The wonders of smoked salmon—and a quick, easy tart

 

Photo by Judy

I can’t believe I was grown before I tasted smoked salmon. It’s the kind of thing my mom would have loved, though my Anglophile dad might have declined to try it. Note that I am talking here of cold-smoked salmon (lox is one version); hot smoked salmon is an entirely different thing and tastes, to me, liked regular cooked salmon with an overlay of smoky flavor. I eat it, it’s okay, but I have a passionate love for cold smoked salmon. You can almost always find a pack of it in my fridge—a fishmonger once told me that the packaged smoked salmon is fresher than what he lays out on the counter as fresh-cut. So I buy packaged—there are several good brands, including Ruby Bay, St. John’s Smokehouse, Spence & CO. Ltd. and others.

You can do so many things with smoked salmon, though I think most people tend to think of it as lox and cream cheese on a bagel with tomato and onion slices (I prefer a sandwich on good Jewish rye—bagel is too much chewy bread for me). Try a twist of smoked salmon on top of a deviled egg; make a spread of it with cream cheese and onion (I have a recipe I’d gladly share) and serve with crackers, or stuff in a tiny puff pastry shell with a dab of caviar for (optional) elegance; serve it as the centerpiece of a salad plate, with lettuce, tomato, onion—and scatter capers across it. I like just a plate of smoked salmon with crackers. Or you can try lox and eggs—dice up some salmon into your scrambled eggs. It’s extra good if you also toss in some diced tomato and green onions—just be sure the onions get cooked.

My local family won’t eat smoked salmon—I know, growing up in my household, Jordan has tasted it and doesn’t care for it. I wouldn’t be surprised if Christian has not tried it, and I could almost guarantee Jacob hasn’t, though sometimes he surprises me. So, dishes with smoked salmon are things I fix for happy hour or light supper for friends. Mary V. particularly likes it, and I have more than once served her a flour tortilla spread with crème fraiche, topped with generous smoked salmon, and that dab of caviar in the middle for elegance. (You can get a small jar of caviar for ten dollars—it’s not Beluga, but it’s acceptable).  Recently though I ran across a recipe for a smoked salmon tart and served it to Mary. She loved it—and so did I.

Ingredients (for four servings)

½ small red onion, thinly sliced, previously pickled

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed

1 cup crème fraiche or sour cream

6 oz. sliced smoked salmon

Persian cucumber slices, previously pickled

Capers as garnish

Fresh dill as garnish

Chopped tomato as garnish if you wish

Lemon for serving

Directions

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and lay the puff pastry on top—no need to roll it out first. I usually use Pepperidge Farm puff pastry, but when Trader Joe’s had theirs on sale (winter holidays only) I bought some to keep in the freezer. It’s turns out really flaky. Poke it all over with a fork to eliminate air pockets. Your pastry should turn out crisp but not puffy-mine actually was puffy and I had to poke it again after baking.

Follow baking instructions for pastry sheet and then let cool to room temperature.

Spread sour cream or crème fraiche over pastry sheet. Top with generous smoked salmon. Arrange garnish vegetables in a decorative pattern if possible and scatter with either caviar or capers.

Serve with lemon.

How to pickle red onion: slice onion into a small bowl; toss with a pinch of salt. Sprinkle with white vinegar until covered and toss again. Let sit on kitchen counter for twenty or thirty minutes. Leftovers? Refrigerate and use another time

How to pickle cucumber: mix 1 cup water with 1/3 cup white cider vinegar, a pinch of sugar, ½ tsp. salt; slice two Persian or one English cucumber and stir into vinegar mixture. Add a sliced green onion if you wish. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to use immediately; otherwise refrigerate. Keeps well and is a hand accompaniment (or ingredient) of sandwiches, etc.

A  couple of quick notes that have been on my mind:

Why are so many recipes calling for jammy (perfectly set whites but with slightly cooked or jammy yolks) eggs? If I want a hard-boiled egg, I want the yolk cooked!

Speaking of eggs: if you don’t want to try salmon in your eggs, try cottage cheese. Seriously! It gives them a rich and hearty flavor. For two eggs (one person) stir in a heaping Tbsp. of cottage cheese. My mom did that and I loved it; thanks to Jordan’s friend Amy for reminding me the other day.

And a whine: if I saw one more pink-and green-kitchen, I may scream. No, I don’t think it’s a great makeover!

And on that note, happy eating.

 

 

 

Beyond the bagel

 

not my picture
unfortunately

Let’s begin with a basic fact: lox and smoked salmon are not the same. Lox is salt cured; if it’s called Nova lox, it simply means it’s sourced from Nova Scotia. Smoked salmon can be either hot smoked or cold smoked. Hot smoked, as the name implies, is cooked usually over a smoke fire (the best I ever had was in Oregon where it was smoked over coals on a tipi-shaped frame, the way indigenous people did it for centuries). It has a firmer texture, like roast or grilled salmon, and a stronger flavor.

