Salmon Wellington

I love seafood at Christmas and this salmon wellington was inspired by the Saint Peter fish wellington. The photo of theirs shows, somehow a cooked pastry but barely cooked salmon interior. I have no idea how that is achieved (which is why I often don't trust non-blog recipes because I find them staged). Nevertheless it is a salmon rolled in mushroom duxelles, nori and then baked in butter puff pastry. The lovely people at Huon Salmon sent me a gorgeous side of salmon. Their salmon is harvested at night so that it is less stressful for the fish.

This was my first time skinning a whole side of salmon and honestly I did it with gritted teeth and a lot of pulling. Most sides of salmon come already skinned so hopefully you won't have to do that. And as for the skin, Teddy and Milo were hugely appreciative of it as they got a special Christmas treat. I tried my hand at a lattice crust which was fiddly but fun too!

Salmon Wellington

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 45 minutes

Cooking time: 25-30 minutes

This recipe should be started the day before you serve it

• 20g/0.7ozs dried wild mushrooms (I used chanterelles)
• 500g/1lb brown mushrooms
• 100g/3.5ozs butter
• 1 onion, peeled and finely diced
• 5 garlic cloves, peeled and finely diced
• 2 teaspoons charcoal powder
• 1 side of salmon, weighing around, skin removed
• 4 sheets nori seaweed
• 1x 375g/13ozs butter puff pastry sheet to wrap (27cm x 36cm/10.6x14inches)
• 1x 165g/5.8ozs butter puff pastry for lattice detail
• 1 egg yolk mixed with 2 teaspoons water
• Tartare sauce to serve

Step 1 - First make the duxelles as it will have to cool completely. Soak the dried mushrooms in hot water from a kettl for 30 minutes. Drain. Process these dried mushrooms with the brown mushrooms in a food processor. Heat the butter in a frypan and saute the onions until soft and fragrant. Add the garlic and saute for a minute, then add the mushrooms and charcoal powder oand cook down until the mushrooms are soft and cooked through and all of the liquid has disappeared.You want it to be a dry mix and will take around 10-15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Cool completely in the fridge.

Step 2 - Then cut the salmon-you want it to be a rounded, high piece so you're going to cut it halfway slicing the tail portion from the loin and belly portion. Then slice off the belly. The belly is going to fit where the tail tapers off so that it looks like the salmon is a consistent thickness.

Step 3 - Lay a large piece of cling film and then lay out the nori sheets to form a large square, overlapping them slightly and dampening the edges so that they stick. Spread the mushroom duxelles over the nori in a thin layer reaching almost to the edge (leave a 1cm/0.4inch border).

Step 4 - Place the salmon on top and sprinkle generously with salt. Then use the cling film that is closest to you to bring the nori and mushroom up over the fillets to form a log so that the filling completely encloses the fillet. Tie this up with duct tape to form a rounder roll and chill overnight.

Step 5 - The next day freeze the salmon for 30 minutes just to get it a bit firmer and put on the air conditioning to cold (every bit helps when dealing with butter puff pastry and summer). Mix the egg yolk and the egg wash together and have a pastry brush ready. Roll out the chilled butter puff pastry making sure that it is larger than the wellington. Remove the cling film and tape from the salmon and place the fish in the centre of the pastry. Brush all sides of the pastry with egg wash and roll up over the log but do not brush the outside of the wellington with egg yet. Chill for at least 1 hour.

Step 6 - To make the lattice detail, make sure that the pastry is still firm but that you can press the lattice roller into it. Roll firmly and slowly (rolling this fast is a recipe for disaster). Make sure to press down as hard as possible. If the pastry is still chilled and firm, take a butter knife and cut through each slit again (if the pastry is too soft, place it in the freezer to firm up). This is important as the cutter will not cut through all of the pastry. gently lift the lattice pastry on top of the wellington and gently spread out to create the pattern. You will not need the whole sheet of pastry. However I find that doing both sides helps as you can choose which side separates better. Freeze for 15 minutes.

Step 7 - Preheat the oven to 210C/410F fan forced. Brush egg wash sparingly over the Wellington (making sure that none pools in the crevices). Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown and the interior temperature has reached 48C/118F on a cook's digital thermometer. Allow to rest for 10 minutes and then slice up and serve with tartare sauce.