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| Poached Salmon with Saffron and Dill Risotto |
My
last blog post being some time ago, a few things have changed.
One of them is that I have attended three courses at Ashburton
Cookery School and Ashburton Chefs Academy.
The
photo is of a plate of Poached Salmon with Saffron and Dill Risotto,
the first dish I cooked on an Intermediate Cookery Week in 2015. The
last course I attended was Food Photography earlier this year, after
which I thought I'd revisit some of the recipes by way of a
photography project.
The
picture isn't mocked up or enhanced in any way, but since I was
cooking specifically for the shoot I decided on a few shortcuts. The
main one was that instead of wine and stock, I used plain water. This
was an interesting way to have it reinforced that wine is used to
de-glaze: I found that the spatula caught rather more on the base of
the pan than when I cooked the dish actually to eat.
When
I took the four-week Certificate in Professional Culinary Skills
course last Spring, we made a similar dish: Saffron Risotto with Wild
Mushrooms and Pears. On both courses we learned that one can prepare
risotto ahead of time by adding only half of the liquor and cooling
the dish, then adding the remaining liquor in time for service. I'm
now a volunteer chef at a drop-in centre for the homeless, and like
to prepare what I can in advance, but I must confess that a risotto is
still a bit too 'busy' a dish to consider.
