the Fleur de Sel.  It made the humble boiled egg a delightful, rich yolky wonder!!!

Now the second test was on the salmon dish that I made for dinner.

Whenever I see a beautiful photo of a salmon dish I just have to give it a try.  This was a Curtis Stone recipe, and he didn't steer me wrong with the last seafood dish of his that I tried.  This meal was though, perhaps a little bit of a let down compared to that last one.  It was lacking in those oopmhy flavours that the last one had - but even so, it was a lovely winter's night meal.  Kind of soupy, yet the salmon gave it a main meal feel.

As I have learned reading The Salt Book, you should layer your salting, tasting after each addition.  I layered the salt within the ragout, and achieved a good flavour.  I salted the piece of salmon with the Fleur de Sel and freshly ground black pepper.  It all came together really nicely, however, when I added the Fleur de Sel to the meal at the table the salt seemed to make the meal sing!!!  It somehow brought out a subtle sweetness in the sauce, so there was a lovely combination of salt, but yet with a very subtle undertone of sweetness.

Salmon with Mushroom and Fennel Ragout
A Curtis Stone Recipe in MasterChef Magazine, July Edition

Serves 4

4 x 180g pieces of salmon (I used tail pieces, but if not make sure they are pin boned)
1 tbs olive oil

Vegetable Ragout
500ml (2 cups) milk
30g butter
1 tbs flour
1 tbs chopped thyme
60ml olive oil
250g swiss brown mushrooms, halved, or quartered if large
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 potato, peeled, cut into 1cm cubes (I was feeling lazy and used new potatoes, and did not skin)
2 leeks, white part only, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 bulb fennel, trimmed, finely chopped, fronds reserved
2 cloves garlic, crushed
125ml (1/2 cup) dry white wine

To make the sauce for the ragout heat milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until warm, then remove from heat.  Melt butter in second saucepan over low-medium heat.  Add flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute, or until grainy.  Gradually whisk in the milk until smooth, then increase heat to medium high, and simmer, stirring with a wooden spoon until thickened. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring for 4 minutes to cook out the taste of the flour.  Add the thyme and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Remove from heat and cover surface with plastic wrap. *

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C.  To make ragout, heat 1 tbs oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add mushrooms and cook, stirring , for 5 minutes or until golden.  Season and transfer to a plate.  Heat remaining 2 tbs oil in pan, add onion and potato, and cook, stirring for 1 minute.  Add leeks, celery, fennel and garlic, then cook, stirring for a further 5 minutes, or until the potato is almost tender.  Return the mushrooms to the pan, stir in the wine and simmer  for 2 minutes or until almost evaporated.  Stir in the white sauce to coat the vegetables.  Remove from the heat and season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Cover to keep warm.

To cook the salmon, heat the oil in an ovenproof frying pan over medium heat. **  Season the salmon with Fleur de Sel and freshly ground black pepper, then cook, skinned side up for 2 minutes or until the underside is light golden.  Turn the salmon over, then transfer the pan to the oven and roast for 6 minutes, or until the salmon is just cooked.

Divide the ragout among the bowls, top with the salmon and scatter with the fennel fronds.  Season to taste with Fleur de Sel salt.

*  I prepared the white sauce using the Thermomix using the Bechamel sauce recipe, but halving the recipe and the cooking time.

** I lined a baking tray with foil and transferred the salmon to the baking tray (this helped considerably with the cleaning up!!)

This was a lovely warming winter meal.  It reminded me a little of a soup, it was creamy, and very warming. The flavours were great, added greatly to by the addition of the Fleur de Sel.

I highly recommend you trying some of the more "exotic" salts that are out there on the market.  They certainly add a new element to your dish.  Yes, they are more expensive, but the amount you add to your dish is so minimal, that they will last a lot longer than regular "table salt".

I say ditch your table salt usage, and experiment.  I also strongly recommend researching, and becoming more aware of how you use, and what type of salt you use.  Of course The Salt Book is a wonderful resource tool.

