The Cooking Ninja

I had so much fun doing November Daring Cooks that I can't wait to know what we would be cooking for December. And I wasn't disappointed at all!

The this month's Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Simone of Junglefrog Cooking who chosed Salmon en Croute from Good Food Online. This is a delicious fillet of salmon topped with a creamy vegetable spread and baked in shortcrust pastry.

Salmon en croute

(from Good Food Online)

Ingredients

• 1 shortcrust pastry (Prepare this advance if you are using home-made)
• 500 g salmon fillet (skinless)
• 150 g mascarpone or creamcheese
• 120 g watercress, rocket & spinach
• 1 egg yolk slightly beaten with a bit of milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven at 200°C (390°F - gas mark 6).
2. Process the mascarpone or cream cheese together with the watercress, spinach and rocket in a food processor until you have a creamy vegetable puree. Season well.
3. Roll the pastry out so you can wrap the salmon in it completely (approx. 2-3 mm thick) and lay it on a buttered or oiled baking sheet.
4. Put the salmon in the middle. If it has a thinner tail end, tuck it under.
5. Spoon half of the watercress mixture onto the salmon.
6. Fold the pastry over into a neat parcel (the join will be at the top, so trim the edge neatly. Seal the join with water), making sure you don't have any thick lumps of pastry as these won't cook through properly. Trim off any excess as you need to.
7. Make 3 neat cuts in the pastry to allow steam to escape and make some decorations with the off-cuts to disguise the join if you like.
8. Brush it with milky yolk mixture.
9. Bake for 30 minutes or until the pastry is crisp and browned. To test whether the salmon is cooked, push a sharp knife through one of the cuts into the flesh, wait for 3 seconds then test it against the inside of your wrist; if it is hot, the salmon is cooked.
10. Serve it with the rest of the watercress puree as a sauce.

The Verdict

The delicious aroma of salmon and butter pastry filled my kitchen making us even hungrier (I was late in dinner preparation, as usual). The creamy sauce not only compliments the salmon very well, it also leaves, what I would describe as a refreshing aftertaste. Because of the crust, it is quite a filling dish. The sauce can be consumed cold or warm (warm it up in a microwave oven) together with the dish.

Everyone loved it and it's definitely a dish that I would make again and again for my family.

Notes

You can cook an extra set, wrap it up in aluminum foil when cooled and freeze it for later consumption. The sauce can be frozen too. And I would highly recommend to make this in individual portion, that way everyone has their own Salmon en Croute on their plate and nicer presentation.

You may replace salmon with another type of fish fillet if you wish. If you find that your crust browns too fast, cover it lightly with a baking paper or aluminum foil.

This write up is for everyone to have as a direct & quick reference on how to make a Short Crust Pastry instead of having to search throughout my blog for it.

Have Fun & Happy Baking!

Pâte Brisée (Short Crust Pastry)

• 250 g plain Flour
• 125 g chilled Butter (cut into cubes)
• 1 egg
• 5 g salt
• a bit of water (approx 5 ml or less)

Directions

Pie Crust

Using food processor

1. Place flour, salt and butter in food processor bowl. Using the pulse action, press button for 30 seconds or until mixture is fine and crumbly.
2. Add egg and water; process a further 20 seconds until mixture forms a dough.
3. Wrap the dough in a plastic wrapper and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4. Roll out a clean piece of cloth on the table; sprinkle some flour on it.
5. Flatten the dough slightly with your hands and dust the dough lightly with flour before rolling the dough out with a rolling pin. Start rolling at the centre of the dough and work outwards. Roll the dough into a circle and slightly larger than the size of your pie dish.
6. Delicately drap the pastry around the rolling pin, then gently unroll it onto the pie dish.
7. Without stretching the dough, press the pastry firmly into the pan and trim any excess dough from the edge.
8. Prick all over the pastry bottom with a fork and bake the pastry according to your recipe.
9. However if you are baking the crust before putting the fillings like crème pâtissère, put a smaller pie dish on top of it and bake it at 200°C (400°F - gas mark 6) for about 20 minutes or until it is golden brown. However if you don't have a smaller pie dish, cover the top with either baking paper weigh the pastry down with either beans or uncooked rice.
10. Remove pie crust from the oven and allow it to cool totally.

Using hands

1. Put in the flour, salt and diced up butter together in a large bowl.
2. Using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour until it is crumbly (like sand). To make sure that all butter are rubbed in and there is no big lumps left, scoop some mixture into your hands and rub it in a rubbing motion.
3. Make a small well in the middle, crack in the egg and pour in the water. Mix the dough mixture with your hands until it forms a ball of dough. The dough should hold together and comes off the bowl easily. Do not work the dough too much.
4. Wrap the ball of dough with a plastic wrapper and refrigerated it for 30 minutes.
5. Follow step 4 of above instructions.

Notes

If due to unforeseen circumstances you can't roll out your dough and bake it that day, wrap the raw short crust pasty in a cling film and put it in the refrigerator - it can stay there for 2 or 3 days. It can also be kept frozen for up to 3 months. When required, simply defrost it slowly in the refrigerator.