Peter Gordon’s smoked salmon, avocado, pear, radish & horseradish salad

This hearty salad – perfect for brunch on a sunny winter’s day – works best with hot-smoked chunks of salmon.

Hot-smoked salmon, avocado, pear, radish & horseradish cream. Picture: Peter Gordon

Hot-smoking is a technique where the meat or fish is both smoked and cooked. (The more familiar smoked salmon is “cold smoked” and is served raw, essentially.) This hearty salad – perfect for brunch on a sunny winter’s day – works best with hot-smoked chunks of salmon broken over the salad, combined with avocado, pear and horseradish. Oily fish, horseradish and avocado truly is a great combination.

Hot-smoked salmon, avocado, pear, radish & horseradish cream

600g hot-smoked salmon fillet,

at room temperature

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

100g radishes

2 avocados

1 juicy lime

2 tablespoons creamed

horseradish

3 tablespoons crème fraîche

1 ripe pear

2 handfuls salad leaves

Preheat oven to 150°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

Lay salmon on top, brush with oil and warm in the oven. (You don’t want to cook it; you’re simply warming it up. A fillet 2cm thick

will take about 10-12 minutes.) Meanwhile, place radishes in iced water for 10 minutes, then drain; cut them in half if they’re large. Remove flesh from avocados and place in a bowl. Finely grate ¼ teaspoon of zest from the lime, then juice it. Add zest and juice to avocado and mash together roughly with a fork. Season to taste with salt and pepper. In another bowl, mix creamed horseradish into crème fraîche with a pinch of salt. Cut pear in half lengthways and remove the core and stem, then thinly slice it. To serve, lay salad leaves on your platter or plates. Break salmon into chunks and sit it on top. Dollop on avocado. Lay sliced pear and radishes on top, then drizzle with crème fraîche. Serves 4

Chef Peter Gordon

A pioneer of fusion cuisine, Kiwi chef Peter Gordon has restaurants in London and Auckland. Recipe and image from Savour – Salads for all Seasons by Peter Gordon (Jacqui Small, $49.99).