Cured Salmon, Poached Egg & Chilli

This dish is all about simple flavours that get on fantastically, no fuss!!
Serves 4

Ingredients

1lb/500g fresh salmon fillet, skinned & pinned
200g table salt & 200g castor sugar, mixed
4 free range eggs
2 red chillies
Another 100g sugar

Method

Cover the salmon in the sugar/salt mixture and allow to stand in the fridge for 6 hours, wash off under a cold running tap for 20 mins

Whist it’s washing, cook the sugar, with a splash of water to a light caramel, lob it in a food blender with the chillies and blend it for 5 mins. Pass it through a sieve and you’ll have your chilli dressing

The perfect poached egg is a matter of taste, some like runny poached eggs for dunking butter-soaked toast into, whilst others prefer a firmer variety of poached egg.

The ‘perfect’ poached egg method for me is the former, an egg poached just to the point where the white is no longer runny and the yolk is beginning to harden around the edges, encasing the lush, runny, yolk ready for dipping the aforementioned toast.

The dressing up of your perfect poached egg is again up to you – a simple runny poached egg on toast with a healthy sprinkling of coarse black pepper and sea salt is perfect for some, whilst others prefer the buttery sensation of Eggs Benedict.

Serve your poached egg with crispy smoked bacon, a doorstep of country grain bread spread generously with butter, all on a bed of rocket... mm, let’s stop there before I have to go and eat one!

The reason I consider my poached egg method to be perfect is for three very simple reasons: it’s easy, it can be tailored to your exact preference and there’s no messing about

The most important aspect of making the perfect poached egg, is of course... the egg! It's no good using a small supermarket extra value flavourless egg that some poor freedom-starved hen has lived, suffered horribly and died for. Give the bird some respect! Half a dozen free-range eggs only cost about a quid, which means each egg is only about 17p, think on next time your choosing your eggs!!

Crack your eggs into separate cups and pop in the fridge an hour before you need them, this will firm them up. You will need a fairly large pan of boiling water with about 1/10th vinegar in it. Simply drop the egg into the deep water and let it simmer for 3 to 4 mins depending how runny you like it.

You can see from the picture how to do the rest!!