Salmon with Lemon & Cucumber

Ingredients

• 4 x 200g/7oz Salmon steaks

• 50g/2oz butter

• 1 cucumber

• 1 lemon

• ½ white sauce

• salt & pepper

Method

First prepare the cucumber by cutting it in half and scooping out the seeds. Slice finely into half moons and place inside a colander. Sprinkle with salt and leave for about half an hour. Rinse under cold water and dry with some kitchen towel. Grease a deep frying pan/skillet with butter, wash but don’t dry the salmon and place in the pan. The salmon should fit snugly inside so that the salmon stays moist
Season with salt & pepper and sprinkle over a dessertspoon of lemon juice.
Place a piece of buttered paper over the top and cover with a tight fitting lid.

Cook over a gentle heat for about 10 minutes or until the salmon flakes easily when prodded with a fork.
To the white sauce add the beaten yolk of an egg and stir over a gentle heat - do not let it boil.
Stir in the juices from the pan and a dessertspoon of lemon juice drop by drop. Serve at once garnished with the cucumber.

serves 4

Salmon Fillets with Champagne Sauce

Salmon fillets with a Champagne sauce make the perfect dinner party recipe or recipe for that intimate dinner for two. Use 1 glass of champagne for the recipe and drink the rest - the perfect solution!

Ingredients

• 14oz/400g Salmon Fillet, deboned

• 1 tabsp vegetable oil

• Salt

Sauce

• ½ pint/300ml good fish stock (you can buy decent fish stock from the deli or a good supermarket)

• 2floz/60ml Champagne + 1 tabsp extra

• 2floz/60ml double cream

• pinch caster sugar

• ½oz/15g unsalted butter

• 1 dsrtsp finely chopped chives

Method

First make the sauce.

Place the stock, half the cream, butter, sugar, champagne in a pan and add a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil and boil until reduced by half, put to one side.

Slice the salmon into 6 slices about ¼”/5mm thick, using a large knife at about 45° angle, down towards the skin.
Brush each slice with oil, season lightly with salt and place on a lightly oiled baking sheet.

Pre-heat the grill to high.

Whisk the remaining cream with the reserved dessert spoon of champagne until you reach the soft peak stage. Add to the sauce with 1 teaspoon of chopped chives and set to one side.

To Finish the Salmon Fillets

Grill the salmon fillets for about 1 minute on each side and divide between 2 warm plates. Bring the sauce back to boiling, add the remaining chives and whilst the sauce is still foaming, pour around the salmon fillets.

This salmon dish is best served simply with boiled new potatoes, a crisp green salad and, of course, a glass or two of chilled champagne.

Serves 2

Recipe: Salmon Filet with Avocado Sauce

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. salmon fillets, cut into serving size pieces

• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, chopped

• 1 orange bell pepper, seeded and chopped

• 1 avocado, finely chopped

• 1/4 cup oil and vinegar Italian salad dressing

• salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Preheat oven to broil, or prepare and preheat grill.

In medium bowl, combine vegetables and salad dressing; toss to coat and set aside.

Place salmon, skin side down, on broiler pan or on foil 4-6" from heat source. Broil or grill for 10 minutes per inch of thickness, until salmon flakes easily when tested with fork.

Serve salmon with avocado sauce. 6 servings

Ginger Salmon Recipe

Sauce

4 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp dry white wine
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp Tabasco sauce
1/3 cup minced onion Salt
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Lime or lemon wedges for garnish


Fish

4 6-8-ounce salmon fillets

Marinade

2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sake or sherry
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1 tsp Tabasco sauce
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp dry white wine
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp minced fresh ginger
1/2 tsp sugar
2 garlic cloves minced

Grilling Note

To grill the salmon, prepare a hot charcoal fire or preheat a gas grill. Place the fish on a sheet of aluminum foil that is about 2 inches larger on all sides then the salmon. (The aluminum foil should not cover the entire grill; the smoke should be able to come up and around it. Susan Loomis's original recipe used a 2-to-3 pound salmon fillet in one piece. You can do it that way, or place 4 individual portions on the foil.) Place the foil on the grill. Pour any marinade left in the dish over the salmon. Cover the grill, leaving the vents open. Cook for 5 minutes. Uncover the grill and pour 1/4 cup of the sauce over the salmon. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Repeat the process, using the remaining sauce. Cook for 2 minutes longer, or until salmon is just cooked through.

Serves 4

Rinse the salmon fillets and pat dry. Remove as many bones as possible. Cut 2 or 3 shallow slashes in each skin side, without cutting all the way through. Make the marinade: Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Place the salmon, flesh side down, in a shallow no aluminum dish.

Pour in the marinade, cover with plastic top wrap, and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours, turning the salmon over once or twice. Preheat the broiler, with a rack about 5 inches from the heat. Make the sauce: Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the brown sugar. Add all of the remaining sauce ingredients and cool until well mixed. Place the salmon in an ovenproof skillet; stir a tablespoon or two of water into the marinade and pour it around the fish.

Place the skillet on a stovetop burner over medium heat. Cover the pan and bring to a simmer. Lower the heat and simmer gently for 2 minutes. Spoon the sauce mixture over the salmon; cover and simmer for 2 minutes longer. Now uncover the pan and place it directly under the broiler. Broil for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the fish is glazed and just firm when touched gently with a fingertip. With a spatula, transfer the salmon fillets to warm serving plates. Pour a little of the pan juices over and around the fish and serve hot. Garnish with lime or lemon wedges.

