Salmon and Kiwi Verrine

A fresh starter for summer meals

Serves four:
4 smoked salmon slices
2-3 kiwi fruit
1-2 avocado

For the sauce:
4 tbsp creme fraiche
2 tbsp mayonaise
fresh or frozen dill
salt and pepper to taste

lime juice

Cut the salmon in small pieces. Dice the kiwi fruit.

Divide the kiwi fruit at the bottom of the verrines, add the salmon and chill for at least 30 minutes.

Mix the ingredients for the sauce and chill too.

Just before serving, dice the avocado, sprinkle with lime and place over the salmon.

Serve the sauce separately.

Lentil and Smoked Trout Salad

An easy and lovely salad – very suitable for a summer evening.

Ingredients for two:

120 gr green or Le Puy lentils
1 shallot
100-120 gr smoked trout, cut into small pieces

1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbsp strawberry vinegar
1 tsp mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the lentils with the chopped shallot according to package instructions – usually 20-25 minutes.

Meanwhile mix the olive oil, vinegar and mustard in a salad bowl.

Drain the cooked lentils and allow to cool a little. Add them to the bowl and mix. Add the trout and mix again. Season to taste and chill for at least an hour.

The warm lentils and vinegar will ‘cook’ the trout so that it will turn pink.

Ginger-Glazed Halibut

Ingredients for 400g of fish:
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
salt (optional if the soy sauce is already quite salty) and pepper

Mix the honey, soy sauce, vinegar, ginger and garlic and add 1 tbsp of cilantro. Lay the fish in a dish and cover with the marinade. Season with salt and pepper. Turn over the fish after 20 minutes and leave aside for another 20 minutes.

Carefully lift up the fish and cook in a frying pan with a little olive oil until it is no longer translucent. Set aside the fish and keep warm. Warm up the pan again and pour the marinade into the pan and cook for about 4-5 minutes, or until the marinade has reduced.

Pour over the fish, add the remaining cilantro and serve immediately.

Fish Stew with Couscous

1 onion
2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp ras el hanout
2 small to medium courgettes, thinly sliced
15oz / 425g tin of chickpeas, drained
400g white fish
cilantro

Sauté the onion in olive oil. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Stir in the spices. Add the sliced courgettes and sauté until they begin to cook. Add the chickpeas and barely cover with water or vegetable broth.

Simmer until the courgettes are almost tender, about 15 minutes. Add the fish and season to taste. Simmer until the fish is just done. Add fresh cilantro and serve with fine or medium grain couscous.

Salmon Balsamico

This is a simple and tasty recipe that includes two of my favourite ingredients, namely salmon and tomatoes. It is a dish I make regularly and which comes from Norene Gilletz’s Healthy Helpings – the only thing I have altered is the cooking time. I serve it with fried rice and vegetables.

Serves four people

4 salmon fillets
salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 Roma tomatoes, cubed
1-2 tablespoons chopped frozen or fresh basil

Arrange the fish in a single layer in an oiled baking dish – I use olive oil. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Combine the vinegar with the brown sugar, garlic, tomatoes, and basil; pour over the fish. Marinate for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 450 F° / 220 C°.

Bake uncovered for at least 15 minutes – because of the tomatoes on top, the fish won’t go dry. Serves 4.

Baked Salmon

Serves four people

150 gr salmon fillet per person
1 leek
1 organic lime
fresh tarragon
olive oil
salt and pepper

tarragon sauce:
1.5 dl organic yoghurt
1 dl creme fraiche
1/4 cup minced tarragon
1 tbsp lime
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
salt and pepper

Slice leek lengthwise and cut in halves. Thinly slice lime. Line a baking dish with parchment paper. Place the salmon on the paper and drizzle with olive oil. Lay leek, tarragon sprigs and lime slices on the fish. Season with salt and pepper.

Bake the salmon for about 30 minutes at 200°C.

Mix all the ingredients for the cream sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Serve in a bowl with the baked fish.

Serve with steamed potatoes or/and French beans.

Adapted from a Danish recipe found in Trine Hahnemann’s Køkken Morgen – Middag – Aften

Swedish Fish Soup

A couple of weeks ago when I was in Sweden we went to a fish restaurant where my colleagues had fish soup. I ordered salmon instead as the soup had shrimps. However it looked and smelt so good that I looked at it carefully to see what it contained. This morning I read a few recipes and here is what I came up with.

1 red onion
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 carrots, grated
pinch of saffron threads
2 dl white wine
2dl fresh cream
2 dl water
freshly ground pink peppercorn and black pepper
300 gr salmon
300 gr firm white fish (cod or flounder)
sprigs of fresh dill
crème fraiche

Gently sauté the onion and the garlic. When translucent, add the grated carrots and sauté for another 5 minutes.

Add the wine, cream, water, pepper and saffron. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Finally incorporate the fish and toss in the dill.

Serve hot with a dollop of crème fraiche in each bowl.

Thai Fishcakes

Serves four people:
600g white fish (cod or pollack)
Spring onions, thinly sliced
1 tbsp Thai curry paste
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 egg
2 tbsp matzo meal
Handful chopped fresh coriander or parsley

Sauce:
Sweet chilli sauce
Juice of 1 lime

Blend the fish, spring onions, curry paste, soy sauce, egg, matzo meal and coriander in a food processor, until broken down but not totally smooth.

Using slightly wet hands, shape this mixture evenly into 12 fishcakes. Put into the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the sweet chilli sauce and lime juice.

Heat oil. When hot enough gently place cakes in oil. Allow to fry 30 seconds to 1 minute before turning, gently lifting cakes from the bottom of the pan (they may stick a little). Fry until golden-brown and drain on paper towel.

Serve fish cakes immediately with the chopped cucumber and sweet chili sauce drizzled over.

Meat and Fish Pesach Dishes – 2011/5771 Update

This is a list of recipes which I have posted since I started this blog and which are all kosher for Pesach. Beware that three of them contain kitniyot. For those wondering, soy is kitniyot but soy sauce is chametz as it contains wheat.

Meat:

– Moroccan Tagine of Chicken with Prunes

– Stuffed Tomatoes

– Chicken with Red Peppers

– My Mother’s Chicken Patties (kitniyot)

Fish:

– A Dish from Finland

– Another Salmon Recipe

– Hraymi: Spicy Fish

– Salmon and Fennel

– Halibut, Red Peppers, Onions, Potatoes and Gremolata

– Poached Salmon

– Smoked Salmon and Salad

– Salmon in Curry Sauce (kitniyot)

– Fish Yellow Curry (kitniyot)

More recipes to come – vegetable and side dishes as well as desserts

Smoked Salmon and Salad

 

This recipe is inspired by one I found in The Scandinavian Cookbook by Trina Hahnemann. The quantities for the dressing seemed a bit excessive so I made it by just adding the ingredient to my taste and checking it before serving. I did not have any salad in the fridge so I used corn salad instead and it turned out great.

ingredients:
mixed green salad leaves and 1 cucumber or corn salad
smoked salmon, 2 slices per person

crème fraîche
sugar
preserved horseradish
lime juice
salt and pepper

If using salad, tear the leaves into small pieces. Cut the cucumber in half lengthways and then ut it into thin slices. Mix with the salad leaves.

Mix the crème fraîche, sugar and horseradish together stirring gently so that the crème fraîche does not become runny. Add the lime juice and season with salt and pepper.

Toss half the dressing into the salad and put the rest into a small bowl to hand around separately. Arrange the smoked salmon on plates with the dressed salad on the side. Serve with home-baked bread or polar bread.