Cooking: Grapefruit Cured Salmon

It’s always a treat when my boyfriend has time to cook.  He loves to try new recipes and ideas for presentation and I am always more than happy to act as his taster.  This Citrus Cured Salmon was awesome, there is about a days worth of wait for it as the salmon needs to be cured in the citrus mix, but it is well worth the wait and I am sure you will agree it looks great.  

Serves: 4

You will need:
Citrus Cured Salmon
300 g of salmon fillet
coarse sea salt
120 g of granulated sugar
6 g of juniper berries
6 g of white peppercorns
1/2 bunch of dill, roughly chopped
1 pink grapefruit
1 orange, reserve some for garnish

(1) For the cured salmon; peel the skin and pith away from the flesh of the oranges and grapefruits then cut into 4 segments -reserve these for the garnish. Slice the rest of the fruit finely and reserve

(2) Combine the salt, granulated sugar, juniper berries, peppercorns and fresh dill in a bowl

(3) Lay a large sheet of cling film over a stainless steel or glass tray. Lay half the fruit slices on top of the cling film to approximate the shape of the salmon. Spread half of the salt mixture over the fruit and top with the salmon. Top the salmon with the remaining salt, followed by the rest of the citrus fruits

(4) Wrap the salmon in the cling film and leave in the fridge for 18-24 hours. Once the salmon is firm and the texture even – it is ready to use

(5) Remove the cling film and marinade from the salmon and rinse the fish in cold water. Dry the fish and wrap in fresh cling film. Chill for a further 4-6 hours before serving

(6) For the garnish, place the avocado in a bowl and season with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Pour into a blender and blitz on a high speed – while adding the water to make a purée

(7) Cut the reserved citrus segments into triangular sections and reserve. Pick small sprigs from the chervil and dill. Cut the chives into long sections

(8) Cut the salmon into 1/2 cm thick slices and lay 2 of these slices across each plate. Season with a little salt and pepper

(9) Arrange the citrus fruits, avocado purée, caviar and herbs along the length of the 2 slices and serve