Smoked Salmon Dinner

My Dad came back from a trip to Dover in Tasmania. With him, came one side of a salmon that had been caught and smoked by a local who goes out and rounds up some of the escapees from Salmon farms. I decided to share my good fortune and have a few friends for dinner.

Salmon Crumble
frozen quiche pastry, 5eggs, 300ml double cream, 2tbs chopped fennel, 1tbs blue cheese, pepper, smoked salmon

There were a few influences here. One was last night's tart. Another, a salmon quiche I'd made when I was 17 for a Sky Show picnic. Finally, Dirt Yogo's.

I got 6 ramekins and buttered the insides. I then cut strips of pastry and then tore little bits off, loosely filling each ramkin to a third and blind baking them for 10 minutes in the oven.

Mixed five egg yolks together with the cream. The recipe in the Cordon Bleue at Home said gruyere and for some reason I did a brain shift for gorgonzola. I realised this when I went to grate it and smeared it across the grater. It still went in, as did the fennel. I broke up the salmon and put it in the ramekins and then covered it with the mix. It went in the oven at 180c for 16 minutes.

It came out well, slightly convex at the top. The flavours worked well and the gorgonzola was enhancing rather than overpowering.

Salmon and Lemon Cream Pasta
fettucine for 6, 1 lemon, 300ml cream, cup of white, some butter, pepper, salmon

Small rind graters are well worth having. A few gratings went into some butter in the pan for minute followed by a cup of wine, simmered for a while. Next was the cream and the juice of one lemon. Bubbled away until the pasta was ready. Smoked salmon dries out quickly so it was added just at the end and then mixed in with the pasta.

I made a salad too but it's late now so bed it is.