Grilled cajun spiced salmon

Grilled Cajun Spiced Salmon

Serves four

Cooking time:

10 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 salmon steaks each weighing about 100-150g (4-5oz)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large clove garlic
• 1 teaspoon mild paprika
• Good pinch cayenne pepper
• Good pinch ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon mustard powder
• Pinch salt
• About 12 black peppercorns

Method

• Prepare the topping first using a pestle and mortar crush the garlic and salt together well.
• Add the paprika, cayenne pepper, cumin, thyme, oregano, mustard powder and peppercorns and mix well to form a soft paste. If it seems a little dry a touch of olive oil may be stirred in.
• Preheat the grill to medium heat. Brush each side of each salmon steak with the olive oil. Place the salmon on the grill rack and grill for 4-5 minutes. Turn the salmon over carefully.
• Spread the topping evenly over the surface of the salmon and grill this second side for a further 4-5 minutes until cooked. Lift carefully from the grill rack and serve immediately. Serve with new boiled potatoes and fresh asparagus.

Cooking tip

• To check whether the fish is cooked, pierce the flesh with a sharp knife.
• It should be just starting to fall from the bone.
• Care should be taken not to over-cook it.
• Salmon was once an expensive fish served only on high days and holidays but it is now less expensive, easy to obtain and can be enjoyed much more frequently.
• While it has an excellent flavour of its own, it benefits from the addition of a sauce or topping to prevent it drying out and this recipe also adds a delicious piquancy.