Using
smoked foods, including
smoked salmon, is an elegant alternative to old standards for entertaining, or even every day meals. It has a unique taste and the flavors of natural wood smoke, seasonings, and brines. The quality, texture, and taste of salmon lend themselves to outstanding quality and versatility in recipes. Smoked salmon can be used for appetizers or main courses for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
Smoked salmon is commonly seen on breakfast or weekend brunch menus as a delicious option. Classic Nova style sliced smoked salmon is delectable on its own or paired with bagels, cream cheese, capers, and onions. It also works well for delightful brunch recipes such as the following frittata:
Smoked Salmon, Leek, and Dill Frittata
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 medium leek (white and pale green parts only), thinly sliced
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
- 1 ounce cream cheese, cut into pea-size pieces
- 2 ounces thinly sliced smoked salmon or lox, cut into thin strips
Preparation
Preheat broiler. Melt butter in medium, nonstick, ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add leek; cover and cook until tender, about 4 minutes. Whisk eggs and dill in medium bowl to blend; stir in cream cheese. Pour eggs over leek; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and cook until edges are set but center is still runny, about 4 minutes. Scatter salmon over frittata. Broil until frittata is puffed and golden, about 1 minute. Cut frittata into 4 wedges. Place 2 wedges on each plate and serve.
Smoked salmon is also frequently seen as a wonderful appetizer or hors d’oeuvre, and again, it stands alone beautifully, but can also be enjoyed in many recipes. An elegant smoke salmon recipe to serve for entertaining special guests could be the Caviar and Salmon Blini Tortes, which are sure to impress.
Caviar and Salmon Blini Tortes
For Egg Salad
- 1 hard-boiled egg, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped chives
For Blini
- 2 tablespoons buckwheat flour
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 1 large egg, separated
- 1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled, divided
For Filling
- 1/4 lb thinly sliced smoked salmon at room temperature
- 2 oz trout caviar, such as rainbow- trout caviar, or salmon roe
- Garnish: sour cream; chopped chives
Preparation
Make egg salad:
Stir together all ingredients and a pinch of salt.
Make blini:
Whisk together dry ingredients in a bowl. Add milk and yolk and whisk until smooth. Beat egg white with a clean whisk in another bowl until it just holds soft peaks. Fold into batter along with 2 tablespoons melted butter. Brush a 12-inch nonstick skillet with some of remaining melted butter, then heat over medium heat until hot. Working in batches of 6 or 7, drop 1 level tablespoon batter per pancake into skillet and cook until bubbles appear on surface and undersides are golden, 45 seconds to 1 minute. Flip over and cook 1 minute more. Brush blini on both sides with some of remaining melted butter, then transfer to a plate and keep warm, covered with foil. Brush skillet with butter between batches.
Fill tortes:
Drape smoked salmon on 6 blini and top with egg salad. Spoon caviar onto 6 more blini, then stack on egg-salad-topped blini and serve.
Using smoked salmon recipes for a main course makes a statement with the distinctive taste that sets it apart from the ordinary. North Atlantic salmon is available as well as wild Alaskan Sockeye salmon. Both can be prepared hot or cold smoked with unique spice blends for their characteristic flavor. The following main dish pasta recipe uses the smoked salmon combined with crème fraiche and herbs to complement the flavor.
Smoked Salmon Pasta Verde
- 1 1/2 cups dry white wine
- 3/4 cup crème fraîche or sour cream
- 12 ounces dried fettuccine
- 8 ounces small sugar snap peas (about 2 cups), strings removed, or thawed frozen shelled edamame
- 1 cup thinly sliced green onions (about 5)
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
- 4 ounces smoked salmon, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch strips
Preparation
Boil wine in medium saucepan until reduced to 3/4 cup, about 8 minutes. Remove wine from heat and whisk in crème fraîche.
Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until almost tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Add sugar snap peas or edamame to same pot and cook until peas are crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Drain pasta and peas, and then return to pot.
Pour crème fraîche mixture over pasta and peas. Add green onions, parsley, and thyme; toss to coat. Add salmon; toss again. Season pasta with salt and pepper. Divide pasta among plates and serve.
Sugartown Smoked Specialties, Inc. offers smoked salmon, and has an expertise smokehouse staff who pays particular attention to detail in preparing their smoked foods. The result is exceptional tasting smoked seafood, fowl, pork, and other specialties offered by Smokedfoods.com. Products are available on line, and at their retail location in Chester County, Pennsylvania.
Bio: Grace Enderlein is a freelance writer and editor. “Smoked Salmon Recipes” notes the versatility of smoked salmon used in recipes. Smokedfoods.com offers finely prepared smoked foods. For more smoked food recipes visit our site Smokedfoods.com.
