Smoked Salmon Parcels with Cucumber Ribbons and Melba Toast

The inspiration for this recipe was a Christmas present, the salmon being the ‘parcel’ and the cucumber strips the ‘ribbons’. Quite rich and very spoily, it made the perfect starter to our Christmas Day feast, and was terribly simple to make too, allowing for optimum present opening time. None of the flavours overpower the salmon, instead complimenting one another, and it looks suitably celebratory on the plate. With Valentine’s Day coming up there really is no excuse not to make this starter, perhaps in heart shaped moulds.

Serves 6

700g high quality smoked salmon slices 

300g creme fraiche

100g cream cheese

1 tbsp finely chopped fennel

1tsp caster sugar

2 tbsp lemon juice

fresh dill, finely chopped, plus sprigs to decorate

1 lemon, cut into quarters

olive oil, to grease the ramekins

5 slices of white bread

1 cucumber, peeled into ribbons

1. Whizz 200g smoked salmon in a food processor briefly, so that it remains bitty and hasn’t turned to mush. Add the creme fraiche, cream cheese, and whizz briefly again.
2. Put into a bowl and add the fennel, sugar, lemon juice, chopped dill (to taste), salt and pepper.
3. Grease 6 ramekins (which can hold about 100ml of water) with the oil, then line with the remaining salmon.
4. Spoon in the mixture, and then seal by turning over the edges of the salmon, and adding a further piece to ensure there are no gaps.
5. Cover with cling film and chill in the fridge overnight.
6. To serve, turn out on to plates (they should come out with a little coaxing using a knife), and surround with the cucumber ribbons. Add a dill garnish to the top, and scatter around, and add the lemon quarters. Serve with the melba toasts.

To make the melba toast, toast sliced bread in a toaster, then when it pops up immediately slice the toast again and cut off the crusts. Place in the oven, middle, non toasted side up, and leave until the toast starts to curl and brown. This will take about half an hour, but keep an eye on it!! Carefully remove, and store in an airtight container until ready to serve. 

Christmas Cake: Part Two 'Wreath Design'

So here it is, Part Two of this years Christmas Cake creation. The presents have been bought, wrapped and placed under the tree, the larder has been stocked and the first Guylian seashell of the season has been scoffed. It was time for one of my last, and most favourite Christmas traditions of the year, decorating the cake. Scan down to the next post and you will see that with the help of Dad (and Delia) I made my first Christmas cake from scratch, so spent a long time deciding on the best way to decorate it, to truly do it justice.

Past decorations have included Santa’s and Trees, Presents and Carol Singers, a classy Candle creation and a slightly less classy Christmas dinner spread. This year I opted for the traditional Christmas Wreath, and went all out buying edible powders, glitters and stars to make it dazzle.

I started by putting a layer of marzipan and icing on to the cake, before creating the holly and ivy leaves by hand, which I painted in situ on the cake.

I created sparkly paint by mixing the gel colours with golden powder, which created a beautiful metallic effect. I then added berries for the holly before rolling out strips of marzipan to create ribbons that appear wound around the wreath and a big bow to finish the whole thing off. 

I finally sprinkled some edible gold stars over the wreath, and VOILA, my Christmas Cake of 2012 was complete.

Wishing all my lovely readers an Exceedingly Happy Christmas!!

Christmas Cake: Part One

Chopped candied peel and raisins, sultanas, currants, cherries and Brandy

I write this whilst watching Home Alone, my first Christmas movie of the year. I don’t know about you but I am fully in the Christmas mood already, my christmas list is written, I’ve loved seeing the lights go up around town, and have thoroughly enjoyed bookmarking recipes in the extra special sparkly December issue of Good Food. Making the all important Christmas Cake was quite literally the icing on the cake. 

Ready to be mixed then covered and left overnight

Last weekend my grandmother celebrated her 80th Birthday, and all the family descended on Bath for the festivities. This was a brilliant excuse for my dad and I to make the Christmas Cake, the first one I’ve ever made. 

Fruit being mixed into flour, butter, egg and spices mix

We opted for Delia Smiths classic Christmas Cake recipe, and I thought I would share with you some snaps of the cake thus far. I must say the baking seemed to go without a hitch, except for the minor panic when we realised we were pretty short on large mixing bowls. 

Mixed

The recipe was easy to follow, and although I had to get the train back to Brighton before it came out of the oven, my dad assures me it looked and smelt great. 

Ready for the oven

Now its been wrapped up, except for the occasional brandy feeding, until its time to decorate. Stay tuned for Part Two, coming your way in a month or so!! 

