Spiced salmon en croute offers a warming alternative this Christmas
Jenny Jefferies shares another delicious recipe with us.
In December, the farm is quiet and silent. A rare and special sighting of a barn owl in flight can warm the soul, along with a hot cup of homemade mulled wine and a slice of fruit cake with a friend. As Dame Edith Sitwell DBE, a British poet and critic once said… “Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.”
Home is where the heart is, and can mean different things to different people. Our immediate environment well and truly nurtures our nature and we are all completely dependent upon our family life for our moral compass, ethics and personal values, whether or not we realise. At this time of year, one generally travels back home to see family and friends, to catch up on warm embraces, stories and life. Some can travel far and wide to enjoy good food, to exchange gifts and enjoy heartfelt traditions and gaiety.
Christmas for some can also be sad and lonely. It is often a poignant time to remember absent friends and loved ones who have passed away or whom have moved on in the years gone by.
Food is a powerful source and showmanship of love, religion, comfort and ceremony. This month I share something a little bit different; a recipe contributed by a fish farm in Grimsby from my second book For The Love Of The Sea, published by Meze Publishing. Fishermen harvest the sea and must also be remembered and celebrated at this time of year, as well as our farmers. I hope this family favourite offers you a lovely alternative Christmas dinner that you can enjoy wherever you call home.
I hope you have a very safe and happy Christmas.
Follow me @jennyljefferies
Spiced Salmon En Croute from For The Love Of The Sea
“The Romans enjoyed serving fish with spices and sweet fruits, which sounds odd but works surprisingly well with salmon. This richly flavoured dish takes a little preparation, but is perfect for a special occasion, even an alternative Sunday lunch! Any leftovers are delicious served cold the next day.” — Louise Coulbeck of JCS Fish, Grimsby
Preparation time: 25 minutes | Cooking time: 30 minutes | Serves: 4
Ingredients:
35g butter, softened
55g dates, stoned and chopped
5 whole cloves, crushed
1 tbsp raisins
1 tbsp honey
1⁄2 tsp Dijon mustard (optional)
1⁄4 tsp ground ginger
1⁄4 tsp ground cumin
Handful of fresh mint, finely chopped
320g pack of ready-made puff pastry
4 BigFishTM salmon fillets, defrosted Black pepper
A little milk, for glazing
Hollandaise sauce, to serve (ready-made is fine)
Method:
Preheat the oven to 220°c/200oc fan/Gas Mark 7. Put the softened butter into a bowl then mix in the dates, cloves, raisins, honey, mustard, ginger, cumin and mint to make a thick paste.
Roll out the ready-made puff pastry into a long rectangle. Put two of the salmon fillets end to end on the pastry at one end, leaving room to fold the pastry over.
Spoon the spicy date paste on top of the salmon fillets and spread it out to cover them evenly. Season with some pepper and then pop the remaining fillets on top, making a ‘sandwich’ with the filling in the middle.
Use a pastry brush to spread a little milk around the edge of the pastry, then fold the pastry over and seal well to make your parcel. Cut shapes from any spare pastry to decorate the top as you wish, then brush a little more milk over to glaze.
Put the salmon parcel on a baking tray and cover lightly with foil. Cook in the oven for 30 minutes, taking the foil off for the last 10 minutes so the pastry becomes a lovely golden brown.
Serve in slices, with a selection of fresh steamed green vegetables, new potatoes and a little hollandaise sauce on the side.
Tips: You can make this a day in advance if you wish; just wrap the uncooked salmon parcel in cling film and leave in the fridge, then take it out half an hour before you want to cook so it comes to room temperature. For a larger gathering, you can make a bigger version of this recipe to serve 8 using 1.5kg of fresh salmon (in two large fillets) and doubling the quantities of all the other ingredients. With thanks to cookery writer Anne Williams for the inspiration.
See Jenny’s other recipes here. Jenny Jefferies is the author of the For The Love Of The Land and For The Love Of The Sea series, and Islands In A Common Sea: Stories of Farming, Fishing and Food Around The World. A Love British Food Ambassador, Jenny is married to a farmer and lives in South Cambridgeshire.
