Miso Salmon with Mango, Cucumber & Green Apple Slaw

Thanks to being overseas, kitchen-less and often travelling, I have posted a whole lot less this year – and I’ve missed it, even more than I thought I would. Taking a step back from instagram and blogging has made me feel slightly out of touch, off the ball – and like the gym, has taken a bit of effort to get back into some kind of routine with (and to be honest, I need the gym with the amount of sugar I’ve been consuming lately). It does mean I now have an ever-lengthening list of recipes to try, and an even longer jot-pad of recipe ideas to flesh out and photograph. I’ve already hit the local library limit of books to check out with the cookbooks I’ve reserved (I wish I could buy them all but I just don’t have the room or money), Mum is already getting frustrated with the stacks of misfit ceramics left out on the bench, and my brothers, although very much enjoying the cakes, are less keen on the dishes that come with it. It’s good to be back!

Other culinary highlights of the week: making this Ottolenghi rose harissa pappardelle with this homemade pasta recipe – like a middle-east spiced version of a puttanesca, and I can’t get enough; a huge but very casual dinner for 20 in celebration of my Dad’s birthday, featuring this triple layer flourless chocolate hazelnut cake and this favourite broccoli & pomegranate tabouli; making a giant bucketful of fruit mince for Christmas mince tart baking, including about a litre of brandy and a few blocks of dark chocolate (seriously, add in the dark chocolate. epic); making yet another Ottolenghi recipe in the form of this lemon, almond and blueberry cake from Sweet – one of the best easy weekend cakes I’ve tried in a LONG time; baking up the Gjelina pumpkin, olive oil and dark chocolate cake for the second time, and still loving that olive oil cake and the freshly grated nutmeg (tip if you don’t have time to roast your own kabocha pumpkin: use a canned pumpkin puree, but spread it out on the baking tray and roast for 15 minutes or so until reduced, slightly caramelised and exponentially improved in flavour). Anyway – would thoroughly recommend all of those recipes! 

This miso salmon with mango, cucumber & green apple slaw is to balance out some of said cake. Maybe. The miso salmon is a recipe I’ve been adding to everything lately – on the side of Hetty Mckinnon’s seedy soba noodles, with any kind of slaw, with rice and greens.. you make a simple marinade with white miso, sake, mirin and sugar to rub over the salmon in the half hour or so before you cook it. I’ve never really baked salmon before (I’ve always pan-fried it or poached it) so baking it was a novelty, and I’m hooked. Way less mess, way less grease, way less hands-on and a bit more predictable. I usually bake it for 5 minutes or so before turning the oven grill on for a further 5-10 minutes to get the top of the salmon to start caramelising. Timing really depends on the thickness of your fillets and the heat of your oven though, so watch carefully the first time you try. 

The mango, cucumber and green apple slaw was inspired by a green apple slaw served up at Chin Chin, one of my favourite Melbourne restaurants. The green apple matchsticks add a slightly sour-sweet crunch, and are much cheaper and easier (in NZ at least) to use compared to trying to track down a green papaya. It’s full of mint and coriander, and given a nutty edge with the sesame seeds and peanuts. The dressing is simple and an old favourite – lime juice and fish sauce, dressed up with a little red chilli and garlic. Serve it up with white or brown rice for an easy, balanced meal in the hectic holiday season!