Spiced Salmon Coulibiac Recipes

SALMON COULIBIACS

Steps:

• Bring wine, 2 cups water, bay leaf, celery, and peppercorns to a simmer in a small, wide saucepan over medium-high. Add salmon, cover, reduce heat to low, and cook until slightly opaque but still pink on inside, about 3 minutes. Remove salmon; let cool slightly. Strain liquid through a fine-mesh sieve; reserve. Flake salmon into large pieces.
• Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a medium saute pan over medium-high. Add leek and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. Melt 4 more tablespoons butter in pan; add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until well browned, about 5 minutes. Add to leeks.
• Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter in pan. Whisk in flour, stirring constantly, until mixture is foamy and light brown, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in 1 cup reserved poaching liquid. Bring to a boil, reduce to a rapid simmer, and cook, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat; let cool. Stir into leek-mushroom mixture. Add rice, dill, and salmon. Season with salt and pepper and stir to combine.
• On a floured surface, roll each piece of puff pastry (dusting with flour as necessary) into a 12-by-16-inch rectangle, 1/8 inch thick. Cut out twelve 4-by-6-inch rectangles; transfer to 2 parchment-lined baking sheets. Use small cookie cutters to cut shapes from excess dough, if desired.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. Divide filling evenly among pastry rectangles (about 1/4 cup each), mounding in center of one short side. With a pastry brush, dampen borders with cold water. Fold tops of pastry over filling. Press edges; crimp to seal tightly with the tines of a fork. Place cutouts on top, if desired; adhere with cold water. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate until firm, 20 minutes.
• Beat together yolk and cream; brush each coulibiac with mixture. Bake, rotating halfway through, until puffed and golden brown, about 30 minutes. Serve warm, with lemon wedges and sauce.

SPICED SALMON COULIBIAC

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a frying pan and add the onion, garlic, cardamom, cinnamon, fennel, star anise, fenugreek, cloves, ginger and 1 tsp garam masala. Cook over a medium heat until the onion is a deep golden brown. Add the rice with 250ml water and the bay leaf, and season with salt. Bring to the boil, then turn down to a gentle simmer. Cover and cook for 15 mins or until the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is light and fluffy. Remove from the heat, tip into a bowl and leave to cool. Once cooled, remove the cardamom, cinnamon stick, star anise, cloves, ginger and bay leaf. Add the coriander, chilli, mango chutney and lemon juice. Check the seasoning, cover and chill until needed.
• Take the pastry out of the fridge and leave at room temperature for 10 mins. Unroll the pastry sheets, roll out to make a little wider and put each on a non-stick baking sheet. Cover with cling film and place in the fridge to re-chill for 30 mins. Season the salmon on both sides with a little salt and pepper and the rest of the garam masala, then place one piece of salmon on one piece of pastry and cover with half of the rice mixture. Top with the other piece of salmon, then brush around the pastry edges with beaten egg. Cover with the second piece of pastry, pushing down well, then roll the edges over, crimp with a fork to seal and decorate as you like. Can be made ahead and chilled for 1 day. Brush all over with beaten egg and chill for 30 mins.
• Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Bake in the oven for 10 mins, then turn the oven down to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and continue to bake for about 30 mins until the pastry is golden brown. Set aside in a warm place to rest for 10 mins. Serve with the rest of the rice mix (heated or cold) and the Raita (see goes well with).

SALMON COULIBIAC

Steps:

