Recipe: cured salmon with leaks
PUBLISHED: 11:18 25 February 2016 | UPDATED: 11:18 25 February 2016

Cured salmon with leeks
Archant
Strattons’ head chef Jules Hetherton shares her recipe for cured salmon with leeks, cider dressing and white chocolate horseradish

Head chef Jules Hetherton has worked with Strattons for two and a half years. Her interest in all things culinary started originally with her school cookery classes. ‘I love being creative and I love feeding people,’ says Jules. She plans menus by looking at what’s going to be in season and also sources from local suppliers. ‘This month we’ll have the forced rhubarb in, so on our menu will be a rhubarb and white chocolate cheesecake with rhubarb sorbet and roasted rhubarb. Also sprouting broccoli will be available ,so we’ll have a beef brisket with a béarnaise sauce, served with fresh sprouting broccoli, which will be just beautiful.’
Here Jules shares her recipe for a salmon starter with plenty of sweet surprise.
Ingredients (serves 6-8)
For the cured salmon
3kg of salmon fillet (skin off and pin boned)
100g of coarse sea salt
100g of caster sugar
7 splashes of whisky or brandy
For the cider dressing
1 heaped tsp of caster sugar
1½ tbsp of cider vinegar
1 egg yolk
1 egg
2 tbsp of English mustard
250ml of rapeseed light oil
Salt and pepper
For the white chocolate horseradish
50g of white chocolate melted
110g of horseradish (grated and mixed with 100ml of cream)
Treacle loaf
275g of butter (softened)
100g of soft brown sugar
325g plain flour (sifted)
1 tbsp of mixed spice
300g of golden syrup
2 eggs
1tsp of bicarbonate of soda
2tsp of ground ginger
2 sliced and sautéed leeks
Method
To prepare the salmo, mix the ingredients together and rub into the salmon. Wrap tightly in clingfilm and leave to marinade for at least 24 hours.
For the cider dressing, warm the sugar with the vinegar and allow to cool. Mix the egg yolk and whole egg with the mustard and vinegar mixture. Place in a food processor and gradually pour in the oil to create a smooth dressing. Season to taste.
Add the white chocolate to the horseradish and cream, mix all together until smooth and refrigerate.
For the treacle loaf, preheat the oven to 170C fan or Gas Mark 3. Grease and line two small loaf tins. Beat all the ingredients together until smooth. Bake for one hour until well risen and firm to the touch. When completely cooled, cut into 1cm cubes and serve at room temperature.
To assemble, slice the salmon to order into 6mm pieces. Place three slices of salmon on a bed of sautéed sliced leeks, add a quenelle of chocolate horseradish to the top of each salmon slice. Spoon the cider dressing around the salmon and finish with cubes of the treacle loaf.
Strattons
Ash Close, Swaffham, Norfolk, PE37 7NH, 01760 723845, www.strattonshotel.com