If you follow my blog you with have figured out that I like contrasts in flavours and textures. The salmon is simply pan seared then finished in the oven. The sauce is a balance of tarragon, sun-dried tomatoes with a subtle smoke flavour from the trout.
Tarragon is not as easy to find in UK supermarkets as other herbs, though it’s a wonderful versatile herb when you can get hold of it; it goes well with fish or chicken.
The sauce for the salmon is fairly easy but I have decided to make the ‘Sugar Snap Pea Salad’ a separate post, which you can access here. Make the sugar snap pea salad first but don’t dress with the olive oil or lime juice until about 5 minutes before you serve.

Ingredients serves 4 people
4 x 180 grams Fresh Wild Salmon
4- 5 Sun-dried tomatoes halves
10g Fresh Tarragon
150 ml Double Cream
150ml vegetable stock
50 grams smoked trout or salmon
1/2 Tbsp  Olive oil
Sea salt
Black pepper

First make the sauce

1. Combine the vegetable stock with the double cream into a small nonstick saucepan.
2. Take the tarragon leaves from the stalks , chop half of the leaves and add to the sauce. Reserve the other half as whole leaves to drop into the sauce just before serving.
3. Cut the sun-dried tomato halves in to medium sized pieces and put into the sauce.
4. Cut the smoked trout into thin strips but don’t add to the sauce until just before serving.
5. Simmer the sauce to marry the flavours on a moderate heat for 5 minutes and season lightly with salt and pepper and remove from the heat.

Sweet Potatoes Wedges
Sweet potatoes makes a great contrast to the salmon and are less calories than chips.        I dusted them in a little Jalfrezi rub to add another contrast.

Ingredients
4 or 5 medium sized sweet potatoes
Jalfrezi rub or something similar
Olive oil

1. Cut the sweet potatoes into chunky wedges with the skin on and blanch in boiling water for 4 – 5 minutes.
2. Drain sweet potatoes well and leave to dry on paper towel.
3. When the wedges are dry, discard the paper towel and rub with a little olive oil and dust with Jalfrezi rub.
4. *Place on a nonstick baking tray and bake in a hot oven 180 C (fan assisted) oven for 20 minutes, until crisp on the outside and fluffy in the middle.

*Start baking the potato wedges about 10 minutes before you start cooking your salmon so they done around the same time.

The Salmon
It is important to use an ovenproof, nonstick frying pan for to achieve the best results, so you can sear the salmon in a hot pan and then just transfer your pan into the oven. So no pans with wooden or plastic handles.  For the salmon I decided to use my new 30cm Stellar 7000 Frying Pan. A 30 cm pan is big enough to fit 4 pieces of salmon in one go, so no juggling required!  The 7000 series is suitable for all hob types and has a stainless steel base, so unlike aluminium pans the base won’t warp. The thick “hot forged” base gives excellent even heat distribution. The pan has triple coated Teflon Pro Platinum non-stick coating, which not only means it is easy to clean but also you’ll use less oil in your cooking. For a full review of this frying pan go here.

Cooking the Salmon

1. Get you pan hot and oven preheated to 185 C (fan assisted) 190C if no fan.
2. Add the 1/2 Tbsp oil to the pan and the gently lay the four pieces of salmon into the pan, skin side down and season with salt and pepper.
3. Brown the skin side for 3-4 minutes and then gently turn  and season the salmon again (lightly).
4. Cook for about 3-4 minutes and then put your frying pan into the oven (if you have a 30cm frying pan it should fit most ovens).
5. Cook your salmon for another 3-4 minutes and remove from the oven and rest in the warm pan.  Remember to use an oven cloth or oven gloves to take out your pan.

Assembling the dish

1. Spoon some of the sugar snap pea salad onto each of your warm bowls and then place the salmon so it is slightly resting on the salad.
2. Heat the sauce, add the smoked trout and reserved tarragon leaves, then check the seasoning.  Spoon the sauce around each piece of salmon and serve the spicy potato wedges on the side, so they won’t get soggy.

Chef’s Tips
If you can’t find cold smoked sea trout then smoked salmon will work just as well. If you can’t find Jalfrezi rub to dust your sweet potato wedges then a cajun spice mix will do just as well.

Never put cold water into a hot frying pan because it causes thermal shock which is bad for the life of the pan. Don’t stack other pans inside your non-stick pans as it will scratch the nonstick surface.  Due to my lack of space, I store my frying pans upside down inside a little invention of my own called Pan Saver the terry towel material protects the nonstick surface.

Don’t forget to visit my other food blogs

Cheap & Easy Student recipes

Recipes, reviews & food articles from my old Food Blog

All photos and recipes ©Kevin Ashton 2020