Before it is smoked, cold smoked salmon is either brined, as you would brine a chicken or even a pickle, or dry cured, covered with a mixture of spices, typically heavy on sugar and salt. Then the salmon is exposed to smoke, but at with much less intensity than hot smoked. Cold smoked is typically served in paper thin slices and has a delicate flavor.

Confession: My palate is not sophisticated enough to distinguish good Nova lox and cold smoked salmon, unless the latter is really oaky. But it’s cold smoked salmon I want to talk about today. Another confession: it’s a luxury I routinely keep in my refrigerator. I buy it pre-packaged at Central Market, but it is available at many groceries. You can try several labels until you settle on the one you like. I used to ask the deli staff to slice it from their big piece of salmon until one of them told me the packaged was fresher. Sometimes you’ll see packages labeled gravlax—that’s Scandinavian salmon cured in sugar, salt, and dill. You can do that at home (I’ve done it to prove a point, but it’s easier to buy it). Central Market also sometimes offers cold smoked trout, which is quite good.

So what beyond the bagel do you do with smoked salmon? I’ve got a couple of favorites for you:

Smoked salmon toasts with sweet onion

Sourdough or baguette slices

1 garlic clove, skinned and cut in half

Softened butter

Tomato—you can use a large tomato or a Roma, thinly sliced or halved cherry tomatoes, though the halves might tend to fall of the bread

Smoked salmon – at least 2 oz. per person

Slices of small, sweet onion

Olive oil

Lemon juice to taste—not too much!

Salt and pepper

Decorative greens such as watercress or basil for garnish

If you want this to be an entrée, use thick slices of artisan bread; I usually serve it as an appetizer, and I use baguette slices. I count on three baguette slices per person.

Toast the bread. While it is still warm, rub with the cut side of the garlic. Butter the bread generously (the butter acts as a barrier to keep the toast from getting soggy when you add the tomato). Add tomato slices, slices of salmon, and onion. Drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice. You may want to pepper the tomato lightly, but I’d advise against salt because the salmon is salty. Garnish and serve immediately.

Optional: sprinkle a few capers over the toasts

A variation: this is also delicious if you use sardines instead of salmon. In that case, a bit of salt is warranted.

Smoked salmon with caviar

This recipe called for making pizza dough for the base, but I’m not a pizza fan and making dough from scratch was not on my agenda. I used flour tortillas, but if you can find individual small, prepared pizzas (Boboli or some other brand), you can use that. You might also try a round of puff pastry. I served one tortilla each as an entrée to a friend who shares my taste for smoked salmon.

One large flour tortilla or small pizza circle per person

Olive oil

3 oz. crème fraiche per person

2 oz. smoked salmon per person

1 ox. Black caviar per person (cheap is fine)

           Brush the pastry (whatever you use) with olive oil and toast lightly. Let is cool a bit, then cover with crème fraiche. Top that with smoked salmon, arranged as decoratively as you can, and spoon a bit of caviar into the center. For easier consumption, you might halve the individual servings. Garnish with a bit of basil or watercress or flat leaf parsley.

I had one more recipe in mind, but that’s enough for one day. Let me know if you want more about smoked salmon. I have in mind potato salad with smoked salmon or directions for at-home gravlax (it’s not as intimidating as it sounds).

 

 

 

          

Pizza with a flair

            Say “Pizza” to me and visions of greasy hamburger and pepperoni pop into my head, and I say, “Ah, no thanks.” I overdosed on traditional pizza in high school when we stayed up too late at pizza parties and then had cold pizza for breakfast. My family still orders it by the bunch, but they kindly scramble to find a salad or something for me.

Pizza may go back to the tenth century (first recorded mention of it), but in the last twenty years or so, we’ve been deluged with so-called designer pizzas, the most popular of which is probably the margherita pizza which flies the colors of the Italian flag—red (tomato sauce), green (basil), and white (mozzarella). It’s simple, fast and good. You can buy prepared crust, make a tomato sauce by whirring together canned tomatoes, a bit of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Dot it with chunks of mozzarella and basil leaves, and you’re good to go.

We had a restaurant locally years ago that served individual pizzas, using tortillas as the crust—only in Texas! I thought it was a great idea, good for entertaining.

And I’m a pushover for anything with smoked salmon, so I put the two ideas together, cobbled some directions from a printed recipe, and came up with a showy and sophisticated smoked salmon pizza for a guest who likes showy and sophisticated. I liked the quick and easy part, though I admit this is not good if you’re on a tight budget.

Ingredients

2 flour tortillas

1 c. crème fraiche

¼ c. chopped chives, fresh (dried have no taste, and it’s easy to grow your own! No chives? lice and dice some green onion tops)

½ cup black caviar (I warned you it’s hard on the budget, but a tiny jar of cheap caviar isn’t too expensive)

Lightly grease a baking sheet (I have a small one that just fits my toaster oven). Lay tortillas flat on it. Bake tortillas in moderate oven only until they are lightly browned and crisp but not stiff.

Spread crème fraiche on surface of tortillas; sprinkle with chives; carefully separate salmon slices and lay on top. Place a spoonful of caviar in the center of each “pizza.” Garnish with remaining chives and serve with a green salad.