Confit salmon with pommes noisettes
Description
By keeping the salmon at a low temperature, the surface area changes colour very slightly, but the inside retains depth and is soft and smooth – like sous vide salmon.
Ingredients
- for the marinade
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 lemon, zest only
- few juniper berries, crushed
- 1 tbsp gin
- 4 salmon fillets, skinned
- 1 litre/1¾ pint olive oil
- for the pommes noisettes
- 750g/1lb 10oz waxy or new potatoes, peeled
- 50g/1¾oz clarified butter
- 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley (optional)
Directions
- Mix the marinade ingredients together. Add the salmon fillets and rub the marinade into the salmon. Leave for half an hour.
- To cook the salmon, heat the olive oil in a pan large enough to hold the salmon in a single layer – this is important – the fish needs the residual heat from the base of the pan and will cook unevenly if in more than one layer.
- Heat the oil to 55C and turn off the heat. Add the salmon and cook for 18–20 minutes. The temperature will drop to around 45C – if it gets any lower, return it to the heat until it rises again to 45C. Drain on kitchen paper.
- For the pommes noisettes, use a melon baller to scoop out balls of the potatoes. Rinse in cold water, then put in a saucepan and cover in more cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 1 minute, then drain and leave to dry.
- Heat the clarified butter in a frying pan large enough to hold the potatoes in a single layer. Add the potatoes and season. Cook on a medium to high heat, shaking the pan regularly so they cook all over, for between 8-10 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley if you like. Serve the salmon fillets with the pommes noisettes.
