Wild salmon

I'm lucky enough to get some wild river caught salmon through a family friend.  It comes to me already gutted and frozen but still whole.  It takes ages to defrost so I need to be organised when I want to cook it.  But even though I took it out on Friday morning and defrosted it overnight in the fridge, it still wasn't defrosted in time for cooking on Saturday night.  So it was Plan B for that night's evening meal!

So on Sunday I had 2 whole salmon each weighing about 1lb to cook.  I wrapped each one in foil and poached them in a roasting tin half filled with boiling water.  15 mins in a hot oven, switch off oven and then left in there to cool. Remove skin and bones.

So, what to do with all that lovely fish?

Mashed up on hot buttered toast for breakfast

Stirred through some risotto

Or how about some salmon pate? 

Mix 250g of flaked salmon with 2 tbsp of half fat creme fraiche, 1 tbsp of mayo, a good squeeze of lemon juice and season well.  Serve with melba toast.  Yummy!

Risotto

I love risotto.  I make it once a week.  There's a myth that it's time consuming and faffy to make.  Maybe the proper way cheffy way is but I've developed a cheat's method that doesn't involve adding hot stock a ladle at a time and stirring constantly to get that starchy creamy effect.  My risotto starts off vegetarian to suit my veggie teen then I add or serve it with meat, fish or vegetables.

Risotto with Salmon

Red Onion Risotto with Aubergine

Chicken Risotto

Basic Risotto

1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
2tbsp olive oil
25g butter
150g arborio rice
2 tsp stock powder
1 glass of white wine (optional but nice)
large handful of peas and/or sweetcorn
full kettle of boiling water
150ml of cream
50g to 100g strong cheese, grated

Melt the butter and oil together in a non stick wok
Add the onion and gently soften for 5 mins
Add garlic and stir
Add rice and stir
Fry gently until the rice is well coated with oil/onion mixture and sizzling
Add wine if using
Stir until there is no liquid left.

Now here's the cheat's way.  Normally you would add a ladle full of stock at a time, stirring until it was absorbed.  Then repeat, repeat, repeat until the rice was soft.  I just add half a kettle of boiling water to the pan with the stock powder.  And stir.  Let it simmer for about 10 mins.

The pan is non stick so the rice shouldn't stick to the bottom but stir it regularly until most of the water is absorbed.  Taste the rice.  If it's still hard add more boiling water.

Add the peas/sweetcorn
Simmer until the water is absorbed and the rice is tender.
Add the cream and cheese.
Stir well and serve with your chosen meat/fish or just on its own.

Rosotto is meant to be sloppy but make sure most of the water is gone before adding the cream.  I've also used yoghurt, creme fraiche and Carnation milk(!) when I had no cream.  And you can use any kind of cheese you fancy.

I always make more than I need so I have leftovers!!  It reheats well with a little water added.  But I tried a new way with leftover risotto this week. 

Risotto Cakes

100g of leftover risotto

2 eggs

dried breadcrumbs

Add 1 beaten egg to the risotto and mix well

Shape into patties

Dip patties in the second beaten egg and then dip in breadcrumbs (very messy but fun!!)

Fry gently in a little oil until golden on both sides and hot

Delicious!

I'd love to have a go at making arancini which are risotto balls with a piece of cheese in the middle.  They're also dipped in egg and breadcrumbs but then deep fried.  At present I don't have a deep fryer but maybe one day.