Tag: salmon

Smoked Salmon and Egg Salad

26 December 2024

The joy of preparing food together, the joy of eating tasty and simple food, the joy of sharing. It’s one of the themes of Together: Our Community Kitchen, our suggestion for this year’s Christmas cookery book. It was written by a group of residents, gathering in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire in London. They began cooking food for their families, friends and neighbours. Food that helped restore hope and provided a sense of home.

The recipe for this tasty salad is simple, quick and fun to make. It is rich, with warm flavours, a bold structure and of course lots of salmon. The egg yolks are set, but only just, adding to the great mouthfeel. Take some crusted bread, put the salad on top of it, perhaps a bit extra?, and enjoy!

Wine Pairing

A glass of dry sparkling wine will be great. A glass of Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay will also fine, as long as the wine is acidic enough to balance the fat from the fish and the egg. We enjoyed a glass of Sicilian white wine made by Baglio di Grìsi with the local grillo-grape. This full-bodied wine has the right level of acidity and minerality. Excellent with the salmon and the egg.

What you need
  • 2 Organic (or Demeter) Eggs
  • 100 grams organic Smoked Salmon
  • Chives
  • Mayonnaise
  • Crème Fraîche
  • Mustard
  • Lemon
  • Black pepper
What You Do

Boil the eggs until slightly set. Peel and let cool. Coarsely slice the salmon. Same with the eggs. Chop the chives. Combine one tablespoon of mayonnaise, 2 teaspoons of crème fraîche, 1 teaspoon of mustard, chives, a few drops of lemon and black pepper. Add the salmon and combine. Add the egg and gently combine. Now it’s a matter of tasting. Perhaps you want to add more mayonnaise, crème fraîche or lemon. Let cool and serve with crusted bread.

We wish you a wonderful 2025 with lots of culinary adventures!
Mr. Cook and Mr. Drink

Smoked Salmon and Egg Salad ©cadwu
Together: Our Community Cookbook

Asparagus Soup (Traditional)

8 June 2023

Preparing Asparagus soup starts by using the skin and woody ends of the asparagus with leek or shallot to make a stock. Since the stock is fairly bland and watery, you need to add additional flavour (the tips of the asparagus, cream, salmon and dill) and improve the consistency of the final result. The traditional way of doing this is by making a roux. You will get a nice, thickened soup with a velvety mouthfeel. It’s still a bit one dimensional so if you want a more complex soup, we suggest replacing the water by chicken or vegetable stock.

Another way of improving the consistency and enhancing the flavour is by adding asparagus to the soup and blending the result. In this post we will prepare the traditional version.

What You Need

  • The skin and woody ends of lots of White Asparagus
  • Shallot
  • Butter
  • Water (Chicken or Vegetable Stock preferred)
  • Five White Asparagus
  • 30 grams of All Purpose Flour
  • 30 grams of Butter
  • Cream
  • White Pepper
  • Pinch of Salt

What You Do

Peel and slice the shallot. Peel the five asparagus and cut of the woody ends. Add butter to a pan, glaze the shallot. Now add the skin and woody ends of the asparagus, coat with the shallot and butter mixture and add cold water. Allow to simmer for 30 – 45 minutes. If you cook the stock too long, then it will become bitter. Pass the liquid through a sieve. Squeeze to capture all the lovely asparagus juices. With the stock ready it’s time to make the (white) roux. Warm the butter in the pan, add the flour and stir. Keep on medium heat until you just begin to smell cookies. Now start adding the warm liquid, slowly at first, keep stirring and adding until you have used all the liquid. Taste, add some white pepper and a pinch of salt. Keep on low heat. Slice the five asparagus, add the slices to the soup and keep the tips. Stir every 5 minutes. After 20 minutes add some cream, slice the five tips lengthwise and add these to the soup. 5 more minutes and the soup is ready.

Asparagus Soup (Traditional) ©cadwu
Asparagus Soup (Traditional) ©cadwu

Choucroute de la Mer with Riesling

6 November 2019

The traditional Choucroute Garnie or d’Alsa­ce comes with various sausages, smoked pork belly, confit de canard, steamed potatoes and Dijon mustard. Combine it with a glass of Riesling and you will have a great dinner. Perhaps a bit heavy on the stomach, but the sauerkraut itself will make things lighter.
A very interesting variation is called Choucroute de la Mer. We have fond memories of restaurant Bofinger in Paris. They serve an excellent Choucroute de la Mer with haddock, salmon, sea bass, king prawns, boiled potatoes and horseradish butter. The haddock is actually smoked haddock, which works really well with the choucroute. The sharp horseradish is an excellent alternative for the Dijon mustard. When in Paris, go to Bofinger and order Choucroute de la Mer!

For some reason it’s hard to find smoked haddock where we live, so we tried smoked herring (kippers). Worked very well. And because we wanted to give the fish a deeper, fermented flavour (after all, the choucroute is fermented white cabbage) we marinated the fish in miso before frying it. Excellent result, deep and intense flavours and not to heavy on your stomach.

Wine Pairing

We very much enjoyed a glass of Riesling with our Choucroute de la Mer. We decided to buy a bottle of 2017 Riesling Kalkmergel, produced by Weingut Rings. It’s a classic, organic Riesling from the Pfalz in Germany. It is juicy and fresh with balanced acidity. Great combination with the sauerkraut, the fish and the umami from the miso.

