Chris Riche, the chef at Oliver’s in St. John’s, prepared a lovely piece of salmon crusted with sesame seeds
on One Chef One Critic. We were impressed by the fact that the salmon was cooked perfectly and by the
other elements with which Chris chose to enhance the taste and look of his dish.
Ingredients
Avocado Purée
- 1 avocado
- 1 lime zest
- ½ lime juice
- ¼ tsp (1 ml) red pepper flakes
- salt and pepper to taste
Tomato Coulis and Candied Zest
- 2 large tomatoes
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) canola oil
- 1 shallot, diced
- ¼ tsp (1 ml) garlic, minced
- 1 lemon zest
- 1 lemon juice
- ½ cup (125 ml) sugar
- ¼ cup (60 ml) water
Mango Salsa and Salmon Crust
- 1 large mango, peeled and finely diced
- 1 small green pepper, finely diced
- 1 small red pepper, finely diced
- 1 small shallot, finely diced
- 1 lime zest
- 1 lime juice
- ¼ tsp (1 ml) chopped chives
- ¼ tsp (1 ml) chopped cilantro
- 1 lemon
- 4 pieces of salmon fillet, about 4 oz (120 g) each
- salt and pepper to taste
- plateful of sesame seeds
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) canola oil
How to Make It
- First, prepare the Avocado Purée. Remove pit and scoop out flesh of avocado. Process avocado in food processor with lime zest and juice, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper. The end result should be a smooth paste.
- For coulis, shock tomatoes in boiling water for 90 seconds. Peel and dice tomatoes. Heat oil in frying pan over medium heat. Add shallot and garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add tomato and reduce heat to low. Cook for 20 minutes. Add lemon zest and juice and cook for a few minutes more.
- Place contents from pan in food processor and blend until smooth. Remove contents from processor and place in sieve or strainer over a bowl. Using a flat spatula, press tomato mixture through the sieve until a smooth sauce fills the bowl. Season sauce with salt and pepper.
- To prepare candied lemon zest, place zest in saucepan with sugar and water. Bring contents to a boil and reduce heat to low. Let sugar reduce until a syrup is left. Strain lemon zest and cool. Syrup may be kept for a dessert garnish.
- Combine all mango salsa ingredients in a bowl and toss.
- Cut lemon in half and squeeze juice over salmon. Season each piece of fillet with salt and pepper. To crust each piece of salmon, press the non-skin side of salmon onto sesame seeds.
- Heat oil in frying pan on medium until oil smokes a little. Place salmon crusted side down into oil and cook for 3 minutes. Turn onto other side and cook for 3 to 4 minutes longer or until salmon is firm.
- To plate the dish, put a spoonful of Avocado Purée towards one side of plate and with the bowl of your spoon press into it and drag the spoon straight across the plate, making an avocado stripe. Centre the piece of salmon neatly on the stripe. Dot plate with a few droplets of the Tomato Coulis. Spoon some Mango Salsa over salmon and top with a garnish of Candied Zest.
