Grilled salmon recipe with salmon pâte and cream cheese sauce by Peter Finlayson.
Ingredients
1 fresh Norwegian salmon, gutted, trimmed and halved lengthwise
1 lemon, halved
± 100 g butter, shaved
pickled capers for garnishing
Cream Cheese Sauce
1 x 250 g tub smooth cream cheese
15 ml mayonnaise
30 ml smoked salmon pate
a dash of Tabasco
A handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped
a squeeze of fresh lemon juice
Recipe
Serves 8
Prepare a wood fire. While the fire is burning, make the sauce by combining the cream cheese, mayonnaise, smoked salmon pate, Tabasco, parsley and lemon juice. Mix well.
Once the coals are at medium heat, sprinkle with oak shavings (they will infuse the salmon with a subtle oak aroma). Place one or both halves of the salmon (depending on servings required), skin-side down, on the grid. Squeeze over some lemon juice (half a lemon per salmon half) and sprinkle generously with butter shavings.
The fish is ready when a blunt knife can be inserted into the flesh and can pull it apart. Also, two-thirds of the flesh from the middle should be orange or pink (still slightly raw) and the outer third pale pink (cooked). The fish will continue to cook on the inside after it has been removed from the coals, so by the time it's served, it should be perfect.
Place on a serving platter, spoon the sauce over its length, garnish with a sprinkling of capers and surround with sprigs of parsley, wedges of lemon, Rosa tomatoes and avocado slices (for serving as a starter). It can also be served as a main course with boiled baby potatoes and a leafy green salad.
Wine Pairing
Bouchard Finlayson Kaaimansgat/Crocodile's Lair Chardonnay