Tasmanian Huon Salmon + Smoked Salmon & Cheese Souffle

Prep time: 30min

Ingredients

60g butter plus more for greasing the moulds

4 tbsp plain flour

1¼ cups milk

4 eggs, separated

1 tbsp crème fraîche

¼ cup finely grated parmesan

¾ cup grated gruyère cheese

Zest of 1 lemon

Sea salt and pepper to season

250g Reserve Selection Hot Smoked Salmon Honey Cured

Cook time: 40min

Asparagus salad

2 bunches asparagus

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp any fruit-based vinegar; raspberry vinegar or mango vinegar works well

2 tbsp slivered almonds, toasted

If you’ve ever been to Tasmania, you’ll know what I mean when I say their pristine coastal waters makes Tasmanian salmon some of the purest in the world.

Peter and Frances Bender founded Huon Aquaculture back in 1988 and now have the largest private salmon farm in Tasmania. Not only does the group produce over 10,000 tonnes of fresh salmon per year, but they’re vertically integrated – meaning they have a $7m state of the art recirculation hatchery on the edge of the South West Wilderness, marine farms, boat building and fabrication workshops, wet processing facilities and an accredited food-safe value-added smoking facility to ensure it delivers the best salmon from egg to plate.

The chances are, you’ll already have tasted Huon Aqua’s salmon at restaurants such as Rozelle’s Love.Fish. However, what I’m most excited about, is the launch of their online store which delivers their Reserve Selection salmon products direct from the cool clear waters of Huon Valley, so it’s fresher than ever before. The team basically hand-prepares the products to your order, packs them into thermally-insulated shipping boxes and delivers this to your door.

I even received a courtesy phone call after placing my order online. They wanted to reassure me that my order was being processed but because I’d ordered the gravadlax which needs to be marinated for up to three days in brandy, dill and spices, I should allow a few extra days for the order to be made and delivered. Isn’t it great when large businesses get basic customer service so right?

So anyway, with some of the finest salmon at hand, I could’ve eaten it by itself, but I wanted to whip up something special. And there’s nothing more special, than a good souffle.

In this recipe, you’ll find that the smokiness of the salmon is beautifully accentuated with the savoury depth of parmesan and gruyere cheese. The souffle is light on the palate and you’ll love how easy and gorgeous the asparagus salad is.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 200°C. Grease six 150ml ramekins.
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat then stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Remove from the heat, and using a whisk, pour in the milk and continue to whisk until the mixture starts to thicken. Return to the heat and cook for 2 minutes then take the pan off the heat.
Beat in the egg yolks one at a time then stir through the crème fraîche, lemon zest, flaked salmon, cheeses and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Beat the egg whites until firm peaks then gently fold through the egg whites into the salmon mixture using a large metal spoon. Spoon the mixture into the prepared ramekins and bake for approximately 30 minutes or until it is well-risen and golden.
While the soufflés are cooking, trim asparagus and using a vegetable peeler, slice the stalks lengthwise into thin strips.
Blanch the asparagus in hot water for between 10 to 20 seconds and immediately transfer to an ice water bath. Let cool for a few minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil and vinegar and season to taste with salt and pepper. Pat dry the asparagus ribbons and toss to coat with the dressing. Add the almonds just before serving.
Serve the soufflés immediately with the salad.