Salmon Tarator

Baked salmon 'Tarator' style

Ingredients

1 whole Tasmanian salmon (4 to 4.5 kgs)

Sea salt and milled white pepper

50ml extra virgin olive oil

150g walnuts

120ml extra virgin olive oil, 

extra Juice of 1 or 2 lemons

1 medium red onion,

 finely chopped 3 long mild red chillies, seeded and finely diced

2 cups coriander leaves, chopped

½ cup mint leaves, shredded

20g sumac

Dressing

400g natural yoghurt

100ml tahini

1 clove garlic, crushed with 1 tsp sea salt

2 lemons, juiced



Preparation

Preheat oven to 150°C. Whip yoghurt, tahini and garlic together until it becomes a thick paste. Thin slightly with lemon juice, season with salt and refrigerate (it should be the consistency of pure cream). Season salmon with salt and pepper and drizzle with oil. Wrap in silicon or baking paper. Bake in the centre of the oven for 20 minutes. Gently turn salmon over and cook for a further 20 minutes. The salmon should be medium rare after 50 minutes. Remove from oven, opening the paper to stop further cooking. With a sharp knife, pierce the skin along the back from head to tail and peel away the skin. Scrape away the grey blood line. Carefully transfer to a large serving plate. Brush some of the yoghurt mixture (about ½ cup) onto the flesh of the salmon to coat the top side. Reserve the remaining sauce to serve with the finished dish. Roast walnuts in a preheated oven (200°C) for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and rub briskly in a clean tea towel to remove as much of the skin as possible. Chop finely. Whisk the extra oil with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Add onion and chilli and whisk lightly. Add coriander, mint, sumac and walnuts. Spoon the salad onto the salmon and carefully cover the entire fish as neatly as possible. Serve at room temperature with reserved sauce. Salmon can be cooked up to 4 hours in advance and the salad can be composed just prior to spooning onto the salmon. Note: To serve, 'cut' fish along the length with a spoon. Scoop flesh off onto serving plates.

I did this with the equivalent of just a large fillet of salmon weighing about 1 kg.  I put it in the oven at 120 deg fan forced for 12 minutes and texture was great.  Also I substituted chillis with roasted capsicum