The Salt Book

Imagine my surprise the other day when I opened up my mailbox and found a beautiful book!!!  What's more, this book had recipes!!!  Oh glorious days!!

The lovely people at Arbon Publishing had sent me a copy of their new book called The Salt Book your guide to salting wisely and well, with recipes.  

Salt....it is one of those things that you just don't tend to think too much about do you?

It is a much maligned compound.  On the one hand we have the health experts telling us we need to cut down the amount of salt we consume from our diets, and on the other had we have chefs telling us to season our food with salt.  The book makes recommendations on ways to eliminate unwanted salt from our diet, and how to add the flavourful salts that our body needs, and wants, in order for food to be palatable.

Salt is an ingredient that can be found in any kitchen, anywhere in the world.  But are we using it correctly?  Did you know that what is commonly called table salt, should never be used at the table?  It should only be used in the salting of cooking water, or in baking.  It is a highly refined salt, created by a mechanical process, and has a strong sharp taste.  What we should be using at our tables is sea salt, or lake salt, or some of the other more exotic salts that available.

The book advocates that we throw out our old salt shakers

 and replace them with small containers that enable us to add the salt to our meals by using our fingers.  

Have you ever noticed how chefs salt the food when they are cooking?  They add it pinch by pinch, using their fingers.  The book says we should get to know our salt, and be familiar with it. Taste, it, touch it, feel it.  Become familiar with the various types of salt that are available, and what their particular uses are.  We should learn to layer the salt, by adding small increments at a time, and tasting after each addition. This way we can avoid over salting our food.

I for one, was particularly salt ignorant before reading this book.  In my kitchen I had pink lake salt, and sea salt for finishing and serving, and table salt for cooking - but was completely unaware of all the other types of salt that are available such as:

Fleur de Sel - this salt is found predominantly along the Atlantic coast in France.  It is prized by chefs for it's high quality - it is light and flaky with a slightly pure mineral taste.

Grey salt or Sel Gris is another French salt which as it's name suggests is slightly grey in colour, sometimes with a purplish tinge.  

Red, Black and Blue Salt - The Red coming from the volcanic clay which is high in iron oxide found on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.  Blue Salt is harvested in Iran and is a natural rock salt that is also very mineral rich.  The Black salt (also known as kala namak)  is an unrefined volcanic table salt with a strong sulphuric flavour and is mined in Central India (it is not actually black as the name suggests - and is actually light pink in colour)  It is rich in minerals and is used to flavour vegetable and fruit dishes.

Another salt I was unfamiliar with was the Himalayan Salt Block.  Did you know that this salt block can be chilled to freezing point, or heated to up to 230 degrees C, making it a useful tool for serving hot or cold foods?

After reading so much interesting information about salt I was keen to head into the recipe section.  There are some wonderful recipes in this book that just make you want to start cooking right away.

There are recipes for making Spiced and Herbed Salts, Combination Salts and Exotic Salts (such as Vanilla Salt and Porcini Salt).  It takes you through the processes of Soffrito and Mirepoix, brining and stocks, preserving and curing.

There are several recipes for cooking seafood with salt, such as baking in a layer of salt, or cooking surrounded by rock salt (this is one I will be trying very soon!!)

There are sauces and gravies, and then on to the all important sweet dishes.  Here you will find chocolate mousse, salted caramels, truffles and macarons to name but a few dishes.

There are so many recipes that I cannot simply list them all.  I will however, be attempting to recreate some of these recipes in the weeks to come.

This is truly a lovely companion book to have alongside all your other cookbooks in the kitchen.  It is not only a handy reference book, but also a great recipe book.

If you are interested in obtaining a copy simply click on the link at the right hand side of the page.

Note:  While I received a copy of The Salt Book, I was not paid to make these comments.  The views and opinions I have expressed here are entirely my own.