SEFARDI SALMON

This recipe was given to me by a Spanish ex Minister who happens to be an outstanding cook (and great host as well, in addition to being an outstanding lawyer)  It is part of the culinary heritage of the Sefardi Jews who were expelled from Spain centuries ago at the time of the brutal Inquisition. I am not sure at the time they would have used salmon or rather white fish. In any case it goes work well with a salmon nowadays.

You need:

- a steak of salmon per person ( we used four)

- 2 onions (diced thinly)

- 2 handfuls of kalamata olives (pitted and chopped) - haf a jar

- a teaspoon of chopped parsley

- two tablespoons of olive oil

- half a lemon

- salt

Put the oil on a frying pan over medium heat. Add the onions, lower the heat and wait for 6-8 minutes until they get soft. Add the olives and cook it all for another 5-6- minuets so that you get a mellow mixture. Add salt and the parsley and mix well.

Preheat the oven at 200 degrees. Grease an oven tray lightly. Salt the salmon steaks and put them on the tray (skin side down) Pile the onion and olives mixture on top of the salmon (it is easier to do this if you put the steaks close to each other and just pile up all the mixture on top). Sprinkle with the lemon juice and bake for 13-15 minutes. If you like it very well done then bake for 18 minutes - but be careful with the timing because dry salmon is really not nice to eat.

Feel free to add a few capers or a couple of fillets of chopped anchovies to this ( in which case, do not add any salt to the onions) 

 

  

SALTY CARAMEL & CHOCOLATE CAKE

This is a birthday cake for one of my sons who loves salty caramel (who doesn't?!). 

Just bake a cake as per the chocolate birthday cake recipe http://www.mumandsons.com/2016/02/birthday-chocolate-cake.html  

For the icing you need:
- 175 gr butter (room temperature)
- 125 gr icing sugar
- 200 gr caster sugar
- 2 tablespoons of water
- a teaspoon of vanilla essence
- 1.5 teaspoons of salt

Put the caster sugar in a small pan with the two tablespoons of water. Heat it (without stirring it) until it becomes a brown caramel (it only takes 3-ish minutes but you need to keep watching it as otherwise it burns easily). Take the caramel off the heat and let it cool down for 45 minutes. 

Beat the butter and the salt with an electric whisker for a couple of minutes. Add the salt, the vanilla essence and finally the icing sugar. 

Use the buttercream to assemble the cake and ice it.