Trinity Olive Oil Infusions

The success of confit salmon lies in a delicately herbed and spiced oil infusion which helps distribute the heat during cooking at low temperature around 100 deg Celsius or lower. Both Tetsuya and Chubby Hubby use grapeseed oil. Strong tasting olive oil also works well for gently heated infusions. To recreate the Creole "trinity" flavours and the the spectacular colours for the confit salmon dish for this electronic restaurant, try the following combinations with olive oil.

Herbs and spice suggestions:

Green Infusion:
1/2 teaspoon each of dried
basil
thyme
mint
parsley
oregano
celery seeds (or slivers of fresh celery)

Yellow Infusion:
1 teaspoon lemon zest, slivered
1 garlic clove, slivered
1 French shallot onion bulb, slivered

Orange or Red Infusion:
1 teaspoon ground akudjura (Australian bush tomato)
1 teaspoon chilli flakes
1 teaspoon paprika

For each infusion, use 4 tablespoons of good quality olive. Place the herbs/spices in cold olive oil and slowly warm to just bubbling. Wait for the aroma and colour to develop. Remove from heat and cool. Let the infusions develop for 2 hours. For the salmon marinate and the leek linguine dressing, use the ratio of about 2 teaspoon of orange, 1 teaspoon of yellow and about 1/2 teaspoon of green. The idea is to create a bright orange infusion to match the salmon. Adjust the flavours to your personal taste. The garlic, lemon zest and onion make great garnishes, while the darkened spices give added taste to normal salad dressings. Drizzle excess infusions over plated salads for spectacular presentations.