What You Need
  • For the Marinated Fish
    • Salmon
    • Haddock
    • Miso
  • For the Choucroute
    • One Shallot
    • 500 grams of Sauerkraut
    • 10 – 20 Juniper Berries
    • Dry White Wine
    • Olive Oil
    • Bay Leaf
    • Butter
  • For the Horseradish Butter
    • Horseradish
    • Soft Butter
  • For the Mash
    • Parsnip
    • Jerusalem Artichoke
    • Parsley Root
    • Or a combination of these
    • White Pepper
    • Crème Fraiche
    • Olive Oil
  • 4 Large Shrimps
  • Kippers
What You Do

This recipe requires a bit of planning!
The fish needs to be marinated for five days. Use a shallow bowl, cover the bottom with miso and place the fish on top of it. Now cover the fish with miso, making sure it’s completely coated. It requires a bit of patience. Cover the bowl with foil and transfer to the refrigerator for 5 days. Check every day and if necessary add some miso. We use miso with less salt (and more flavours). After five days the salmon will have a deep red colour and the white haddock will be also have an beautiful red/brown colour. The miso marinate will also change the structure of the fish, so carefully monitor when frying. We have the best results with thinner pieces of fish.
Four days later (so one day before your want to serve the choucroute de la mer): taste the sauerkraut. If too much acidity, then squeeze and remove some of the liquid. Cut and slice a shallot. Crush the juniper berries (feel free to add a few more, we just love them). Now combine the sauerkraut with the shallot and the berries. Mix. Add white wine, a generous splash of olive oil and a bay leaf. Coat a heavy (iron) oven dish with butter and add the mix. Put aluminium foil on top of it, making sure you press it on the sauerkraut (as if it’s a cartouche). Leave for 4-6 hours in the oven on 80° Celsius or 175° Fahrenheit. Cool and store in the refrigirator for the next day.
Warm the dish in the oven (same temperature, let’s say one hour) and in parallel make the mash. Finish with some crème fraiche, a dash of excellent olive oil and white pepper. Keep warm.
Combine the soft butter with the grated horseradish. Taste and adjust. Set aside.
Clean the prawns without removing the head
Make sure you have three nice, warm pans. One heavy iron skillet for the prawns, two non-sticky ones for the salmon and the haddock.
Wash and dry the salmon and the haddock. Decide on the order of frying. We started with the salmon. We like to have a bit of caramelisation on the salmon.
In parallel (planning!) remove the skin from the kippers. Transfer to the the oven and grill two minutes on the former skin side. Turn, drizzle with some olive oil and grill for another three minutes.
Make sure salmon, haddock, shrimps and kippers are ready to be served at the same time.
Serve the sauerkraut on a warm plate and decorate with salmon, kippers, haddock and shrimps. Add the mash. And don’t forget the horseradish butter!

Choucroute de la Mer © cadwu
Choucroute de la Mer © cadwu

White Asparagus with Scrambled Eggs and Shrimps

13 May 2019

Salmon

For some reason smoked salmon and white asparagus are seen as a match made in heaven. Some even refer to this combination as being ‘classic’ or ‘Flemish’. The combination is complemented with dill, sauce Gribiche, parsley, tarragon or even sugar.

Smoked salmon can either be hot-smoked or cold-smoked, but in both cases it must be eaten cold or at room temperature. When warmed (for instance by wrapping it around hot asparagus) you get this iffy, fatty flavour and a palate that can’t be hidden by lots of dill or tarragon. The warmth turns the fat of the salmon (especially the cold-smoked salmon) into something nasty with train oil taste. We could imagine poached salmon with warm asparagus or a salad of smoked salmon with cold white asparagus. But honestly, close your eyes, smell and taste. Match made in heaven? Really?

White asparagus and eggs, that’s a match made in heaven. For instance à la Flamande (with boiled egg, clarified butter, parsley and optional ham) or with scrambled eggs, chives and shrimps.

Shrimps?

Indeed, with small excellent shrimps, preferably freshly peeled; not used as an ingredient but as an element of flavour. The first time we had this combination we were surprised by the role of the shrimps. The salty, intense taste in balance with the very rich eggs and the sweet-bitter asparagus is a very clever idea. The chives in the scrambled eggs lift the dish to a higher level.
Unfortunately we don’t know who created it, so we offer the recipe with a caveat.

Scrambled eggs, it seems obvious and simple, but actually we are looking for a version that is more like a sauce. Gordon Ramsey’s instructive and hilarious movie shows you how to make scrambled eggs, so no need for us to explain. You need to stop a bit earlier, given it needs to have a sauce-like consistency.

Wine Pairing

We decided to drink a glass of Rivaner from the house Gales in Luxembourg. The aroma made us think of grapefruit, ripe melon and apple. The taste is elegant with a touch of sweetness, acidity and minerality. Ideal with our dish! The sweetness with the asparagus, the acidity in combination with the scrambled eggs and chives, the minerality with the shrimps. And the taste is surprisingly long lasting, which is perfect with such a rich dish.

What You Need

  • 6 White Asparagus
  • 2 Eggs
  • Butter
  • Chives
  • Crème Fraiche
  • White Pepper
  • A Few Small (unpeeled) Shrimps

What You Do

Peel the asparagus and steam for 20 minutes or so. They should have a bite. Prepare scrambled eggs à la Ramsay. Serve the asparagus with the scrambled eggs and just a few shrimps. Done!

White Asparagus, Chives, Shrimps and Eggs © cadwu
White Asparagus with Scrambled Eggs and Shrimps © cadwu