All wrapped up for its 4 and a half hours in the oven

Ta Da!!

Milk Chocolate Truffles

Happy New Year everyone!! So I really ought to be posting something healthy, probably a salad, to welcome in the New Year, and ‘start as I mean to go on’, as they say. Instead, I’m sharing with you a recipe consisting of chocolate, cream and alcohol – its not like we’ve indulged enough over the festive period. OK, enough excuses, these little balls of chocolatey joy mark my first tryst with homemade confectionary, and I’m pleased to report that it was a great success. I actually made these truffles as a Christmas gift, presented in little Lakeland truffle cases in a box with ribbons and baubles, they were hugely simple to make and really delivered on flavour. The initial bitter darkness of the cocoa powder exterior is soon replaced by an almost caramel, smooth, milky interior – I think they’re simply delicious, and suggest you break your New Years resolutions immediately and try making them too, you won’t be disappointed.

Adapted from The Good Housekeeping Cookery Book

Makes around 24 truffles

225g good quality milk chocolate (I used Green and Blacks)

90ml double cream

3 tbsp brandy

Good quality cocoa powder (I used Green and Blacks)

1. Grate the chocolate into a small heatproof bowl that will fit over a pan. Add the cream and stand over a pan of simmering water until the chocolate begins to melt. Stir well until smooth and remove from the heat. (At this point my chocolate started to look a bit greasy, but don’t worry if this happens to you, it didn’t effect the end product)
2. Leave to cool for around half an hour, then beat in the brandy. Use an electric whisk to beat the mixture until fluffy and paler in colour, about 5 minutes. It should be firm enough to stand in peaks.
3. Spoon into a shallow tin, flatten out, cover and refrigerate for two hours until quite firm.
4. Sprinkle a plate with cocoa powder and, using a teaspoon, spoon even-sized amounts and place on the plate. Dust your hands with cocoa powder and quickly roll the spoonfuls of chocolate into balls, making sure they each get a good cocoa covering. Place on waxed paper and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
5. Keep the truffles packed in cases and boxes in the fridge, and eat within 3 days.

See these truffles and more delicious treats over at the Sweet as Sugar Cookies Party.

Potted Crab

Bearing testament to what I’ve learnt in the kitchen over the last year since I started Culinary Conquests, this year I made the Christmas Lunch starter for the first time. I opted for a Potted Crab dish served with toast and crab claws, as crab is always a treat and I thought it would provide a light prelude to the Beef Wellington we have at Christmas. Now being a keen reader of BBC Good Food magazine I had a flick through their December issue and stumbled across this simple recipe by Gregg Wallace of Masterchef fame. We are a small family of only three, and this year we chose to have just us on Christmas day, and this recipe meant for two was easily sized up to serve three.

The cayenne pepper gives this dish a little kick without overpowering the delicious flavour of the crab, and although I made this for Christmas Lunch it would make an appropriate starter for any special meal.  

Adapted from BBC Good Food (December 2011)

150g butter

zest of ¾ lemon

1 tsp lemon juice

a generous dash of Tabasco sauce

a pinch of freshly ground mace and freshly grated nutmeg

¾ tsp cayenne pepper

150g dark crabmeat

150g white crabmeat

toast, to serve

1. Melt the butter over a low heat, add the lemon juice and zest, Tabasco sauce, spices and salt and pepper. Simmer for 2 minutes, then stir in the crab meat and cook over a gentle heat for 1 minute.
2. Spoon the mixture into 3 small ramekins, leave to cool, then cover with cling film and place in the fridge to chill for at least 2 hours.
3. Remove from the fridge 30 minutes before you wish to serve.

Happy Christmas!!

A belated Merry Christmas to you all!! I hope that you have all had a wonderful time, however you choose to celebrate. I am pleased to report that all my culinary related Christmas wishes came true and I am now the proud owner of a red KitchenAid Stand Mixer, as well as numerous baking tins, cutters and icing nibs. I also have 6 new recipe books to add to my now overflowing collection.

As expected, I have eaten a lot of very good food and generally over indulged as in only right during the festive period. My Christmas culinary conquest offerings starts with the Christmas cake that I decorate every Christmas Eve. Penguins, carol singers, flowers and of course Father Christmas have all adorned the top of my cake over the years, but this year I opted for something completely different and created a Christmas Lunch table on my cake. Consisting of a candle centrepiece, turkey, Chistmas Pudding and crackers amongst other things, I created the decorations by moulding marzipan and painting each with food colouring. It’s certainly a conversation starter!!

To see my 2010 Christmas Cake decoration, click here.