Salmon Recipe - Luxury Fish Pie

Ingredients

• 12oz/350g Fresh Salmon fillet, skinned

• 4 fillets smoked mackerel, skinned and flaked

• 4oz/125g prawns

• 4oz/125g peas

• 4oz/125g button mushrooms, halved

• 2 hard boiled eggs, quartered

• 12oz/350g packet bought puff pastry

• 1 onion, finely chopped

• ¾ pint/450ml milk

• 1oz/25g butter

• 2 tabsp/50g plain flour

• 2 tabsp/30ml dry sherry (optional)

• ¼ pint/150ml double cream

• salt & pepper

• 1 bay leaf

• 2 tabsp chopped flat leaf parsley

• 1 beaten egg to glaze

• 1.4 litre/2½ pint pie dish

Method

Heat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4.

Put the salmon in an ovenproof dish with the milk, bay leaf and onion, cover with foil. Poach in the oven for 20 minutes. Alternatively replace the foil with cling film, pierce and microwave for 3 - 4 minutes or until the salmon turns pale pink.
Take the salmon out of the milk and flake into large pieces. Keep the milk.

Melt the butter in a saucepan and fry the mushrooms, add the flour and cook for 1 minute. Gradually add the flavoured milk, stirring all the time. Bring to a boil, turn the heat down and simmer for 2 minutes. Take off the heat and add the peas, prawns, cream, parsley and sherry. Stir gently, add the salmon and hard boiled eggs and season to taste.

Roll out the pastry. When it’s 2”/5cm wider than the pie dish, cut a 1”/2.5cm pastry strip and fix it to the dampened rim of the pie dish. Brush this strip with water and cover with the puff pastry lid. Seal the edges by pressing the tines of a fork all around the rim. Decorate by using the pastry trimmings to make fish shapes or long strips of pastry twisted across the top of the pastry lid. Glaze with the beaten egg, cut a couple of holes in the top to let the steam out and cook for 30 - 40 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.

Serves 6

Serve the salmon recipe with some French green beans or broccoli.

Salmon Tartar

Ingredients

• 3 slices good quality smoked salmon, chopped

• Juice & rind of ½ lemon

• 1 tabsp Greek yoghurt

• ½ tabsp fresh dill - chopped

• Salt & Pepper

• Tabasco or other hot chilli sauce

• Some fresh dill sprigs to garnish

• 2“/5cm ring mould

Method

In a bowl mix the salmon, lemon juice & rind, chopped dill and yoghurt. Add a dash of Tabasco sauce and season with salt & pepper to taste.

If you’re making the salmon tartar mixture the day before you intend to eat it, cover the bowl with cling film and leave in the fridge until ready to serve.

To Serve

Place the ring mould on a serving plate and spoon in half of the salmon mixture, press down firmly, then carefully remove the ring mould. Repeat with the remaining mixture.

Garnish the salmon tartar with the reserved dill sprigs and serve immediately accompanied by a green salad.

Serves 2

Smoked Salmon Quiche Recipe with Spring Onions

Ingredients

• 6oz/175g plain flour

• 3oz/75g butter

• 1 tbsp/15g Parmesan cheese

• 2-3tbsp/30-45ml water

• ½oz/10g butter

• 4oz/110g smoked salmon slices

• 4 spring onions/scallions

• 3 eggs

• 5 fl oz/150ml milk

• 4 oz /110g/cheddar cheese

• Salt and pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F
Aga Roasting oven If using a Rayburn have dial just over bake/roast setting.

To make the pastry, put flour, butter and Parmesan into a processor and whizz until the texture of breadcrumbs. With motor running, add the water a spoonful(10ml) at a time until it comes together as a dough.
Roll out pastry and line a 9"/23cm flan dish. Chill until required.
For the filling, roughly chop the salmon and put it into the pastry case.
Trim and slice the spring onions and scatter over the salmon.
Grate the cheddar cheese into a bowl. Add the eggs and milk with a little salt and pepper, and beat together.

Pour into the prepared flan case and put onto the floor of the roasting oven (top oven Rayburn) for about 25mins until set and golden. Or middle shelf of normal oven.
Serve the smoked salmon quiche simply with a mixed green salad and nice chilled glass of white or rose wine.

serves 4 - 6

Smoked Salmon

Smoking is one of the oldest ways to preserve fish, meat and poultry and smoked salmon is one of the best known and best loved ways to eat Salmon. It was used before the advent of refrigeration to prolong the life of fresh foodstuffs.

Salmon can either be Hot smoked or Cold smoked.

Hot Smoking also known as BBQ or kippered actually cooks the fish and the end product can be used as you would with any other cooked fish. It’s best cut into chunks or flakes. It can then be used in receipes* such as pasta, salads and pies, to name but a few. (one of my favourites is smoked salmon & asparagus frittata)

Cold Smoking also known as Lox/Lax/Scottish/Nova Scotia/Scandinavian and of course the best known of all, Gravad Lax(Gravlax), (which is not actually smoked at all but left to marinate for anything up to 1 week) is a much longer process, often taking days to achieve the desired result. The Salmon is not really “cooked” but moisture is drawn out and flavour added during smoking using different types of wood and herbs. This results in the end productloved by people the world over. Best sliced as thinly as possible,it's fabulous with cream cheese and Bagels (as in the New York Lox & Bagel fame) and on blinis with sour cream and caviar.

The salmon of today is cured using a much lighter process than in the old days and although it will keep longer than fresh fish, do put it in the refrigerator and use it within 2 days of opening.

Smoke Houses sell their products in a variety of forms, from frozen to vacuum packed and in cans. There is also a relatively new way to store the smoked fish which is in a vacuum packed foil pouch. This pouch can be kept for up to 7 years without refrigeration - so it’s perfect if you fancy smoked salmon & champagne half way up a mountain!