Salmon and Beets

An evening of meal prep, built around slow-roasted salmon, rosemary beets and a dill-chive yogurt, with every quantity bent to what was in the kitchen

· 1h 21m start to finish · experimental salmon seafood supper

Built to be eaten cold tomorrow, which is why the fish goes in low and every component is stored on its own and only meets on the plate

The dry brine

Salt and sugar into the mortar with coriander seed, ground together

start Salt weighed in the mortar on the scale +1 min Sugar added on top of the salt +1 min Coriander seeds tipped in with the salt and sugar
+2 min The ground brine, coriander broken up through the salt and sugar

Dusted over every surface of the fillets, then into the fridge. The cure pulls surface moisture out and the fish takes it back as seasoned brine, which is what keeps it from drying when it is eaten cold

+4 min The brine rubbed over the salmon fillets +5 min Eight pieces coated and sitting on the plate

Cling film over the plate rather than a box. There was no spare container free, and salmon sitting open in the fridge puts its smell into everything else in there

+7 min Covered with cling film before going into the fridge

The beets

Oven to 200. One beet, just under 600 g

+9 min Oven knob turned up to 200 +11 min A single beet on the scale, just under 600 g

Peeled and cut into batons, then oiled in the bowl. Batons in a parcel cook faster than a whole beet, and there is nothing to rub off afterwards

+13 min The peeled beet cut into batons on the board +15 min Olive oil poured over the batons in the bowl

Rosemary laid over the top and the foil sealed tight. Steam has nowhere to go, so the beets cook in their own moisture with the rosemary in it

+18 min Beet batons on foil with a rosemary sprig laid across +18 min The sealed foil parcel on a tray in the oven

Brine for the pickles

No white wine vinegar in the house, so apple cider vinegar. It is softer and fruitier, and against radish and cucumber that is no loss

+21 min Radishes and chives on the counter with the knife +22 min Apple cider vinegar weighed into the pot
+23 min Water added to the vinegar +24 min Sugar weighed in +25 min Coriander seed weighed in the mortar

Warmed only until the sugar dissolves, then left to cool. Hot brine over radishes collapses the cell walls and you lose the snap, which is the only reason to put a radish in a pickle

+26 min The brine warming on the hob, coriander floating on top

Cut while it cools

Radishes sliced thin. Cucumber into chunks, which stay crunchy in the fridge for days where slices go limp

+30 min Radishes being sliced while the brine cools on the hob +33 min Radish slices packed into a glass container +39 min Cucumber cut into chunks on the board

Washing it off

Oven down to 120 for the fish. Then the part that felt wrong: rinsing half an hour of curing straight down the drain

+42 min Oven knob turned down to 120 +43 min The salmon rinsed under running water

The salt is already inside the fish. What comes off is the undissolved crust, which would otherwise sit on the surface and cook into a salty skin. Patted dry, because water on the outside steams instead of roasting

+46 min The fillets patted dry on paper towel

Nothing on top

Oiled, and that is all. No crust, no herbs, no lemon. It felt as wrong as the rinsing did, but the whole point of roasting low is that the fish tastes of fish, and everything else arrives on the plate

+49 min The fillets oiled on parchment +49 min Salmon on the lower rack with the beet parcel above

Brine down to 45 and poured over the radishes. Cucumber in its own container, radish in another, so neither tastes of the other by tomorrow

+50 min Checking the brine temperature before pouring +50 min Brine poured over the sliced radishes +53 min Cucumber and radish stacked in separate containers

Yogurt

Greek yogurt, 10 %, thick enough to hold its shape and sharp enough to cut the fish

+57 min Greek yogurt weighed into the measuring jug +58 min Chives weighed on the scale +60 min Chives sliced fine on the board

Dill and chives in, pepper ground over, then mustard

+64 min Dill weighed next to the jug +66 min Chopped dill going into the yogurt +67 min Black pepper ground in

Salt and lemon last, both to taste. Acid dulls chopped dill and chives within hours, so anything going in the fridge for tomorrow is better left plain and given a squeeze on the plate instead

+68 min Mustard squeezed into the herbs +70 min The finished sauce, thick and flecked green, with the lemon beside it

Out

Twenty-six minutes at 120. The fillets come out pale and barely set, with white albumin beading along the cuts, and they fall apart the moment a fork touches them

+75 min The salmon out of the oven, thermometer in the thickest piece +76 min The foil opened, a fork going into a beet baton

The bite

A beet baton with a spoonful of the yogurt on it, standing at the counter. Rosemary that had been sealed in with the beets for an hour against the dill and chives in the yogurt. That is the thing to make again

+78 min A beet baton on a fork with dill-chive yogurt spooned onto it

The plate

Salmon, beets, cucumber, radish, a spoon of yogurt, lemon over everything

+81 min The finished plate: salmon under yogurt, beet batons, cucumber chunks and pickled radish

One of the best meals of the year, and most of what made it good was the two things that felt like mistakes while doing them

Recipe

Salmon, beets and dill-chive yogurt

Good UnitsBad UnitsItemDirections
17.5 gSaltGrind in mortar1
12 gSugarGrind in mortar1
pinchCoriander seedGrind in mortar1
8 piecesSalmonRub with mortar1, cover, fridge ~35 min
200 °C390 °FOvenHeat for the beets
593.5 g1 largeBeetPeel, cut into batons, add to bowl1
18.5 gOlive oilPour over bowl1, toss
1 sprigRosemaryLay over bowl1 on foil, seal tight, roast ~60 min
81.5 gCider vinegarAdd to pot1
74.5 gWaterAdd to pot1
25.5 gSugarAdd to pot1
3 gCoriander seedCrush, add to pot1, warm until dissolved, cool
1 bunchRadishesSlice thin, cover with pot1, refrigerate
CucumberCut into chunks, store separately
120 °C250 °FOvenTurn down for the fish
SalmonRinse, pat very dry, oil, roast ~26 min skin-down
170 gGreek yogurtAdd to bowl2
14 gChivesSlice fine, add to bowl2
10 gDillChop fine, add to bowl2
8 gDijon mustardAdd to bowl2
SaltSeason bowl2 to taste
½LemonJuice into bowl2 to taste, or squeeze on the plate

Commentary, extra notes

  • Rosemary and dill are supposed to fight. Sealed in foil with the beets for an hour the rosemary loses its edge and turns sweet, and against the dill and chives in the yogurt it is the best thing on the plate. This is the note worth keeping
  • The skins came off the cooked fillets and went in the fridge. Flat in a dry cast iron pan they crisp in a couple of minutes, the same as last time