Summary

Servings: 
4
Prep time: 
30 minutes

Description

Home-cured smoked salmon is served with scallops cooked in hay and pickled cucumber. For this recipe you will need a safe place to smoke the scallops such as a home smoker or a barbecue.

Ingredients

  • 9 oz high-quality salmon fillet, mid piece, skin on
  • 75g fine sea salt
  • 20g caster sugar
  • 2 teaspoon coarsely ground white peppercorns
  • 5 dill, roughly chopped

Instructions

  1. For the gravlax, put the salmon in a sealable plastic food bag. Mix all the the remaining ingredients and pour them into the bag. Shake the bag lightly, let the air out and seal the bag.
  2. Put the bag in the fridge and leave for 12 hours. Flip the bag and leave for another 12 hours.
  3. Remove the salmon from the bag and scrape off any excess salt/sugar. Slice thinly across the fibers.
  4. For the cucumber, add all the ingredients except for the cucumber to a saucepan with 150ml/5fl oz water and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and cool for two minutes. Pour into a sealable glass jar.
  5. Slice the cucumber lengthwise into quarters. Remove the seeds and cut into 10cm/4in pieces. Put the cucumber pieces in the brine in the jar, the liquid should cover the cucumber. Store in the fridge for at least 12 hours before serving.
  6. For the scallops, open the scallops using a thin sharp knife. Clean them and reserve the white meat, shell and the roe (for the dressing).
  7. Heat a small cast iron skillet or a heavy-based frying pan until hot. Melt the butter and sear the scallops on both sides until golden-brown. Remove from the pan and season with salt. Reserve the butter in the pan for the roe dressing.
  8. Put the scallops back in their shells and place in the drum of a barbecue. Cover the scallops with the hay. Set fire to the hay and let it burn until the scallops are covered in ashes. Scrape off the excess ashes.
  9. For the roe dressing, heat two teaspoons of the butter reserved from the scallops in a small cast iron or heavy based saucepan and gently fry the shallot for one minute. Add the cream. Roughly chop the roes and add to the cream. Using a handheld blender mix until smooth. Season with salt, a pinch of leek ash and some lemon juice.
  10. To serve, put two slices of salmon irregularly on each plate. Slice each scallop in half so that you get two round pieces and place them next to the salmon. Drizzle a few drops of the roe dressing over the salmon.
  11. Cut very thin slices of the sour cucumber lengthwise using a mandolin. Do the same with the apple. Place a few of these cucumber and apple slices around each plate and finish with a few mustard leaves.