FRESH FISH IN FRIDGE RECIPES

Steps:

• 1. Peel the potatoes, cut into 2cm chunks, and cook in boiling salted water for 10 minutes (or use baked potatoes – scoop out the potato and discard the skin).
  2. Rub the salmon fillet all over with 1 teaspoon of oil and a pinch of sea salt and black pepper, then place in a colander and cover with tin foil.
  3. When the time's up on the potatoes, place colander directly over the pan of boiling potatoes. Turn the heat down to medium-low and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the salmon and potatoes are both cooked through.
  4. Meanwhile, pick and finely chop the parsley leaves, discarding the stalks.
  5. Once cooked, remove the fish from the colander to a plate, and discard the skin. Drain the potatoes, and leave to steam dry for 1 minute, then tip back into the pan.
  6. Mash the potatoes, spreading the mash round the sides of the pan to help it cool down quickly. When the potatoes are cooled, transfer to a bowl.
  7. Flake the salmon into the bowl, add 1 tablespoon of flour, the chopped parsley and a really good pinch of sea salt and black pepper. Finely grate over the lemon zest, then mash and mix together really well.
  8. Dust a plate with a little flour. Divide the mixture into 4, then lightly shape and pat into circles about 2cm thick, dusting them with flour as you go. Put them onto a clean plate also dusted with a little flour. If you're going to freeze them, wrap them in clingfilm at this point and put them into the freezer. Otherwise simply pop them into the fridge for an hour before cooking – this will allow them to firm up slightly.
  9. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat, add the fishcakes and cook for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, or until crisp and golden – you may need to work in batches.
  10. Serve straight away, with veg or salad and lemon wedges for squeezing over.

Steps:

• 1. This recipe may sound like a lot of work, but curing your own salmon is much easier than you think. You do need to plan ahead, as the flavours need about two days to sink into the salmon properly, but it’s worth the wait.
  2. You’ll only spend about 20 minutes doing the actual curing, and you’ll end up with a delicate pink gravadlax which tastes impressive. Although curing is easy, it is important to follow the measurements, so try to get a side of salmon as close as possible to the weight I’ve suggested here. For the first cure, blitz the beetroots, orange and lemon zest, and bashed juniper berries in a food processor until you get a fairly smooth paste. Transfer this to a bowl and stir in the rock salt and sugar. Pour in the gin and give it a good mix.
  3. Lay the side of salmon skin-side down on a large baking tray and slowly pour over the beetroot cure. Use a spatula to spread it all over the salmon flesh. Once it is all well covered, wrap the salmon in a double layer of greaseproof paper then wrap it tightly with cling film and place it in the fridge for 24 hours.
  4. The next day, take the salmon out of the fridge and carefully unwrap it so you can rinse off the cure. Either use 100ml of cold water or gin. Hold the salmon over a baking tray and pour a splash at a time over your salmon. Use a spoon to gently push the beetroot cure off the fish. By now it should have shared its wonderful flavours with the fish and turned it a really vibrant colour. Put the rinsed salmon to one side and run the tray under the tap.
  5. For the second cure, mix together the chopped herbs, grated horseradish and gin. Put the salmon back into the clean tray, skin-side down, and pack the herby cure onto the salmon using your hands. Make sure you cover all the flesh – you don’t want any air getting to it. Wrap it again with a double layer of greaseproof paper, then a tight layer of cling film. Pop the salmon back in the fridge for another 24 hours.
  6. The next day your salmon will be perfectly cured and ready to eat. You don’t need to rinse off that second cure – simply slice the salmon as finely as you can on an angle so you get gorgeous thin slices of gravadlax tinged with pink and topped with herbs. Pile these onto a plate and serve with a couple of slices of buttered brown bread, and some watercress and wedges of lemon.