Over the holiday season last year, I began watching Nigel Slater’s Simple Cooking series on BBC. Prior to that, I’ve never seen Nigel Slater the chef. He’s quite the prolific cookbook writer, but I only own Christmas Chronicles (my favorite book ever!) and of course I’ve read his autobiography, titled Toast; the movie based on the book was very good as well.
Watching Nigel Slater was exactly what I expected. He’s casual, comfortable, scruffy like a schoolboy who was just forced to get out of bed, and most of all, he doesn’t care much about measuring! The show opens to him, saying “I’m Nigel Slater. I don’t think cooking needs to be complicated.” Then later on in the show, “I’ve been cooking my whole life. But I’m still learning about new flavors. It’s so important to keep an open mind.” I love hearing a culinary professional making those claims.
In spite of his boyish charm, he’s very comfortable in front of the camera. Surprisingly, his house, assuming it really is his house, it’s quite prim and proper. If you follow Mr. Slater on Instagram, he will often show glimpses of home, and it’s tidy and simply decorated, almost from a previous century. The back yard of course contains a flourish of herb plants, but the rest is manicured topiaries. All quite a paradox, but perhaps necessary for balance.
During the first episode of the show, entitled Sweet and Sour, (all episodes are about pairings) he threw together a chutney with this and that thrown in, then topped it on salmon filets. I just had to try it!
I typically make chutneys in the fall, especially in anticipation of my Thanksgiving turkey, but chicken and pork also work well topped with chutney. Yet I’ve never considered any form of seafood with chutney.
If you’ve never made a chutney at any time of year, here is a good primer to go about customizing one to your tastes. Also, I made a strawberry chutney once that was incredible, and perfect during strawberry season.
I altered Mr. Slater’s recipe for only 2 salmon filets, to serve 2, but the amount of chutney I made would be perfect for 4 filets.
Salmon with Chutney
Slightly adapted
1 purple onion, sliced
1 small apple, unpeeled, thinly sliced
Handful of golden raisins
Handful of dried cranberries or dried cherries
1/4 apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
White pepper, to taste
Ground cinnamon, to taste
Salt
Pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 salmon filets at room temperature
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
Boil onions for about 15 minutes; they should be soft. Save about 1/4 cup of the onion water and drain the onions.
Place the onions in a medium baking dish. Sprinkle with the apple slices and top with dried fruits.
Drizzle on the vinegar and stir the mixture together with the brown sugar. Add the mustard seeds, white pepper, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and add the onion water.
Cover with foil and place the baking dish in the oven for 1 hour. After baking, remove from the oven and remove the foil.
Taste the chutney – you should taste sweet, sour, salt, tang.
For the salmon part, Mr. Slater pushed the oven temperature up to 350 degrees F, placed the salmon filets over the chutney, and placed the baking dish in the oven for ten minutes, uncovered.
Alternatively, prepare the salmon the following way: Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a medium skillet over high heat. Season the salmon with salt and pepper and cook in the skillet skin-up for a few minutes. Turn the filets over and turn down the heat to low. Turn the filets again and remove the skins. Flip one last time, turn off the stove, and let cook through on the bottom for a minute or so. Season tops of the filets again if needed.
To serve, lay filets side-by-side with the chutney, or top with chutney.
I served the salmon and chutney with plain white rice, which worked perfectly.
I will be making this again. The combination was fabulous.