Baked Salmon Parcels
Happy Boxing Day! Or Happy St Stephen’s Day, depending on where you reside. I hope, dear reader, that your Christmas Day was as happy and mad as ours. The smalls didn’t get up until 8am (very satisfying, especially as Lou next door was up at 5am – no, of course I’m not smirking). Hubby and I had next door round for drinks and proceeded to get very happy (proof in itself that you can leave a turkey for an hour and a half in foil with no ill effects – it was certainly rested), ending in an unfeasibly giggly Christmas dinner that was enjoyed by all (oh, apart from the chestnuts but that’s another story). I got some lubly presents, including a beautiful heart necklace from Hubby with a pink diamond in the middle, and more cookery books than you can shake a stick at. Small Eric Clapton and Smaller Slash got the guitars of their dreams. The rest of the day passed in an ear splitting blur of riffs and jagged feedback. Bliss.
Anyhoo, digressing. To the baked salmon. There’s a great fishmonger near us (bit of a rarity these days I’d say) who’ll cut you the biggest fleshiest chunks of salmon that make perfect baked parcels. We usually wrap them in baking paper or foil, but if you’re feeling flash, you can wrap them in pastry too and they’re divine.
For the salmon:
4 large chunks of salmon fillet (boneless)
½ pack butter
1 fennel bulb
Dill
1 onion
Salt and pepper
Preheat your oven to 200/gas whatever (6?). So slice your fennel and onion very finely, melt a large knob of butter in the pan, add a pinch of salt and some ground black pepper and cook them slowly until they’re translucent (they don’t need to be done, they’ll get another 20 mins in the oven). Cut four large squares of greaseproof paper or foil, pile a spoonful of the onion/fennel mixture into the middle of each square, then plonk your salmon on top. Add a sprig of dill and an extra knob of butter, maybe a bit more seasoning, then fold up into a parcel and plonk onto a baking tray. Bake for 20 – 30 minutes (depending on the thickness of your salmon) and serve, with a flourish, still in the parcels, so your guests get treated to a lovely fenelly facial sauna as they open their parcel.
If you’re feeling flash, knock up some pastry:
9 oz plain flour
5 oz cold butter, cubed
1 egg, beaten
First, mix the flour and butter in a food processor, slowly adding the egg until it comes together (or do it the tried and tested English Mum way, which is to shove it all in then add the whole egg and hope for the best – if it’s a bit sticky add some more flour). Or to do it the old fashioned way, rub the butter in to the flour, and bring together with the egg. Squish your pastry into a flat lump and cool in the fridge for half an hour (or however long – it’ll keep in there). Then just roll out your pastry, cut into squares, then dollop your mixture in and wrap your salmon with the pastry as you would a parcel. One word of warning – if you opt for the pastry version, be less generous with the knob of butter on top or you’ll end up with a very soggy bottom (and who needs a soggy bottom eh?). After I’ve done the first wrap, I roll the edges with the rolling pin and discard any extra before bringing them to the top, which both seals them and ensures they’re not too thick. These will take about half an hour. Serve and bedazzle!
Sausage and egg pie
Seeing as, thanks to King Jamie of Oliver, I’m now a whiz with a bit of pastry, I decided to whip up dinner last night in the shape of a kind of sausage and egg pie/quiche effort. Poor B the greyhound was sent wild by the smell of sausages, her little nose twitching and wiggling as she sat in her usual ‘helping with the cooking’ spot, bang in front of the sink. No matter how many times she gets cracked on the head by the dishwasher door, as far as she’s concerned this is her spot and she’s sticking to it.
Anyway, seeing as I’ve been banging on about dogs recently, I thought I’d give you a little bakery interlude to get you busy in the kitchen. Here goes:
8 oz plain flour
5 oz butter
1 egg yolk (bung the extra white in with the others if you can’t bear to waste it)
Couple tablespoons cold water
½ tsp salt
Pack of nice sausages (not those horrid cheap supermarket ones – I think it was my Dad that used to say they’re ‘made with lips and *rseholes’ – oops sorry, I’ll put you off your dinner)
3 eggs
Splash milk
2 or 3 oz Cheese (grated) MUST be Irish. Oh okay not really but Wexford cheddar is particularly yummy
That’s it!
So..whiz the flour and butter together until it kind of looks breadcrummy, or rub it in if you don’t have the benefit of wondrous shiny stainless steel machine that I might have mentioned a couple of times before in a show-offy kind of way. Don’t worry too much. I like it when you roll it out and there’s yellow splodges of butter in the pastry. Add your egg yolk and enough water so it’s just coming together. I rolled it straight out then but I think if you put it in the fridge for a while it’s a bit easier to work with. Line your quiche tin or whatever you’re using (there’s actually enough pastry for two, or for you to put a lid on if you really want to) with the pastry, push it into the corners and cut round the edges with a blunt knife. Then stick that in the fridge while you grill your sausages. Trip over large skinny dog, slithering around your feet looking for stray sausages, then arrange your sausages in a jaunty, star shape in the pastry case (reserving one or two for salivating greyhound at your feet). Whisk up the eggs with a large splosh of milk, mix in the grated cheese, then pour it over the sausages. Bake in the oven at 180 degrees (you know I don’t do gas marks) for about 15 – 20 mins. Remember the sausages are cooked so you’re only setting the eggy mixture. And hey presto! I think this is a really good recipe once you’ve mastered the pastry. My brother’s wife, L, just one of my two particularly wondrous and lovely sisters in law, does a yummy version with cooked prawns and salmon, and adds tomato puree to the eggy mixture so it’s a fetching pink colour. Very nice. I thought afterwards that I should have fried some onions with the sausages too..yummy.
Have noticed recently that I’m getting a bit lardy. Me and the pocket rocket are going to have to start taking longer walks. Either that, or I’m going to have to stop with the experimental cookie making…
