Recipe: Seared salmon with mussel and dill broth

Serves two (double the ingredients for four)

Two salmon fillets – not steaks. Make sure there are no pin bones left in the fillets by running your hand along them. If there are, remove them with either tweezers or a small pair of (clean!) pointed-nose pliers

A little seasoned flour

A little olive oil

One tablespoon of butter – preferably unsalted

One handful of mussels, washed and de-bearded*

Two carrots – peeled and sliced as thinly as possible

One small onion – peeled and finely diced

One leek – use mainly the white part, cleaned and shredded

A pinch of saffron

One bay leaf

A handful of fresh dill – finely chopped

A handful of fresh basil leaves – pulled off their stem and roughly torn

One glass of white wine

One star anise – a star shaped aniseed flavoured spice available from good supermarkets or Asian grocers

Single cream – a small tub

Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 7, 220°C.

Heat a large sauté pan (a frying pan) with a lid. Melt the butter in the oil and gently sauté the carrot, onion, leek and saffron until the vegetables are soft but don’t allow them to brown. Then add the mussels, bay leaf, star anise and wine, turn up the heat so the wine boils and put the lid on. Cook like this for about four minutes, occasionally vigorously shaking the pan, until all the mussels have opened (throwing away any that don’t). Using a slotted spoon, remove the mussels to a plate or bowl and, over a medium heat, reduce the resultant stock left in the pan by half. Add the cream and reduce by half again.

Whilst that’s reducing, dust the salmon with flour. Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan until slightly smoking. Place the salmon fillets skin-side down in the pan and allow to cook for a couple of minutes so that the skin becomes crisp. Then turn them over, place them on a baking tray (or leave them in the pan if it’s oven-proof) and put in the oven for ten minutes (or less if they’re very thin).

The dish is now ready to assemble. Put the mussels back in the pan and add the fresh herbs. Allow the mussels to warm through for 30 seconds meanwhile tasting the sauce and adjusting the seasoning with salt and pepper – it shouldn’t need much salt as the mussels provide their own. Using, I suggest, pasta or large soup bowls if possible (but dinner plates will do – just make sure they’ve been warmed first), place a piece of salmon on the dish, spoon the mussels over the top finishing with the sauce over and around.

* Many people think cooking mussels is risky. If you are not sure about it, let’s put your mind at rest. They are alive when you buy them – or they’re supposed to be. First, wash them well in cold water (I use a washing up brush to scrub them) and pull off the beards. Any that are open, give them a squeeze to close them. If they continue to slowly close of their own accord they’re alive and ok. But throw away any that were open but don’t move at all. After cooking, throw away any that didn’t open because they were obviously dead before-hand. It’s as simple as that.

Recipe: Mussels with chilli and garlic

Ingredients

This recipe serves two as a light meal.

Three or four large handfuls of cleaned mussels – discarding any open ones that don’t move to close when you’re cleaning them.

Two cloves of garlic – crushed

One red onion – diced

One red chilli – roughly chopped including the seeds

A handful of fresh basil leaves – torn

A handful of coriander leaves – torn

Sesame oil

Fish sauce

Lemon wedges

Butter

Method

Heat a large deep pan or wok until smoking, add the washed mussels and cover with a lid. You don’t need to add any liquid because the water they were washed in still clinging to them will steam and open them, releasing more even liquid. Steam them until they’re open - shaking the pan a few times – about four or five minutes.

Remove the mussels to a plate, discarding any that haven’t opened, and tip out and reserve the liquid. Pour in a tablespoon of sesame oil and, over a medium heat, sauté the onion, chilli and garlic until softened but don’t allow to brown. Return the mussels and their reserved liquid to the pan and stir. Finish the dish by seasoning with a few shakes of fish sauce, stirring and tasting to judge how much you need, and then add the basil, coriander and a walnut-sized knob of butter. Stir and pour into warmed bowls. Serve with a lemon wedge and fresh crusty bread.