• First, get everything prepared. Boil a pan of salted water, add the eggs and cook for 8 mins exactly. Drain and cool under cold water, then peel and set aside.
• Heat half the butter in a non-stick frying pan and sizzle the slices of salmon for 1 min on each side (Pic 1), just to firm up the fillets but not cook them all the way through. Lift the salmon onto a plate.
• Now cook the rice. Melt the rest of the butter in the same pan. Add the onion, cumin and coriander seeds, cardamom and star anise, then gently fry for 8 mins until golden. Stir in the rice and add the bay leaf and cinnamon stick (Pic 2), then pour over the stock and season generously. Cover and bring to the boil, then lower the heat to its lowest setting and continue to cook for 10 mins. Turn off the heat and leave covered for 10 mins, then stir through the lemon zest and juice. Set aside to cool. This can be done several hrs in advance. Once cool, stir though the chopped dill.
• To assemble the pie, roll out one of the pieces of pastry to a rectangle as wide but a third longer than this magazine (23 x 40cm), then lay on a baking tray. Pack half the rice along the middle of the pastry, discarding the star anise and cinnamon as you do so, leaving a good 5cm border around the edge. Lay the salmon over the rice, then slice the eggs and lay those over the whole salmon layer (Pic 3). Top the eggs with the remaining rice and use your hands to gently pack everything down to a firm, even shape. Brush any stray grains of rice off the border, then brush the border with beaten egg,
• Roll the second piece of pastry out to a rectangle slightly larger than the first. Drape over the coulibiac and gently press the edges to seal the 2 pastry sheets together. Trim the edges to neaten and crimp with your fingers or press down with a fork. The uncooked pie can now be chilled, on the baking sheet, for a day or frozen for up to 2 months.
• To cook, heat oven to 220C/200C fan/ gas 7. Brush the pie all over with beaten egg and, if you want, lightly score the pastry with the back of a knife in a criss-cross fashion, making sure you don't cut all the way through (Pic 4). Bake for 20 mins, then reduce the heat to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and continue to cook for 20 mins until golden brown. Leave to rest for 10 mins, then serve in thick slices with a bowl of Dill cream or Herb salsa (see recipes, below).

SALMON COULIBIAC

Steps:

• For the court bouillon: Add the mushrooms, wine, bay leaves, thyme, onions and 1 quart water to a saucepan. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium-low and continue simmering about 1 hour. Strain.
• For the salmon: Place a flameproof roasting pan over medium-high heat. Add the court bouillon and bring to a simmer. Add the salmon, skin-side up. Turn heat to low and bring to a slow simmer. Cook for 5 minutes per inch, measuring the thickest part of the salmon, about 10 to 15 minutes total. The salmon should be cooked to rare (a thin knife can be inserted into the center with slight resistance); keep in mind the salmon will cook a second time later in the recipe. Remove from the poaching liquid and let cool slightly. Break the salmon up into chunks and place in a bowl. Discard the skin and set aside.
• For the mushroom duxelles: Add the shallots to a food processor and pulse to chop. Add the mushrooms and continue pulsing until a rough puree forms.
• Add the butter to a medium skillet over medium heat and cook until foaming. Add the shallot and mushroom puree and cook until the mushrooms have released their liquid, 6 to 7 minutes. Add the cream and continue cooking until incorporated. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.
• For the spinach: Add the butter to a medium skillet over medium heat until foaming, then add the onions. Saute until translucent, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the spinach and toss and saute until just wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.
• For the crepes: Whisk together the eggs, butter and heavy cream in a large bowl. Whisk in both flours until incorporated and a pourable batter forms. Let the batter rest at least 10 minutes and up to 1 hour.
• Heat a 9-inch nonstick crepe pan over medium heat, then add a thin layer of batter (about 1/2 cup). Spread around the pan to completely cover the bottom. Cook until the top is dry and the edges begin to curl up, around 1 minute. Flip and cook another minute, then remove the crepe to a sheet pan and repeat to make additional crepes, using all the batter.
• To assemble: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Line a large roasting pan or rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Lay a thawed sheet of puff pastry on the bottom. Cover the puff pastry with 3 crepes, overlapping a bit. Add half of the cooked spinach followed by half of the salmon, leaving a slight border of puff pastry and crepes around the edges. Make a furrow in the middle of the salmon running the length of the pan, then add the duxelles. Top with the remaining salmon and spinach, in even layers. Cover everything with more crepes, overlapping a bit. Top with the remaining puff pastry sheet. Crimp the edges together to seal. Whisk the egg together with a tablespoon of water in a small bowl. Brush over the top. Brush the melted butter over the egg wash. Using a sharp knife, score the top in a cross-hatch pattern to release steam as it bakes. Bake until golden brown, about 45 minutes.
• For the beurre blanc: Cook the white wine, champagne vinegar and shallots in a heavy nonreactive saucepan over medium heat to a glaze, about 10 minutes. Add the cream and bring to a simmer. Add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking until each piece is absorbed before adding the next piece. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to a bare simmer and keep warm.
• For the rice pilaf: Add the butter, onion, a good pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper to a saucepan over medium heat. Add the wild rice and cook for 5 minutes. Add 2 cups cold water and bring to boil. Cover, reduce to a simmer and cook for 25 minutes. Let cool in the pan.
• For the creme fraiche: Mix the creme fraiche and caviar together in a small bowl. Set aside.
• Slice the coulibiac into 2- to 3-inch pieces. Drizzle with the beurre blanc. Serve with the creme fraiche and rice in bowls on the side.