Blini with Smoked Salmon

 I love Smoked Salmon.  

That was a complete sentence. 

 I've been known to pick up pieces and just shovel them into my mouth, ok, so I was a little more delicate than that.    I've made quite a few dishes/recipes with smoked salmon over the years, but this is one of my favorite ways to use it, for now.  I may change my mind in the future.  As I experiment try new recipes. 

I've used both cold-smoked and hot-smoked salmon in my recipes.  I think it elevates just about every recipe you make.   I've made Salmon Mousse, Smoked Salmon Tarts, Salmon Cakes, topped Deviled Eggs with a curl of smoked salmon, and I've even made my own Gravad Laks.  And I made this amazing Smoked Salmon Cheesecake once as well.   And a few years back, I made this Chunky Shrimp and Smoked Salmon spread, and people still ask me about it.  It is good, I will say that.   It also looks pretty on a plate. 

Get the idea, I like Smoked Salmon?  Well, I do.   I actually have way more Smoked and regular Salmon recipes on my blog.  Go ahead and take a look.  I would detail them here, but this post is all about Elegant Appetizers for Mother's Day for our Sunday Funday Bunch.

And I just had to participate, with, you guessed it, Smoked Salmon.  Our hostess this week is Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. Even though I'm the only mother I'm celebrating this year, I can make it special for me.  So I did, make it special, that is.    And I blame it all on The Great British Bake Off.   They had their contestants make Blini with Hot Smoked Salmon once, and I kinda glommed onto that idea and came up with these little bites of deliciousness. 

Too much hyperbole? Nah.   

I made some buckwheat blini (I had some buckwheat flour on hand to make buckwheat Pancakes).  And then I played, a lot.  

I raided my dill plant, minced up some red onion and some capers, and decorated. 

 Then I consumed.

But before I finished consuming, I decorated with some fresh Dill Fronds, cause I could. 

 I even topped them off with some Caviar.  I had way too much fun, and now I have a jar of Caviar in the fridge to use on something. I'm sure I'll come up with an idea or two to use it.   I'll share my attempts on here as well.  

Take a look at what our other fabulous cooks came up with: 

• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Wendy Klik Blini with Caviar 
• Amy's Cooking Adventures: Crackers with Salami & Pepperoni Rosettes 
• Sneha's Recipe: Crumb Coated Cheesy Veg Crepes 
• Karen's Kitchen Stories: Fresh Artichoke and Spinach Dip 
• Culinary Cam : Roasted Carrot Tarte Tatin 
• Sid's Sea Palm Cooking : Smoked Salmon Blini 
  
• Mayuri's JikoniMayuri's Jikoni: Sweet Potato Brie Bites

 

Buckwheat Blini with Smoked Salmon

Author: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking - Adapted from many recipes

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 3 MinInactive time: 30 MinTotal time: 43 Min

Make this Mother's Day extra special with these bites of deliciousness. Be aware, this recipe makes a lot of blini. 

Ingredients

Blini

• 1/2  cup Buckwheat Flour
• 1/2 cup AP Flour
• 1 egg separated - room temperature
• 3/4 cup warm milk
• 1 teaspoon yeast
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Toppings

• 1/2 cup Crème Fraîche
• 1 tsp. Creamed Horseradish
• 2 + oz. Cold Smoked Salmon, sliced thinly
• 1-2 Tablespoons finely minced Red Onion
• 1-2 Tablespoons, finely chopped Capers
• 2 + teaspoons Caviar
• 2 + teaspoons finely chopped Fresh Dill, plus more for decorations
• Mix the Crème fraîche and horseradish together and set aside

Instructions

1. Heat the milk to about 110 degrees, add egg yolk, yeast, and sugar, set aside until frothy.
2. Sift the dry ingredients together, then add the milk-yeast mixture and combine.
3. Cover with some plastic wrap and set aside for about an hour or until the batter has doubled in size.
4. Beat the egg white until stiff. Fold into the risen batter.  
   
