Salmon with sorrel sauce, apple & mooli salad

Ingredients

• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 20g butter
• 60g dry vermouth
• 60 frozen peas (iced weight)
• 110g crème fraiche
• 70g sorrel leaves, shredded
• A pinch of sea salt
• A tiny squeeze of lemon
• 1 egg yolk
• 4 salmon or trout fillets
• 4 inches of Japanese mooli
• 1 granny smith apple
• Juice of ½ lemon
• Sea salt

Method

First make the sauce. Serve this just above room temperature, so it can cool a little while you cook the salmon.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a low to medium heat. Add the shallot and soften for 2-3 mins. Turn the heat up a little and add the vermouth. Cook down for 1 minute, then add the frozen peas. Cook for 1 min, then add the crème fraiche. Bring to the boil and cook for another min.

Transfer the contents of the saucepan to a liquidizer and blitz for a minute. Add the sorrel and blitz for 2-3 mins until very smooth. Season well with salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon. Add the egg yolk and blend for another minute. Pour into a jug and set to one side.

Peel the mooli. Slice this and the apple very finely, ideally using a Japanese mandolin. Cut the apple slices in half (to create a crescent shape). Put immediately in a bowl and squeeze lemon juice over to stop them going brown. Then add the mooli and a good pinch of sea salt. Allow to macerate and soften whilst you cook the fish.

Cook the fish skin side down. Use a thick bottomed frying pan with a little oil over a medium flame. Leave the fish on the skin until the ‘cooked’ colour of the fish has gone just over half way up the fillet. Flip the fillets on each of it’s exposed sides for 30 seconds, then flip over onto the uncooked base of the fish. Turn the heat off and allow the fish to sit in the pan for 1 minute more.

Plate up with a generous portion of sauce next to each piece of fish – at least 4 tbsp (you might even serve this in a bowl) – and a good pinch of the apple and mooli salad.

Image: Ed Smith