On Saturday, I cooked for Gemene. Well, not just for Gem, but the lunch was at her request and she requested a whole salmon.
Roast Salmon with Fennel, Parsley and Tomato
Floating Islands
So I started the day with a trip to the fish markets, to buy my friend Sammy the Salmon. And lets just say that the fish markets are a far superior and much less painful experience than a trip to the FSL. I am now planning a seafood weekend, very near to the end of the experiment, starting with a trip to the fish markets and ending with a giant seafood feast. Quite excited.
But back to Sammy – all 3.3kgs of him. Yep, that’s pretty much the smallest whole salmon you can get. And that feeds 10 people. And I only had five coming for lunch. So I was gearing up for the leftovers. What was unexpected was a last minute drop in numbers for lunch (for very good reason, mind you), bringing us down to three people. That’s an awful lot of leftovers. And one sad salmon. So I did what any self-respecting cook would do… I begged. I rang Ween and Evans, who had planned a low-key lunch for two and begged them to come to my lunch party. It went something like this: “PLEEEEAAAASE be my rent-a-crowd.” Subtle. But it worked. And we were back at five again.
For Sammy’s stuffing (is it weirding you out that I gave him a name yet?!!!) I tossed finely sliced fennel bulbs & lemons with roughly chopped tomatoes and parsley with olive oil and S&P then stuffed as much as I could into the salmon. The rest I placed in a baking and tray then sat Sammy on top.
And here he is:
Handsome huh? And very long. Too long for my oven in fact, so I had to curl him around and slide him in carefully.
Snug as a bug in a rug right?
And then 50 minutes later, Sammy came out looking splendid.
Well, except for the eye. Ick. And those creepy teeth. Eew. But other than that, splendid. And when I sliced him up into fillets to serve him to the girls, Sammy the Salmon continued to impress. Tender, juicy salmon, served with a salad of rocket, pear and parmesan and a glass of lovely savvy b. Delish.
Our carb-free lunch had been planned because of the dessert. Floating islands use more eggs than an Irish Breakfast. Not to mention the sugar, milk and cream. But I’m jumping ahead.
Floating
Next up was the spun sugar, that was to be used as a sweet garnish on the top of the islands. While the caster sugar and water were boiling away and turning to toffee, I oiled a sheet of baking paper and a rolling pin and once the toffee was down and slightly cooled and thickened, I used a fork to shake the toffee over the rolling pin, creating a nest of spider-webby, sparkly toffee. I was seriously excited that it worked without me ruining any saucepans or burning any fingers. I luckily remembered Jamie’s tip not to touch the toffee to test its thickness or sweetness. Well, only just…
And lastly the islands were a simple meringue mixture of egg whites and sugar, which I then poached in simmering full-cream milk. Weird, but simple and effective.
Fluffy white islands, floating on a creamy sea of yellow custard with a sparkly toffee nest on top. I actually took a photo of the page in the book, so here is a comparison:
Not too bad eh? And the girls loved them. Though not unlike last weekend with the doughnuts, floating islands are not something that should be eaten in haste or in servings of more than one! VERY rich is an understatement.
And just so you know, I used some of the leftover salmon to create a salmon dip to take on a Mother’s Day picnic.
And the rest of the meringue mixture to make meringues, which I took to work and left to be devoured in the office kitchen.
Xx
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