from Highland Hospitality edited by Claire Macdonald
If you are a bit wary about making hollandaise sauce, try this chive sauce instead. It is much easier & just as good.
Photography & Styling, Caroline Marson
For the chive sauce
275ml double cream
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp English mustard
2 tsp creamed horseradish
2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tbsp fresh chives, snipped
For the horseradish crust
2 tbsp creamed horseradish
1 egg yolk
50g coarse fresh white breadcrumbs
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
For the salmon
4 x 175g salmon fillets, skinless & with all bones removed using tweezers
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
A little flour for dredging
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 salted butter
For the accompaniments
Boiled new potatoes
Fresh green beans
Method:
For the chive sauce: Boil the double cream in a pan for 2 mins until it has reduced & thickened slightly. Remove from the heat & whisk in the two mustards, the horseradish & the lemon juice. Cover the sauce & set it aside until you are ready to serve.
For the horseradish crust: Mix the horseradish & egg yolk together & pour the mixture on to one flat plate. On another flat plate, mix the breadcrumbs & parsley together.
For the salmon fillets: Preheat the oven to 180C / gas mark 4.
Season each fillet with the salt & black pepper & then dredge the rounded upper sides with flour.
Now dip the floured sides of each fillet in the horseradish & egg mixture, ensuring they are well coated.
Next dip the coated side of the fillets into the breadcrumb mixture, pressing down firmly so that the fillets have a good covering of the crust mixture on them.
Heat the oil in a heavy-based frying pan until very hot.
Add the butter & then the fillets, crust side down.
Cook for about 3 mins until the breadcrumbs are nicely crisp & beginning to turn brown.
Remove the salmon fillets from the pan & place them in an ovenproof dish, crust side up.
Bake the crusted fillets for 5 mins or until they are cooked through.
To serve, add the snipped chives to the sauce & warm it up, taking great care not to allow it to boil.
Place a salmon fillet on each of the 4 pre-warmed plates & surround with the chive sauce.
Present the dish with the boiled new potatoes & green beans.
Nigel Recommends drinking with Scottish whisky.. Larkfire Water for Whisky, by adding Larkfire to your whisky, they say you discover a new depth to your whisky, it is made from the softest water untainted by minerals and from the Isle of Lewis. Glenn Scott Malt Whisky a favourite of Nigel's.
