Ingredients

• olive oil and butter
• for frying
• 4 x 170g/6oz pieces of thick salmon fillet
• skin on
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1.5kg/3lb 5oz live mussels
• 50g/1¾oz unsalted butter
• 3 shallots
• finely chopped
• 1 small leek
• finely chopped
• ½ bulb fennel
• finely sliced
• 200g/7¼oz brown chestnut mushrooms
• sliced
• pinch curry powder
• pinch of saffron strands
• 25ml/1fl oz pastis
• 100ml/3½fl oz double cream
• 1 bay leaf
• 50g/1¾oz flatleaf parsley
• roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp butter
• additional saffron strands

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
• To make the salmon
• in a non-stick frying pan heat the olive oil and butter.
• Season the salmon and place in the hot pan
• skin side down. Leave for 3-4 minutes before carefully turning over. Cook for another two minutes.
• Place in the oven and cook for 5-6 minutes or until cooked to your liking.
• To make the sauce
• scrub the mussels well
• discarding any that are cracked or will not close when tapped.
• Melt the butter in a large saucepan and add the shallots
• leeks
• fennel and mushrooms. Then add the curry powder
• saffron and a splash of pastis. Bring to the boil.
• Add the mussels
• the cream and the bay leaf and finally the parsley and the butter. Season to taste.
• Once the mussels open the sauce is ready to serve.
• Serve at once with the pan-fried salmon fillet
• sprinkled with the saffron strands.