smoked salmon recipes

[IslandCityGirl]

Originally Posted by grampaTom

yes, that along with a bit of cream cheese has been a staple snack of ours as well. Very tasty. Maybe smoked salmon is just one of those food items that has limited uses

I sure wouldn't say that it has limited uses, grampaTom, it's just that it's so special in its unadulterated form (like great charcuterie), that you kinda hate to do anything other than really let it shine in its own purity, you know? No need to really mess with it; It's already perfect!

Hot-smoked salmon (as opposed to lox) is our favorite "lazy dinner" in my house. We're guilty of indulging almost weekly: A platter with a nice hunk of smoked salmon, a hunk of room-temp cream cheese, some homemade berry jam (blueberry, blackberry, and huckleberry are my favorites options with smoked salmon), some great crackers (though I'm happy as can be with good ol' Triscuits), and a large side of roasted veggies (asparagus or crispy brussels, usu.), sautéed green beans, or crudités of some sort. Make-as-you-go crackers, piled with cream cheese, salmon, and berry jam and some green stuff to eat on the side. So easy, delicious, and a totally satisfying, round meal.

There are about a million hors d'oeuvre-style things that you can make with smoked salmon without really messing with it: blinis, tartines, deviled eggs, etc... Pair it with lemon and capers, or horseradish and dill, fennel, berries... Lots of options!

If you tire of having in in its original glory (though that seems impossible to me! ), try:
- frittata (smoked salmon and eggs go really well together so you could also go: scramble, omelet, benedict... too)
- mousse
- potato hash
- chowder
- salad (how about nicoise, cobb, or maybe a spinach salad with smoked salmon, hard-boiled egg, thinly sliced red onion, cherry tomatoes, walnuts, capers and balsamic vinaigrette?)
- pasta (how about a lemony Alfredo sauce, some linguini, smoked salmon, and asparagus? Yum!)

Then there's lox/cold-smoked salmon with a jagillion other applications... Sounds like that's not what you're working with though, so we'll save that for another thread.

Hope that helps for a start!

[Dirt Grinder]

Originally Posted by IslandCityGirl

...Then there's lox/cold-smoked salmon...

I assumed this was what we were talking about.

[IslandCityGirl]

Originally Posted by Dirt Grinder

I assumed this was what we were talking about.

I could easily be way off, but I assumed the opposite since the OP was making pasta with it. I can't imagine using lox in pasta, or certainly wouldn't prefer/recommend it. No sense cooking something that has gone through the trouble of cold-smoking! It would undo all that work! And I'm used to hearing cold-smoked salmon referred to as "Nova" or "lox" (though lox isn't actually smoked). In the PNW, "smoked salmon" usually refers to hot-smoked salmon, and lox or nova is called lox or nova. Maybe not so outside the land of smoked salmon though... If so, my bad.

GrampaTom, sorry if I messed that up! Based on what I read, I was assuming you had hot-smoked salmon (flakier, more like a salmon steak with a cooked texture, not thin and "raw" or silky in texture). If I was wrong, then I'd say scratch the frittata, pasta, salad, hash, mousse, and chowder ideas I threw out there, but add carpaccio, salmon-wrapped asparagus, and tea sandwiches.

The other suggestions should work fine. Cold-smoked salmon, with its silky texture, is almost always going to be better if you don't "cook" it. The whole point of it is that it is cold-smoked, retaining the silky texture of the raw fish, so it's a waste of the original process to toss it in a hot pasta, quiche, soup, etc. It should still work great in all kinds of hors d'oeuvres applications, with the same flavor profiles I mentioned, and in some salads (just be mindful of the texture there) though!

[Dirt Grinder]

Originally Posted by IslandCityGirl

I could easily be way off, but I assumed the opposite since the OP was making pasta with it...

You're probably right. I only ever purchase nova/lox, so I didn't even consider the fully-cooked type. I only like salmon raw or cold smoked.

[IslandCityGirl]

Originally Posted by Dirt Grinder

You're probably right. I only ever purchase nova/lox, so I didn't even consider the fully-cooked type. I only like salmon raw or cold smoked.

Have you tried hot-smoked salmon, DG? You and I seem to have such similar tastes in almost every way... If you haven't tried it, do. I love it and don't think that's it's anything like a standard, cooked salmon filet. Texture, flavor, everything is its own. Here's a link to a great smokehouse if you want to give it a go : Totem Smokehouse Smoked Salmon

I do love nova/lox, as well as raw/sashimi too. All good stuff!

[bg7]

I find hot smoked salmon a bit indigestible. Its ok if you flake it up a lot into small pieces. But its seems a waste of a salmon compared to lox/gravlax and the other cold cured smoked forms.


OP - if you aren't just snacking on it alone, with a squirt of lemon juice, then the bagel with crème fraiche/cream cheese, dill, red onion and capers is great. if you find you have bits and pieces left over then scramble some eggs soft with a pinch of chopped up chives or dill then sprinkle in the smoked salmon at the last second just before serving with some buttered wholegrain toast, a small juice, some good coffee and a decent Sunday paper.

[IslandCityGirl]

Originally Posted by bg7

I find hot smoked salmon a bit indigestible. Its ok if you flake it up a lot into small pieces. But its seems a waste of a salmon compared to lox/gravlax and the other cold cured smoked forms.


OP - if you aren't just snacking on it alone, with a squirt of lemon juice, then the bagel with crème fraiche/cream cheese, dill, red onion and capers is great. if you find you have bits and pieces left over then scramble some eggs soft with a pinch of chopped up chives or dill then sprinkle in the smoked salmon at the last second just before serving with some buttered wholegrain toast, a small juice, some good coffee and a decent Sunday paper.

How else would you eat it, bg7? It's like fine charcuterie; Of COURSE you want thin, little bits (just like prosciutto, Serrano, Soppressata... THIN, small slices. The flavor is intense, as is the salt and fat (in a good way). A little bit goes a long way!). You don't eat it in hunks like a steak?! Yikes.

Your description of a Sunday brunch is absolutely lovely: meal, newspaper, and all.

[bg7]

Originally Posted by IslandCityGirl

How else would you eat it, bg7? It's like fine charcuterie; Of COURSE you want thin, little bits (just like prosciutto, Serrano, Soppressata... THIN, small slices. The flavor is intense, as is the salt and fat (in a good way). A little bit goes a long way!). You don't eat it in hunks like a steak?! Yikes.

Your description of a Sunday brunch is absolutely lovely: meal, newspaper, and all.

I mean very small flakes. Its rather dry compared to cold-smoked.
Perhaps in some kedgeree it might work - but I don't find it a "refined" item like lox or prosciutto.

[eureka1]

Not that I want to discourage anyone from culinary adventuring but if you're in a hurry, COSTCO is selling a salmon spread and dip by La Terra Fina that is just excellent. Had some for breakfast.

[GeoffD]

Here was hors d'oeuvres on New Years Eve. BC sockeye on pecan/fruit Raincoast Crisps with cream cheese and capers. I also had "Indian Candy" on the table. Smoked salmon chunks cured with maple syrup.

I like smoked salmon tossed in with egg noodles. Either a garlic/olive oil/caper sauce or Alfredo if I'm preparing for my angioplasty. Toss in other things like chopped snow peas. Maybe a bit of aged ham.