   
   
5. Place a non-stick frying pan on the stove and heat to medium-high. Or spray some cooking spray in a frying pan and heat.
6. Dollop about a tablespoon of the batter into the heated pan, doing about 4 at a time, cook until  bubbly, turn over and cook an additional 45 seconds or so. Remove to a warmed platter.

Assembly

1. Now for the fun part, assembly:
2. Dollop about a half teaspoon of the Crème fraîche-horseradish sauce on each blini.
3. Form a 'rose' out of each piece of salmon, and place carefully on top of the creme fraiche mixture. Top with a sprinkle of the finely minced onion, capers, and chopped dill. Add a 1/4 teaspoon of caviar on top if you wish. Use some dill fronds to decorate further if desired.
4. Serve immediately.

 

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @sidsseapalmcooking on Instagram and hashtag it #Sidsseapalmcooking

Boxty with Smoked Salmon

 I used to participate in Fish Friday Foodies, but then my husband passed away and honestly, I just didn't feel 'it' anymore and basically stopped cooking and experimenting.  

Then Wendy said this was going to be the last Fish Friday Foodies, and I went, 'No! ', I'm finally starting to cook and experiment and play in the kitchen again, and I wanted to play this time.  I love Boxty's anyway and topped with Smoked Salmon, AMAZING!!!! especially with some Creme Fraiche on top.

So I did.   Years ago I was reading a book and they referenced Boxty's, which are an Irish potato dish.   The theme this month for the Fish Friday Foodies is Irish seafood dishes.   

So what do Irish Boxty cakes have to do with Fish?  Well, there are several recipes out there that include smoked fish inside the boxty's, but I'm just not that fond of including smoked fish inside a cooked recipe, so I searched and searched and finally found a reference to this dish.  Actually I found several references, you can see them here and here and here.
 

As many of you may know, I love my appetizers, so decided to make this as an appetizer cause I could, and I did.  You can however make the cakes a touch bigger, and serve them alongside a nice salad as a light lunch or dinner.  

Now for a fun ditty...

“Boxty on the griddle,

Boxty in the pan,

If you can't make boxty,

You'll never get a man.”

 Just had to throw that in there, cause it was cute.   

Now for one of the best parts of this recipe, you can use that little bit of mashed potatoes from dinner that you just can't bring yourself to throw away.    Many recipes call for adding grated fresh potatoes to leftover mashed, adding some flour, an egg, some milk.  

Come to think of it, I've been making these for years.  However, I usually just add everything together until it looks right, this time round I actually measured it out, just in case you want to do so as well.  

I gotta say this would have been a winner at one of our Tapas gatherings. Come to think of it, I think I need to do a Tapas Night again, and these would be perfect.  

I topped them with some smoked Salmon, my own homemade Créme Fräiche., some chopped chives from my garden and finely minced shallot.  

Dang, they were good.

Boxty with Smoked Salmon

Yield: 6-10

Author: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking

Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 7 MinTotal time: 12 Min

This makes not only a great appetizer but also doubles as a light lunch or dinner with the addition of a salad.

Ingredients

• 4 russet potatoes
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons cream
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/3 cup flour
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• oil and butter for frying

Topping

• Smoked Salmon slices
• Créme Fräiche - homemade - link in post.- can use sour cream instead.
  
• Chopped Chives
• Finely chopped shallot
• Fresh cracked pepper if desired

Instructions

1. Cook two of the russet potatoes and mash with the butter and cream. Set aside to cool.
2. Grate the remaining two potatoes and sprinkle a little salt over them, then place the grated potatoes into either a double layer of paper towel or a clean cloth and wring the liquid out of them, set aside while you mix up the flour, egg, and milk in a small bowl. Add the cooled mashed potatoes to the bowl and mix well. Finally, add the grated potatoes and stir in. (the grated potatoes might have turned a pretty shade of pink, but don't worry, this is a normal enzymatic reaction, they're perfectly safe to eat.)
3. In a pan, heat up some oil and butter. I use a small spoon to measure out the batter, but you can use a 1/4 cup measure as well. Spoon the batter into the pan much like making small pancakes. Cook until brown on the bottom and then flip over and finish cooking on the other side. To keep them warm, place in a 200-degree oven while finishing off the remainder.
4. Top with a slice of smoked salmon, some Créme Fräiche, finely chopped shallot, and chives.

