Recipe
Serves 6
Ingredients:
For the mousse
200g fresh salmon
50g smoked salmon
15g soft butter
225ml whipping cream
1 egg yolk
salt and cayenne pepper and a squeeze of lemon
For wrapping the mousse
8 large leaves of spinach
8 slices of smoked salmon 25cm long in total
For the sauce
30g shallot, peeled and finely sliced
15ml white wine vinegar
20ml dry white wine
4 sprigs rosemary
1 pinch cayenne pepper
50ml water, cold
125g butter, cold, unsalted, diced
5g lemon juice
1 pinch sea salt
For the garnish
½ savoy cabbage, shredded
200g bacon lardons, blanched
20ml olive oil
2 garlic cloves
salt and pepper
Method:
For the mousse
Puree smoked and fresh salmon until smooth add the egg and the soft butter and puree for 2 minutes. Slowly add ¾ of the cream, season. Test for taste and texture adding more seasoning or cream if needed. Then cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes
For the assembly
Blanch the spinach in boiling water for 5 seconds then refresh in iced cold water, drain and pat dry.
Lay the smoked salmon slices on a sheet of clingfilm, overlapping them. Cover with another sheet of cling-film. Using a rolling pin or large knife flatten out the salmon gently until a rectangle 25cm x 15cm is obtained. Remove the sheet and season the salmon.
Coat the salmon with a layer of mousse about 2mm thick. Arrange a layer of blanched spinach, season and add another layer of mousse. Roll the ballotine lengthways and freeze for about 20 minutes.
Spoon out the remaining mousse and smooth with a spatula. Remove the cling-film from the ballotine and place at the front of the remaining mousse. Roll forward and twist both ends to seal. roll a second time with aluminium foil, tie both ends with string and tie it twice in the middle.
Cook the ballotine in water at 85° for 25 – 30 minutes minutes. Refresh in ice-cold water and reserve.
For the sauce
On a high heat, in a small saucepan boil the shallots, rosemary, white wine, white wine vinegar and the pepper, reduce for 3-4 minutes until almost all of the liquid has evaporated (if not the sauce will be too vinegary and strong).
Add 50ml water, gradually whisk in the diced butter, to create a smooth sauce. Then pour the contents of the pan into a liquidiser and liquidise the sauce to get an even better texture. Taste, correct the seasoning if necessary with lemon juice & salt.
This sauce is very unstable and must be kept warm at all times. The best way of doing this is by keeping it in a Thermos flask. If it does separate, you can try and rescue it by reducing 100ml of cream by half and slowly whisking in the separated mixture.
For the cabbage
Blanch in boiling salted water for 2 minutes then refresh in cold. Once cool strain and reserve in the fridge
To serve
Once cold slice the ballotine into portions and reserve on pieces of greaseproof paper the same size as the slice. To reheat, place in a steamer for 3 minutes until hot. Meanwhile place the olive oil in a sauté pan with the chopped garlic and lardons and lightly toss. Then add the cabbage and re heat for 4 minutes then serve on the plate in the middle with the ballotine on top and sauce around.
