Salmon with Thai apple and tomato salad, thai curry panacotta

The salad dressing I used here was roasted Thai chili paste, a tiny bit of garlic, fresh red chill, fish sauce, lime juice and sugar.  The salad was sublime.  The apple and tomato with the dressing really did complement the salmon and Thai curry sauce (made into a panacotta which worked beautifully).  A complex dish in flavour and texture but easy to create and pretty stunning.

King fish with red wine sauce, chickpeas, tomatoes, broad beans and fennel

I have been watching "The Very Hungry Frenchman" which is Raymond Blanc touring France and cooking dishes inspired from the region in which he is spending time.

This dish is inspired from his travels to the south of France.  I love France.  Mr Blanc's television series evokes memories for me.  I've been everywhere he showcases and have taken a great interest in the local cooking.  I have to admit to being completely seduced with French food and technique over the years.  The most fascinating thing for me was the use of fresh ingredients and very little fat.  An extremely light way of cooking which most people from .. say for example down under ( my reference point) think is a very heavy, butter and cream based cuisine.  So so SO very wrong.  In fact I find regional Italian cuisine extraordinarily heavy (regardless, let alone in comparison).

So, anyway taking a leaf out of Raymond Blanc's trip to France, this is a dish inspired by his time in Nice.  The essence of the Med nudging beautifully cooked fish.  Fennel and star anise bring out the most extraordinary flavours in fish.  The red wine reduction is soft and beguiling with it's complexity.

King fish cerviche with avocado sorbet

I have made avocado sorbet before but have not partnered it with king fish.  The fish was simply today's catch, diced, red chili, lemon juice, a tiny amount of crushed garlic, coriander and salt.  The sorbet a simple puree of avocado with lemon juice and zest and (per one large avocado) about 35gms of invert sugar.  Then popped into the ice cream churner.

Unfaultable as a light starter.

Tamarind pork, kadhi sauce, pistachio nut kidchi

The sweet, sharp tamarind marinade on the pork with a balanced indian yoghurt sauce and creamy pistachio basmati rice kidchi made this dish divine.   Taking a few different Indian techniques and thinking about flavours and textures is fun.  The more I learn about Indian food the more I realise the extent of this beautiful cuisine and different applications using non traditional Indian proteins.

Salt crust baked potatoes

This is the first time I have applied this technique to potatoes.  It won't be the last.  The taste and texture of these baby spuds was sublime.  Salty dry exterior, creamy sweet inner.  They looked like little pebbles which gave a neat visual.  The salt crust is just course sea salt mixed with egg white to create a slurry and poured over the potatoes in a small dish and baked (for about 20 minutes in this case, depends on your potatoes).

Pea puree, fish and a spicy Jun Tanaka tomato chutney were the accompaniments here.

Hamour with basil tomato bulgar salad

Taking a leaf out of the Middle Eastern realm I paired beautiful fresh local hamour fish with a simple bulgar, pomegranate, tomato and purple basil salad, scented with all spice and lemon and served with labnah.  Stunning.

Salmon Indian style

Kadhi sauce is a yoghurt based sauce thickened with chickpea flour.  It is beautiful with fish.  I portioned my salmon so I had an entree size and main course size and did two different kadhi sauces.

First one was a simple kadhi tempered with curry leaves and mustard seeds.  The fish was marinated in a fresh coriander chutney and served with a green pea coriander mash.  Very fresh with the use of citrus and herbs.  A beautiful light elegant starter.

For the next salmon preparation I made a tomato kadhi based on a Vineet Bhatia recipe.  Served with some crisp beetroot, beetroot dust and coriander.  A completely different taste to the first dish but just as perfectly balanced.  The addition of a chenna chutney (a cream based chutney bursting with fresh Indian flavours) and coriander .... the salmon shone.  A delightful meal.