 

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @sidsseapalmcooking on instagram and hashtag it # Sidsseapalmcooking

• Food Lust People Love serves up Ballymaloe Potted Shrimp
• Sid’s Sea Palm Cooking shares Boxty with Smoked Salmon 
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories made Cod Soup 
• Sneha’s Recipe has  Dublin Lawyer (Shrimp in Irish Whiskey Cream Sauce)
• Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice cooked up Fish & Potato Chowder with Irish Whiskey 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm is serving Irish Fish Cakes

Baked Flounder Filets with Asparagus and Mushrooms

 How about something a little different?  

My brother made this for me on my last visit and very kindly shared the recipe, well, he made a copy of the recipe, and luckily for me I read Danish.  Cause this is a Danish dish.   

And it's easy to make and ready in under an hour.  Not complicated at all.  A perfect company dish.  

I made this for my birthday this year, and invited friends over, so yes it was a company dish.  

My brother served this with Saffron Rice, but did not make the sauce.  I did, make the sauce, cause why not? 

I also have to tell you, I almost licked my plate, but refrained cause I had guests.    It's just plain considered rude to do so in the company of others, but you can do it if you like, cause I'll never tell.   

Here's a few pictures of the process.

and after sweating them in the pan.

Fish and shrimp in ramekins

After un-molding the fish, I will say that there was a little liquid there and next time I'm saving that liquid to make the sauce.  Cause I hated throwing away all that flavor.

I served this alongside the saffron rice, and some oven roasted Mushrooms and Asparagus. 

I also par cooked the shrimp, because the fish cooks so rapidly that the shrimp would not have time to cook all the way.  You can also use cooked shrimp here as well.   

Another note, I had flounder fillets in the freezer, so I used them, but when my brother made this he used some Sole.  Use any mild flavored fish here. 

Baked Flounder with Asparagus, Mushrooms and Shrimp

Yield: 4

Author: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking inspired by a recipe posted in a cookbook

Prep time: 20 MinCook time: 25 MinTotal time: 45 Min

This is a simple to put together dish, perfect for company and totally delicious, and quick. It only takes about 20 minutes in the oven.

Ingredients

Fish

• 12 pieces of thin flounder fillets, 4 large and 8 small. (you can use any mild flavored white fish here)
  
• 12-24 shrimp- par cooked or fully cooked- don't worry about over cooking fully cooked shrimp, they'll still stay nice.
  
• 8 ounces chopped mushrooms
• 1 finely chopped shallot
• 4-6 asparagus spears, cut on the diagonal in thin slices
• 1-4 teaspoon finely grated hard cheese - Asiago or Parmesan
• 2 + tablespoons butter - for greasing the ramekins plus a little for the sauteed filling
• Salt and pepper to taste

Sauce

• 1/4 cup vegetable bouillion
• 1/2 cup Créme Fräiche or full fat sour cream
• 1/4 teaspoon saffron

Saffron Rice

• 1 1/2 cups Jasmine or Basmati rice or long grain rice
• 1/4 tsp. saffron threads
• salt and butter to taste.

Instructions

Fish

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees and place a bain marie in there with a little water inside. ( I used an aluminum pan set on top of a baking sheet and just put a little water inside.)
2. Grease 4 12 oz. size ramekins with butter, set aside.
3. Sprinkle the fish filets with a little salt and place into the ramekins around the sides, lengthwise. Add 3-4 shrimp in the bottom of each ramekin, in a pleasing pattern.
4. Saute the mushrooms, shallot and asparagus in a little butter, for 6-8 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste, then add the finely grated cheese and stir together. Divide into fourths and fill each ramekin, then place more shrimp on top of each one.
5. When each one is finished place into the bain marie carefully, and bake for about 15 minutes or until the fish is just cooked.
6. Unmold using a small plate, holding it against the ramekin and turning it over.  You can then slide the cooked fish onto a large plate.  I serve each unmolded fish individually and let my guests serve the rice and other veggies themselves.  
   

