Salmon Fillet with Finger Lime Caviar, and an Almond, Dill and Caper Sauce

When Native Finger Limes are in season I love to cook this delicious Salmon dish with them. Once picked, these Australian indigenous rainforest fruits are quite perishable, and the tree doesn't yield fruit for very long either, so they are a very precious commodity. However, they can be frozen whole, which is a real advantage. I buy them when I find them, freeze them, and use them when I am ready. However, if you can't find Finger Limes, a fresh lime can be used as an alternative for this recipe.

  One day I was thinking about food, of course, having just bought some Finger Limes, when seafood and lime caviar came to mind, and how to create this as a simple yet delicious meal. Was it to be oysters, prawns or fish fillets, all fantastic options. Eventually, I based my dish on this simple but  inspiring recipe by Matt Moran, and decided to cook a zingy sauce to go with Salmon fillets, which are always a favourite, and so good for us. Whenever I am reading about the many health benefits of a Mediterranean diet, Salmon pops up as one of the best fish to eat. However this sauce could be served with any kind of simply cooked fish. It would be perfect as a Christmas dish over the festive season as well. Finger limes can be quite expensive depending on the time of year, so they sound like the perfect Christmas ingredient to me.

Finger limes

Here is Mr. HRK removing the lime caviar pulp from the fruit. Surprisingly they had quite a few seeds, so they were very carefully removed.

A close up of the delicious lime caviar

What wasn't needed for the dish, was enjoyed from a spoon.

We used to have a finger lime tree growing in a pot, which reached  a couple of years old.  However it  never really produced much fruit, not enough anyway to justify all the work that went into maintaining it, and it was quite a thorny tree.  One year when it flowered, we were so excited, and then one small finger lime developed, which eventually fell off. Imagine the let down we felt after checking on it every morning. We had placed it in between our large, backyard and beautiful native Golden Penda trees, in an attempt to recreate rainforest conditions for it, and being fully aware that finger lime trees don't tolerate full sun very well.  So we decided that perhaps it wasn't getting enough sun, and moved it to a sunnier position to see if that made any difference. However, it eventually started to look as if it was really struggling so we gave up the battle and admitted defeat. Citrus can be difficult to grow. 

If you happen to find some finger limes when you are out and about at a Farmers Market or even the supermarket, I urge you to give this a try, it is an amazing combination of flavours. Thankfully I still have a couple of these little darlings in the freezer. They can be purchased online frozen or fresh from a couple of Australian suppliers, and for my overseas readers, Amazon could be an option.

INGREDIENTS:

Serves 4

4 x 160g Salmon fillets, with skin left on
2 tbs baby bottled capers, in brine or vinegar, rinsed and chopped if they are the large ones
2 tsp finger lime caviar (or you can use 1/2 lime, skin removed and finely chopped)
2 tbs slivered almonds, toasted
1/3 cup olive oil
1 spring onion, finely sliced
3 sprigs dill, roughly chopped
Juice of 1/2 lemon
400g - 500g green beans, blanched, or steamed to serve or another green vegetable
Mixed green leaves to serve

METHOD:

To make the sauce

Combine in a bowl the capers, spring onion, finger lime caviar or chopped lime, almonds, 1/4 cup olive oil, dill and lemon juice. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Heat the remaining 1 tbs olive oil in a large non-stick pan over high heat. Cook salmon skin side down for 2-3 minutes until the skin is golden and crispy.  Turn and cook for another 2 minutes until just cooked through.

Place the cooked fish fillets on serving plates and spoon over the lime caviar and caper dressing. I served this simply with green beans and mixed green leaves, however use whatever you enjoy and have on hand.

Mr. HRK is always appreciative of what I cook and whilst sometimes we might eat simply, we eat quite well. So whilst he mostly compliments me when I cook, sometimes he is so busy eating he forgets. However, when he really enjoys something I cook, he is over the moon and very expressive with his praise and then I know it is a real hit. This was one of those dishes. It is one of the most delicious seafood meals I had cooked in a while, and it is so very simple. The key is the fresh ingredients, and only the fish needed to be cooked.

Have you ever eaten Finger Limes? If you have had success with growing a Finger Lime Tree I would love to know the secrets to your success. We still think we would like to invest in another one in the future. However, we might be too tropical here for them to grow successfully.

Best wishes,
Pauline