FOOD: Salmon with leeks and parsley sauce

The idea of superfoods never really tickled my fancy. Granny Winifred instilled the notion there is goodness in all natural produce, while my mum Penny advised ‘everything in moderation’.
Every natural foodstuff from God’s (or nature’s) cabinet has vital components essential to our survival and development – proteins, carbohydrates, essential fats, enzymes, probiotics, trace mineral elements and so on.
That said, occasionally focusing on a specific foodstuff or ingredient can be worthwhile. Take parsley. It not only adds so much to so many dishes, it is also rich in vitamin C – and it makes an excellent, kidney-cleansing tea too!
Parsley also has an interesting place in Ireland’s culinary history. It was always an important ingredient in the kitchens of ‘the big house’, but it it took a while for it to enter the general population’s culinary practices.
In the 1980s, it mostly came in dried form, within glass herb containers. Traditional curly parsley may have appeared in restaurant dishes, but it wasn’t until the economic turnaround of the 1990s that the fresh herb was really embraced. European tastes were absorbed and adapted by us Irish eaters, flat-leaf parsley became stylish and trendy, and nowadays there are banks and banks of all manner of fresh parsley available on our supermarket shelves. How things have changed!
For inspiration on new ways to cook with parsley, check out some recipes from the Middle East, where it’s used so well in so many dishes. But for now, here’s something that will appeal to even the most conservative of palates.

Salmon with leeks and parsley sauce

The strong flesh of salmon complements the smooth, comforting parsley sauce, the flavours neither clashing with nor overpowering the other.

What you need
4 organic salmon fillets, skin on
1 leek, finely sliced,
4 tbsp parsley, finely chopped (I prefer flat leaf here, but your choice)
25g flour
50g butter
500ml milk
50ml cream
1 onion, halved and studded
2 cloves
½ tsp whole peppercorns
3 lemons
1 bay leaf
Seasoning

What you do
Stud the onion with the cloves. Place the milk, studded onion, peppercorns and bay leaf together in a pan and bring to a simmer over a medium heat. Add your salmon fillets, bring back to a simmer and poach the fish for about eight minutes. Remove the fillets to a plate and strain the milk sauce into a bowl.
In another pan, melt the butter, sieve in the flour, and keep stirring with a wooden spoon to make a light-golden-brown mix. Then whisk in the strained milk, allowing the sauce to thicken. Pour in the cream and add the parsley, whisk, taste, season and add a good squeeze of lemon juice.
In another pan, sweat the sliced leeks in some butter over a medium heat for about four minutes, and season to taste.
Assemble the dishes by spooning cooked leeks into the centre of each plate, laying fish on top, and spooning the parsley sauce over the top. Decorate with lemon wedges, and serve.

— Redmond

Sandra and Redmond Cabot live in Lanmore, outside Westport, with their children, Penny and Louis. Fresh, seasonal foods are their passion – shopping at country markets, growing their own veg and producing their own dips and sauces for sale.