Sauce

1. Add the saffron to a couple tablespoons hot water and let sit for about 5 minutes.
2. In a small sauce pan, heat up the vegetable boullion to almost boiling, then add the saffron, take off the heat and whisk in the Créme Fräiche or sour cream.
3. Serve alongside the fish.

Rice

1. Cook rice according to directions, adding the saffron midway through the cook.
2. Season to taste with butter, salt and pepper.   You can also use turmeric in here to get the yellow color, but be careful, cause it can turn it BRIGHT YELLOW, very easily. 

 

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @sidsseapalmcooking on instagram and hashtag it # Sidsseapalmcooking

 

Check out my cookbooks on Amazon. All are available as paperbacks or as e-book. 

Simple Shrimp Recipes - 25 + Appetizer, Entree and Dipping Sauces. 

Nibbles and Bites - A Compilation of Appetizers, Canapes and Finger Foods. 

Hygge - Danish Food and Recipes

Stuffed Small Potatoes

 I have been lax, not lazy, but lax the past few months when it comes to preparing and eating good meals.  However, I can't hide from the world any longer, well not from myself at any rate.  

I'm a fairly new widow, and it's been hard for me to take up the spatula and spoon and get out the baking and cooking stuff, cause quite frankly, I don't feel much like creating or making good food.  

One of the things I've been neglecting, has been my blog, and the various blogging events I contribute to.  This is one of them.  Baking Bloggers. We usually make something to a theme, blog about and hopefully enjoy the deliciousness of the dish we made. 

 

This month the theme was to Bake with Potatoes.  As Sue said 'Let's whip up some potatoes in a recipe and slide them into an oven.
Potatoes (of all types) can be incorporated into a baked dish or baked first and finished later.
Just at some point potatoes are in the oven." 

So, I played around with a few ideas in my head,  but I wanted to make something really good.  

I love potatoes anyway, and while I'm using fingerling or small potatoes for this recipe, I'm betting you could use just about any small potatoes for this.  I ended up using some small potatoes cause the fingerlings I had in the pantry were gone and none of the stores I could access the other day had any, not one...

And not only did I have to sub out the potatoes, but the shrimp I bought the other day, frozen, mind you, stunk when I opened the bag.  I looked for evidence of them having thawed and then refrozen, but they looked ok. I will be returning them, but in the meantime I had to re-figure the recipe. 

I used a spicy Black Bean Burger that I'd bought recently, and had stashed in the freezer.  I decided to use some of the dill I'd bought as well.

I have to admit that the dill, did not comport itself very well with the black bean patty, but the chives did.   Although I did have to wrestle the chives from this little, actually large woolly creature.  Giant Leopard Moth Caterpillar or it could also be a Black Wooly Bear, I have no idea.  I do know that it managed to eat most of one chive plant and was industrially working on the next big plant.  I relocated it over the fence, and hopefully it will get over the shock and continue to munch away somewhere else, other than my chive plant.  From the size of the caterpillar, I'm not too sure if I want to meet the moth it will become.

I had added some chopped dill to the recipe, but it didn't play well with the black bean burger.  I ate them anyway.  

 

And the 'innards' I scooped out, I browned them in a pan and ate them alongside a fried egg. 

  

Stuffed Fingerling or Small Potatoes

Yield: 2-6

Author: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking -

Prep time: 20 MinCook time: 25 MinTotal time: 45 Min

These can be consumed as an appetizer, or side dish or even a meal. They're very versatile that way.

