For Christmas, Christmas or any other celebration, grilled, lightly smoked salmon fillets are perfect. With a citrus glaze and a colourful pistachio crust and a garnish of marinated cranberries, it is not only delicious but also a festive table centrepiece.
During the live online lesson Renaldas Bujokas, Unilever Food Solutions The Baltic chef, assisted by Edvinas Genis, Head of Distribution and Key Accounts, showed how quick and easy it is to prepare this dish.
The chef points out that the accompaniment to salmon - pickled cranberries - can be matched not only to this much-loved fish, but also to the Christmas bake duck or other dishes. And you can prepare them even weeks in advance, leaving as little work as possible for the last day.
Below is a detailed recipe and an illustrated cooking process. Although the salmon was baked and smoked during the lesson in the travel COBB grill, this recipe can be used for any other grill.
Ingredients for salmon:
- 1 kg salmon fillet
- 1 l of water
- 265 g salt
- 65 g of sugar
- 1 tbsp. KNORR Citrus Essence
- 2 tbsp. Honey
- Olive root or any other table for smoking
- Smoking chips to give a smoky flavour, e.g. Orange (optional)
Ingredients for pistachio crust on salmon:
- 60 g of sugar
- 75 g Panko breadcrumbs (available in supermarkets, Asian section)
- 1 pinch KNORR dried thyme
- 25 g dried cranberries
- Peel of one lemon
- 1 pinch of chopped parsley
Pickled cranberries:
- 340 g cranberries
- 300 g apple vinegar
- 300 g of sugar
- 1 pinch of allspice
- 4 pieces of cloves
Making the salmon:
- Dissolve salt and sugar in hot water. Allow to cool before dipping the salmon in the cool marinade. The marinade will displace excess moisture and leave a firm texture on the fish.
- After 2 hours, remove the salmon from the marinade and wipe it with a kitchen paper towel. Leave at room temperature for a while to allow the surface of the fish to become dry.
- While the salmon is drying, prepare the crust: chop the dried cranberries and pistachios. It is recommended to the same size as the Panko rusks.
- Mix all the ingredients for the crust: the pistachios and cranberries already chopped and the Panko breadcrumbs, thymechopped parsley. Add the lemon zest (only the yellow part). You can replace the parsley with fresh dill, coriander or other herbs you like.
- Prepare the glaze in a small bowl: mix the honey with KNORR citrus essence.
- Place the salmon fillet (skin side down) on a smoking table. Soak the board in water for at least half an hour beforehand. Please note: if it is Olive tree root tableit does not need to be soaked (the wood is very dense)
- Brush the surface of the salmon with the honey and citrus glaze. The most convenient way to do this is to use a silicone brush.
- Spread the prepared pistachio mixture over the salmon and spread it evenly over the surface
- Bake at a low temperature on indirect heat until the internal temperature of the salmon reaches 55 degrees. To measure the temperature, we recommend using a food thermometer (overcooking will dry out the salmon and lose the best flavour).
- To give the salmon a smoky smell and even more beautiful colour, smoke it. We recommend that you choose a variety of products that give the salmon a beautiful colour and mild flavour lemonwood, Orangewood, olive chips.
- When smoking/roasting on a travel tray COBB grill, use the universal plane, and place on it the cooking grids. Place the salmon on the grill.
Making pickled cranberries:
- Heat the allspice and cloves in a saucepan to bring out the essential oils in the spices
- In the same pot, add the apple vinegar and sugar. Bring to the boil.
- Add the cranberries to the boiling marinade and allow to cool.
- Leave to marinate. The berries can be stored in the marinade for up to several weeks in the fridge.
- Serve with grilled salmon. They are also perfect with other dishes such as grilled chicken, duck etc.
Enjoy!
