Salmon en croute

Salmon en croute
A professional chef would make a much
more attractive finished dish,
but this tasted great.

En croute! The very name fascinates me. It’s strange, because I’m not particularly a bread or starch eater, but I love things in a crust, from Shepherd’s Pie to Beef Wellington, although the latter intimidates me, and I have never tried to fix it. I delight in pasties, yearn for empanadas (no olives, please), relish hand pies.

I am also a salmon lover. I could eat it in various forms five days a week—roasted, grilled, baked, in a salad, straight out of the can. So salmon en croute is a dream dish for me. For some time, I’ve been collecting recipes for this delicacy, determined to try it. The most logical recipe I found was by someone who just followed instinct and put the ingredients together in the way they wanted. That, finally is what I ended up doing, one Saturday night when I was home alone. I hadn’t exactly planned this meal, so I had to use what was on hand.

The recipe starts with a goat cheese spread, for which I am indebted to my neighbor and good friend, Jaimie Smith.

Baked goat cheese dip

By Jaimie Smith

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

8 oz. goat cheese, softened

2 garlic cloves, microplaned or minced

2 tsp. Italian seasoning (I used crushed dried Italian herbs)

½ tsp. kosher salt

¼ tsp. red pepper flakes

½ cup Parmesan or Pecorino cheese, grated, divided

Use a wooden spoon to beat cream cheese and goat cheese together until well combined (this may be the hardest part of the recipe!). Add garlic, seasoning, salt, red pepper flakes, and ¼ cup Parmesan or Pecorino.

Scrape into a baking dish (approximately one quart size). At this point, you can cover the dip with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to two days.

Preheat oven to 400^o and while oven heats sprinkle remaining Parmesan over top of dip. Bake until lightly brown and bubbly (15 minutes). Let it cool a bit—when it first comes out of the oven, it is mouth-burning hot. Serve warm with crudites, crackers, or baguette slices. Refrigerate leftovers.

Warning! I had this twice as an appetizer, and it is so addictive that both times I ate way too much and couldn’t finish my dinner. And I wasn’t the only one guilty of that.

Salmon en croute (amounts need not be precise--go with whatever works)

One sheet puff pastry

Goat cheese spread, about half a cup

½ 6 oz. can salmon, broken into small chunks

Spinach, either fresh or canned, equivalent of a half can

1 Tbsp. melted butter

Defrost one puff pastry sheet and lay flat on floured work surface. In center of sheet, form a circle of goat cheese spread. Top with drained chunks of salmon. I know gourmands will want fresh salmon, but I was using what I had, and I have high quality canned salmon that I order by the case from a fishermen’s coop in Alaska. Top that with spinach—I happen to love canned spinach (a hangover from my childhood), so I used a half can, well drained. I know some will want to use fresh, and that’s fine, though I think you should sauté it first and add cooked spinach to your salmon. Otherwise, the amount of raw spinach you could fit into the pastry wrap would cook down to nothing. Aim for between a half and a full cup. You just have to see what amounts work for the dish you are building. Sprinkle the spinach with salt.

Fold corners of pastry up over the top of the ingredients, making it look as neat as possible (not the kind of cooking thing I am good at). Brush all over with melted butter. Bake in pre-heated 400^o oven for 15 minutes or until crust is evenly browned. Let cool before cutting.

Serves two generously, four as an appetizer. Since I was only feeding myself, I had leftovers and they were as good if not better the next day. But you must heat and crisp in a toaster oven.

Cut to show the layers

This is an experiment I’ll repeat. Confession: I was more than a bit proud of my accomplishment.

Bon Appetit!