Ingredients

• 6 small potatoes - cooked to fork tender stage - halved and center scooped out
• 4 oz. cream cheese - room temp
• 1 black bean burger - thawed and crumbled
• 2 tsp. chopped chives

Instructions

1. Cook the potatoes until fork tender, halve them and scoop out the insides, leaving a rim around the potato.  Set the 'innards' aside to use somewhere else.  I used a melon baller, to scoop out the centers.
2. Crumble up the black bean burger and mix it into the softened cream cheese, adding the chopped chives.  
3. Fill the potatoes with some of the black bean mixture and place inside a greased dish, one that fits inside the toaster oven. 
4. Cook at 450 degrees for about 20 minutes, and then brown under the broiler for an additional 5 minutes or so.
5. Serve hot.

 NOTE:  if needed, cut a thin slice off the bottom of each potato half so that it sits level inside of the baking dish.  Best to do it before scooping out the center.   Trust me, much less messy to do it that way.

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @sidsseapalmcooking on instagram and hashtag it #Sidsseapalmcooking

Baking Bloggers: Potatoes of all Kinds

• • Aloo Channa Paneer Pie by Magical Ingredients
  • Baked Sweet Potato Fries by Sizzling Tastebuds
  • Crispy Spicy Smashed Potatoes by Sneha’s Recipe
  • Curry Kissed Broccoli Tots by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
  • Ham and Broccoli Stuffed Potatoes by A Day in the Life on the Farm
  • Stuffed Fingerling Potatoes by Sid’s Sea Palm Cooking
  • Sweet Potato Oatmeal Cookies by Palatable Pastime

Egg Salad with Shrimp

 This dish came about when I cooked some fresh eggs and could not get the shells off them, without tearing the whites apart. My original concept was Deviled Eggs topped with Shrimp.

So I made an egg salad, and added the cooked shrimp to the eggs, and went from there.  I served it alongside some of my home made bread which I toasted and a garlic aoli.  I'll share that recipe soon. 

 I brought this to the 20th anniversary of a group called NPA.  These ladies, and I include myself, have met every Friday for 20 years. It's a loosely knit group, we women come and go.    Some women have come almost every single Friday, some, like myself have come occasionally. And men are not allowed.  We've celebrated marriages, divorces, mourned with each other, been a support group when needed.  

Everything a group should be. 

 

Egg Salad with Shrimp

Yield: 12 + servings as an appetizer or 3-4 sandwiches.

Author: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking -

Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 10 Mininactive time: -5 HourTotal time: -5 H & 15 M

This is a fun take on regular egg salad. Goes great as an appetizer or a sandwich.

Ingredients

• 6 Hard Cooked Eggs
• 12 shrimp - poached - with Lemon Juice and 1 tsp. Old Bay seasoning
• 3-4 tablespoon mayonnaise
• 1-2 teaspoons yellow mustard
• 1/2-1 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
• Dill for decorations
• Old Bay seasoning for topping

Instructions

1. Hard cook the eggs, peel, and then pulse them in a food chopper. 
2. Poach the shrimp, let cool and then roughly chop them, reserving 1- 2 shrimp for decorations.
3. Mix the eggs with the mayonnaise and mustard  until just moistened.  You may not need all the mayo and mustard.   Add the Old Bay Seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon at a time and taste.  You can add more or less, depending on what you like.
4. Fold in the chopped shrimp to the egg mixture and taste for seasoning.  Place in fridge for an hour or two before serving.
5. When ready to serve, sprinkle a little Old Bay Seasoning on top, and add the reserved shrimp and dill to serve. 
6. Serve with either toast, crackers or some other bread.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

69.92

Fat (grams)

5.52

Sat. Fat (grams)

1.28

Carbs (grams)

0.40

Fiber (grams)

0.05

Net carbs

0.35

Sugar (grams)

0.13

Protein (grams)

4.36

Sodium (milligrams)

205.08

Cholesterol (grams)

105.24

Estimate only

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @sidsseapalmcooking on instagram and hashtag it #Sidsseapalmcooking

Created using The Recipes Generator

  

All recipes and their respective images are either original or adapted and credited, and are all the sole property of Sid's Sea Palm Cooking © 2011-2021, with all rights reserved thereof.

