This week, I am going to teach you how to assemble a ‘small plate’, rather than cook it, with the exception of a simple little sauce that serves to both elevate and distinguish the assembly, which as mentioned above, is an ‘upper class’ smoked salmon hors d’oeuvre
Why this? Well simply, because I was desperately bored of the traditional smoked salmon canapes, whether it be those constituted by quarter slices of the fish curled up on pieces of bread and crowned with cream cheese and roe, or chopped up into rillettes i.e. a chunky mince, and mixed with sour cream and English horseradish…
…and so here we go!
Now by combining two of these beauties, as shown in the opening image, you will have a rather elegant, and in contemporary parlance, ‘design forward’ smoked salmon starter, else just keep them separate as shown in the image below.
First and foremost, you are going to slow bake rectangles of bread in the oven at a low temperature so that they remain crisp for days, never mind hours, no matter how humid the weather may be. I have used a simple Harvest gold slice of brown bread (STEP 1) by way of demonstration, but you can use any bread you like.
Pre-heat your oven to 90c (bottom heating convection setting) – I am using my small Morphy Richards table top oven, 21in width x 14in depth x 13.5in height, for this (STEP 2). Place the oven tray on the second rung from the bottom, and prepare the bread as shown below, by slicing off the crusts (STEP 3) and then simply cutting each slice into three even rectangles (STEP 4). Then place them in the oven, (STEP 5), weigh down with a baking tray for 6 minutes (STEP 6) then remove the tray, flip the toast and cook another 6 minutes; remove and let cool. (STEP 7)
Next comes the sauce, a mustard, vinegar, olive oil and dill herb one that is synonymous with Scandinavian gravlax, and brings both a certain freshness and added flavor to the salmon, so long as it is lightly used; you can go ahead and use it for other dishes too, like pan fried fish or boiled eggs, and even grilled chicken.
Dill is not always available, and when it’s not, you can always substitute it with parsley; different, but not altogether unsuitable.
Apart from dill, which I buy from Pindi Fruit Mart, 28-A, Main Market, Defence Colony, New Delhi 110024, you will need a good quality mustard, which essentially means an imported Dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar (for the purpose of health & happiness, I suggest the organic Braggs brand that is widely available in grocery stores stocking imported goods), imported extra virgin olive oil (irrespective of brand) and honey, of which there are numerous good local brands available.
Step one is to pick the dill from the stalks and then clean it by soaking it in cold water with a bit of apple cider vinegar (STEP 1); do this twice to ensure a complete cleaning, and I suggest you follow the same procedure for all herbs and micro-greens that are used in un-cooked preparations.
Then dry the dill on kitchen towels, (STEP 2) or cloth towels reserved for such use, and finely chop (STEPS 3 & 4). You will need 2 tablespoons i.e. 30g of finely chopped dill for one recipe one of sauce.
Mustard & Dill Sauce
Yield: 5 to 6 canape’s or 3 starter portions
- 3 tablespoons (45g) Dijon Mustard
- 2 tablespoons (30g) extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoons chopped dill
Then simply measure out the rest of the ingredients, (STEP 5) whisk to amalgamate, (STEPS 6 & 7) add the dill and mix well (STEP 8). Then reserve in refrigerator until use.
Now, we are going to move on to the salmon and then the final assembly. I purchase my smoked salmon from Big Sam’s, which is an ordinary but good quality Norwegian smoked salmon; you can order it online, at www.bigsams.in, or simply download the app.
My cream cheese of choice, which is Flanders mascarpone is available easily at any neighbourhood grocery store, and the roe, in this case Lykkeberg Lumpfish caviar, which is one of the better ones (but not always available) from any one of the grocery stores at either Khan Market or INA market in New Delhi, but ideally, pick up some good quality lumpfish when you are travelling; it has a long shelf life and is resilient even after one has opened the bottle, provided you screw the lid on properly after each use and needless to say, keep it in the refrigerator.
Above: Ingredients
The first step is to open your pack of salmon, (STEP 1) remove as many slices as you need (count on 30g per toast/canape, 60g for a starter portion), lay them out on a chopping board (STEP 2) and re- slice each slice into about 1cm wide pieces. (STEPS 3 & 4)
Next, weigh the sliced salmon, then put it into a bowl, (STEP 5) and for 30g, use 15g of the reserved mustard (STEP 6) & dill dressing and mix well. (STEP 7)
Next, for a starter portion (for the canapes, it simply means separating the toasts so I will show you the starter instead), put two drops of cream cheese onto a plate and stick down two toasts onto the plate in one long rectangle, and begin curling the salmon slices on top until you have reached the end. (STEPS 8 & 9). Then take 15g more of the sauce and pour it over the length of the salmon (STEP 10); the sauce is quite thick so it coats the salmon well.
Once completed, place 4 x half-teaspoon teardrops of mascarpone (STEP 11) on the salmon at regular intervals (2 per toast and therefore 2 per canape), and then place a quarter teaspoon of lumpfish on each drop of mascarpone (STEP 12). Garnish with micro-herbs (I buy mine at Nature’s soul store,27, Ground floor, Defence Colony Main Market, New Delhi 110024) and voila, a very simple but sophisticated, smoked salmon hors d’oeuvre.
Above: Final Close Up