Beetroot Poached Salmon With Roquette, Cider Caramel and Grains
By Klaa Clements
New Sydney Hotel

Remove skin and bones from the salmon. Peel and dice the beetroot, place into a saucepan with 500 ml cold water, cook until soft. Remove from the heat and puree in a food processor until smooth. Let cool.

Put the salmon into a ceramic dish and cover with the beetroot puree, cover and refrigerate to marinate for about 12 hours.

In a non-stick pan place sugar and put on a medium heat. Use a spatula to stir until it goes golden brown.  Once golden add the cider to the pan, being careful as the sugar and cider will boil rapidly. Let boil for a couple of minutes until all sugar has dissolved.

Place a medium size pot of water on to boil. Once boiling, blanch the roquette and refresh in iced water. Remove roquette from ice once cold and place 300 ml of water over the top and puree using a stick blender until smooth. Pass liquid through a sieve to remove all lumps then place the roquette puree into a small, tall bucket and add soy lecithin and combine using the stick blender. It should hold a light foam.

Take the red and white quinoa and place into a pot, cover with water. Cook until just soft then drain. Do the same with the fregola pasta.

Place pan on medium heat and put in wild rice. Keep the rice moving in the pan until it is toasted and puffed.
Into a bowl place all the grains, while still hot, and add pine nuts, currants, butter, stock and parsley. Stir with a spoon until the butter is melted and combined with stock and grains. Season with salt.

Remove the salmon from the marinade and place onto a plate. Put beetroot marinade into a pot and bring up to the boil and then reduce temperature to 60°C (use a kitchen thermometer). Place salmon into the beetroot poaching liquid and cook for 12 minutes or until you can just see the white appearing on the salmon.

To assemble: Place some of the warm grain mixture into the centre of a plate. Place salmon on top and then a spoonful of the roquette foam. Drizzle cider caramel around the plate.

"recipes from Wild Water and Woodsmoke, available for purchase from The Salmon Shop"