Check out my cookbooks on Amazon.  You can also email me at Sidsseapalmcooking@gmail.com if you'd like an autographed copy of any of the books.   

All are available as paperbacks or as a downloadable e-book.  

All the ebooks are currently on sale.
 Simple Shrimp Recipes - 25 + Appetizer, Entree and Dipping Sauces.
 Nibbles and Bites - A Compilation of Appetizers, Canapes and Finger Foods. 
  Hygge - Danish Food and Recipes

Shrimp Salat on Toast Points

I was so excited when I saw the theme for this month's Fish Friday Foodies.  

I was going to bust out my Danish side, and make Shrimp Salat i Tartelleter. 

So much for planning ahead.  I decided at the last minute, to not make any tartelleter shells, cause I was trying to cut back on my carbs.  So what did I do? I grabbed some home made bread out of the freezer and made toast points instead.   

And life was delicious. I love being able to go out to my very small garden and picking fresh dill and chives.    I also have to mention, the lemon was also from my garden.  

I even caught the shrimp.  

Granted I had to grab a bag from the freezer of wild caught shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico, and then toss it in the air so I could say, with an almost straight face, I even caught the shrimp.  WINK!!!

 Here's a few pictures of the process.  Poaching the shrimp.  Those little green flecks are from the dill and chives that were chopped by the same knife that cut the lemon. 

after poaching and mixing

adding the asparagus

Served with Toast Points

 

 

Shrimp Salad

Yield: 4 for lunch, 12 for appetizers

Author: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking -

Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 3 MinTotal time: 8 Min

This is a perfect light lunch or appetizer for the hot summer months.

Ingredients

• 8-12 oz. cooked salad size shrimp -  60 ct.
• 1/4 cup Créme Fräiche. - I used my own homemade here.
  
• 1/4 cup jarred Asparagus, drained and cut into thirds.
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice + 1/4 lemon for poaching shrimp
• 1/2 tsp. finely minced fresh dill
• 1/2 tsp. finely minced fresh chives
• dash of curry powder -hot or mild
• Dill for decoration
• Toast Points - thinly sliced bread, toasted and cut into triangles

Instructions

1. If poaching shrimp, add 1/4 lemon cut into pieces and add to poaching water.   Poach the shrimp until just cooked, remove from water and cool down in an ice bath.
2. If using larger shrimp, just chop them up a little.
3. Mix the creme fraiche with the lemon juice, dill, chives and curry powder.  
4. Fold the shrimp into the creme fraiche mixture.  Then add the asparagus, folding it into the shrimp mixture, very carefully as the asparagus is very fragile.
5. Serve on and with buttered toast points. 

Note: You can use fresh asparagus in this recipe and to make it a little more 'Danish' use white asparagus. 

This is also perfect for the small Icelandic or Greenland shrimp.  They actually add a lot more flavor. IMO. 

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @sidsseapalmcooking on instagram and hashtag it #Sidsseapalmcooking

Created using The Recipes Generator

 

 

Fish Friday Foodies

~Seafood in Salad~

• Avocado and Shrimp Chopped Salad from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Mediterranean Avocado Salmon Salad from Making Miracles
• Prawn 65 With Couscous & Braised Veggies Salad From Sneha's Recipe
• Salade Niçoise from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Shrimp Salad on Toast Points from Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Soft Shell Crab & Shrimp in Quinoa Salad from Of Goats and Greens
• Spicy Shrimp and Citrus Salad from Food Lust People Love
• Tea Room Tuna Salad Plate from Palatable Pastime
• The Polarizing Anchovy + Egg Salad Niçoise from Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Are you a food blogger who would like to join Fish Friday Foodies? We post and share new seafood/fish recipes on the third Friday of the month. To join our group please email Wendy at wendyklik1517 (at) gmail.com. Visit our Facebook page and Pinterest page for more wonderful fish and seafood recipe ideas.