Chef Bradley Hornby cooks salmon using Olivado Avocado Oil

On this episode of New Zealand on a Plate, Chef Bradley Hornby creates a mouth-watering mussel and clam entrée, followed up with a sumptuous main course of King Salmon fillet.

Chef Bradley Hornby has spent many years cooking in five-star hotels and resorts around the world, but has now come home for a quieter lifestyle. “I started washing dishes when I was about 12 years old and just fell in love with kitchen life,” he says. “I’m really lucky to have met really passionate people through my life, especially my partner Liz, who loves making people happy as much as I do.” Today Bradley and Liz own Arbour, a restaurant in Marlborough’s largest town, Blenheim.

 

Entrée

Omega Mussels and Clams,
With
Miso Dressing
And
Wild Fennel Togarashi

First thing to do is make the miso dressing. Bradley chops some chives and shallots, root ginger and adds them all to 20g of white miso before mixing together. “We’re trying to balance the flavours here; sweet, salty, sour and sharp.” He says before adding half a lemon and half a lime to the mix. Next comes Olivado’s Avocado Oil with Lemon Zest. Finish it off with a tiny pinch of curry powder to add a bit of spiciness and the miso dressing is ready.

Chef Hornby using Olivado Avocado oil
Next up Bradley makes a togarashi- a Japanese chili spice seasoning. Using a mortar and pestle Bradley grinds up a combination of fennel seeds, coriander seeds and some dried chili. “If you’re struggling to get these to break down for you, then add some flaky sea salt and work that in.” Bradley then adds some dried citrus, fennel pollen with a little bit of dried converse seaweed, and finally some sesame seeds which have been lightly toasted.

For the garnish for the dish, Bradley wants to create something that’s really crunchy and fresh. He starts by cutting a fennel bulb in half and then slicing it with the root intact. “Squeeze a little bit of lime over the fennel,” he explains, “this stops it from oxidising and turning brown.”

Next he opens the mussels, and after debearding them, Bradley adds them to a mixing bowl along with some clams, before pouring mussel juice over everything. Then it’s time to add the dressing over the mussels and clams, before adding to the plate. He then adds pickled cucumber and swede, shaved carrot and radish, and thinly sliced apple.

Clam and mussel entree
The entrée is almost ready, and all that’s left to add is a sprinkle of the togarashi, and to top it all off with Olivado’s extra virgin avocado oil with lemon zest.

Main

Regal Marlborough King Salmon
With
Celeriac Purée
And
Hazelnuts

For a main course, Bradley makes a pan-roasted salmon fillet with smoked butter, with a celeriac purée dressing. “Celeriac is a really under-used vegetable,” says Bradley, “It’s very economical, and when cooked with a little bit of cream and a touch of avocado oil it’s a really special thing.”

Bradley starts off by dicing some of the celeriac and then pan frying it with Olivado’s extra virgin avocado oil. “We use the extra virgin avocado oil because it has a higher cooking point the olive oil, and this means it doesn’t break down as much when you cook with it,” he explains. He then adds a wee bit of sea-salt, some cream, and a bay leaf. “Once it’s tender we purée it in a blender, and then it’s ready to go from that point.”

Olivado avocado oil
Next Bradley makes a really easy dressing by adding fermented black garlic paste and cherry vinegar to a jar. He then adds a lot of Olivado extra virgin avocado oil, and seasons with some sea-salt, thyme and squeezes some fresh lemon in. He then shakes it all up in the jar, and voila! A simple yet delicious dressing.

It’s then time to cook the salmon, and Bradley lets the fillet sit for a while, making sure it’s at room temperature before cooking. He adds plenty of Olivado’s avocado oil before adding it to the pan, noting that again, its high smoking point allows the fillet to cook evenly throughout. As the salmon is cooking, Bradley makes sure he keeps moving it around the pan, occasionally adding salt.

“I want to accentuate the savouriness from it,” he explains, “so I’m going to create a really flavourful bath for the salmon by adding some garlic and smoked butter.” Once the butter has melted, Bradley then uses it to baste the fillet. “It may look indulgent, but don’t worry, you won’t be consuming all of this butter!”

While allowing the salmon to rest, Bradley adds mushrooms to the pan with a touch of Marlborough salt. After that comes some beautiful roasted shallots, and then the greens. He then adds a little bit of lemon juice to wilt the greens, and clean the butter and the oil up.

Salmon cooked with Olivado avocado oil
Combined together, the perfectly cooked salmon fillet with dressing sits on a bed of mushroom and roasted shallots, with a delicious purée covering it. Another stunning meal made with the help of Olivado!

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