Friday, October 24, 2014

Salmon Cymru Supreme

Recipe Collections - Having spent many happy years in Wales both river and sea fishing, I modestly admit to legally bagging quite a few salmon, the king of all fish as far as I am concerned. The thrill of catching such beautiful fish is an experience that only fellow fishermen will understand. It's more akin to a religion than a sport.

Catching these fish is one thing but preparing them for the table is another. To prepare the "King "for the table can be very time consuming as they do tend to be large and unless they are to be consumed, in say a restaurant, then preservation methods may be the order of the day.

I have tried most of the time served methods of preserving that distinctive taste but none really captured that fresh flavour exactly.



While in Wales I was given a special recipe by a lovely old lady who is sadly deceased. As a tribute to her I am going to preserve her memory by passing the secret foods recipe to all cooks worldwide.

Having prepared this dish on many occasions, it was so popular with all my guests. The children loved it as well

Salmon Cymru Supreme

You will need two hard boiled eggs. They can be boiled for 10 minutes in a saucepan adding a teaspoon of malt vinegar to the water, this stops any white from seeping. When taken from the boiling water, plunge the eggs into ice cold water. This is to prevent the dark ring forming around the yolk (Good tip for presentation).

Next cooked boiled rice will be needed but this can be prepared in advance. You can boil your own rice, use frozen or even boil in the bag, for this recipe you can choose the method that best suits you.

You will require puff pastry. If you need tips in this direction, there are a whole library of popular books, ebooks and recipes for preparing delicious pastries. Some are available for free instant download. For our recipe frozen puff pastry will be fine and is available in most reputable supermarkets. It won't be a big financial outlay anyway. Just make sure it's defrosted when needed.

Now assemble all the foods recipes ingredients below but first

set the oven on low to preheat at 140°c 275°f or gas 1.

375 g (13oz) Puff pastry

420g (15oz) Salmon, (use preferably fresh cooked and flaked but the recipe will still work well with a good brand of tinned or frozen)

1 little onion chopped small

2 hard boiled eggs chopped

125g (5oz) cooked long grain rice

60ml (4 tablespoons) double cream

40 ml (approx 2.5 tablespoons) finely chopped parsley

25g (1oz) butter

1 handful of frozen peas

1 beaten egg

3 tablespoons of white wine

Salt and black pepper to taste

OK READY TO FLOUR "n" ROLL!!

Roll out pastry, fairly thin, onto a floured surface to a square approx. 12" x 12" (30 cm. sq). Cover with slightly oiled cling film and leave to rest, the pastry, not you! Put the fresh salmon into a large bowl. If using tinned salmon drain it thoroughly, keeping the liquid ( it makes a great addition to fish stock). Gently flake the salmon, picking out dark skin and obvious bones.

Gently melt the butter in a medium saucepan, add the onion and cook gently to soften for 4-5 minutes then add the mushrooms and heat for a further 3 minutes. Take off the heat, put the peas into a little salted boiling water for 5 minutes, drain and add to onion and mushrooms. Softly stir, spoon out when cooled and add to the salmon bowl along with the hard-boiled eggs, cooked rice, cream, wine, parsley, salt and pepper.

Gently mix all the ingredients and spoon into the centre of the pastry, brush the four edges with the beaten egg. Bring up the opposite two corners to the centre over the top of the filling and squeeze together, then the other two. Press the four 'seams' together.
Fluting as you go along (that is not a cue for a song!).

So, at this point you should have a tidy little parcel in front of you, brush all over with beaten egg, any left over pastry could be shaped into little fishes and again brushed with the egg and placed at the top four corners.

Turn up the oven to 220°c - 425°f - gas mark 7

Put your delicious salmon pastry parcel onto a non stick or grease proof paper lined flat baking tray and pop in for approx 30-40 minutes or until golden brown. Now YOU can rest!

This dish is ideal served hot or cold with sweet corn and mixed fresh salad, baby new potatoes, parsley (fresh from the garden would be ideal) and butter with a dash of fresh lemon ENJOY!!!

A tasty, colourful, delicious, mouth watering meal. You will be so proud to bring this dish to your table. A delightful note; the same welsh lady also gave me a fantastic recipe for "Bara Brith" which is also recognised as "just the job" in Patagonia!!! That recipe is for another day! Iechyd da! (Cheers in Welsh!)

The author Christopher Phillips gained considerable experience over several years running a busy popular restaurant and traveling the world. He has always had a keen interest in collecting popular foods recipes worldwide. Today this material is of course usually available for instant download. You are welcome to copy and distribute this article in it’s entirety with the usual acknowledgment to the author.

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