Salmon Coulibiac

I recently posted a video on Twitter from my music video series "Recipes That Rock" where I make one of my favorite dishes, Salmon Coulibiac. A flood of fab comments from my fellow "Twibes" about how much they liked the video and wanted the recipe pointed out the fact that I had never put it on my blog. So here it is! (Forgive the photo, it was taken before I got my new camera!)

“Coulibiac” is a French-inspired dish from Russia that originated around 1900. The word itself translates to “fish pie,” and the dish consists of layers of fish, rice, and vegetables all wrapped up in a puff pastry loaf. I like to finish off my Coulibiac with a beautiful latticework design on top, which makes for a stunning main entrée at a dinner party.

Salmon Coulibiac

1 (48 fl. oz.) container chicken broth
olive oil
2 cups dry orzo (a pasta shaped like rice)
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium brown onion, diced
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
12 cups raw spinach
1/4 cup cream sherry
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 (8 oz.) packages sliced mushrooms
3 large sheets of puff pastry (2 – 1.1 lb. packages Pepperidge Farm each with 2 sheets)
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 lb. salmon fillet, skinned and deboned
Salt and pepper

Pour chicken broth and 1 tablespoon olive oil into a large pot and bring to boil over high heat. Add orzo and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain in a colander and pour into a medium bowl.

Add 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil into a large skillet over medium high heat until butter melts. Add onions and sauté until they start to brown. Stir in brown sugar and cook for 2 minutes more until sugar caramelizes. Remove from heart and stir into orzo until combined. Salt and pepper to taste.

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and add spinach. Allow spinach to cook down a bit, stirring frequently. Continue to add remaining spinach and cook until spinach has reduced to half the initial amount. Add more oil if necessary should the spinach stick to the pan. Add sherry and cook until sherry reduces by one-third. Reduce heat to medium-low and stir in cream. Cook, stirring occasionally, until cream thickens, about 5 to 8 minutes. Remove from heat and pour into a large bowl.

Add remaining tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil into a large skillet over medium high heat until butter melts. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, until mushrooms brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir into spinach until incorporated. Salt and pepper to taste.

Cut a sheet of parchment paper to fit a large baking sheet. Tip: Use pea-size scraps of puff pastry under the corners of the parchment to adhere it to the baking sheet.

Allow puff pastry to thaw at room temperature for about 30 minutes or until it is easy to handle. Place a 10 x 15 inch sheet of puff pastry on work surface and roll out the sheet to where its dimensions are about 3 inches wider and longer than the salmon. Brush the surface of the puff pastry with beaten egg. Center the salmon on the puff pastry. Spoon the orzo on top of the salmon in a compact even layer. Spoon the spinach on top of the orzo in a compact even layer. Brush the exposed area of the puff pastry with beaten egg and bring it up on to the salmon on all sides.

Roll out another sheet of puff pastry large enough so that it will drape completely over the layered ingredients on the salmon with excess pastry to tuck underneath. Center the puff pastry sheet over the salmon and place it over the layered ingredients. Lift the edges of the puff pastry and brush the underside with egg. Tuck the edges neatly under the salmon so you have a compact and completely sealed loaf.

To create the latticework design on top, roll out the remaining puff pastry just a bit to smooth any package creases. Cut 1-inch wide by 10-inch long strips. Brush the surface of the salmon loaf with egg. Then, brush each strip with a lightly beaten egg and place each strip, spaced 1 inch apart, over the salmon diagonally. Interweave the strips 1 inch apart on the opposing diagonal into a latticework pattern. Cut ivy leaves from the remaining puff pastry and brush with egg; apply to the latticework pattern. You can prepare the Coulibiac up to this point on the same day you are planning to serve it. Wrap the prepared loaf with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

About 45 minutes before serving, heat oven to 350 degrees. Brush the surface of the pastry with beaten egg. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown. Remove Coulibiac from the oven and let it rest on the baking sheet for 20 minutes. You can gently place the entire Coulibiac on a large platter and serve family style for a fabulous presentation. Or slice the loaf into 1 ½-inch wide portions and use a spatula to place each slice on individual plates. Serve hot with a white wine cream sauce.

Makes 6 to 8 servings

Tuna with Toasted Mustard Seed and Capers on Wonton Squares

While the tuna in this appetizer is prepared rare, you could easily sear the fillet for a fully cooked preparation of this recipe.

The toasted mustard seeds add a smoky dimension to the lemon juice and caper blend.

Most wonton wrappers are packaged as circles or 4-inch squares. Simply stack the square wrappers, and quarter them to make your 2-inch appetizer squares for this recipe.

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons mustard seed
• 3 tablespoons capers
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 lb. sushi grade tuna fillet, minced
• Vegetable oil
• 48 (2-inch square) wonton wrappers

Heat oil and mustard seed in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until seeds begin to pop, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.

Add capers, lemon juice, salt, and mustard seed oil into a bowl and stir to combine. Toss minced tuna with mixture and mix until tuna is coated. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

To make wonton squares: Heat about 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add wonton squares and fry until golden brown on underside, about 30 to 60 seconds. Flip the squares and fry until the other side is browned, about 30 seconds more. Remove squares on to a bed of paper towels to absorb excess oil. Repeat process for as

When ready to serve, top each square with about 1 teaspoon of tuna and arrange on a serving platter.

Makes about 48 appetizers

Photo Credit: Stu Spivak on Flickr.

Warm Lemon-Bacon Dressing on Scallop and Spinach Salad

Had an old friend over for dinner last night, and after spending the afternoon coloring 30+ Easter eggs and making a couple of loaves of delicious Easter Bread with Chocolate Chips in preparation for what I consider to be the busiest holiday for moms and dads, I wanted to make something really fresh and summery for dinner. Yep, I need it to be summer now with no homework or intense "parent-pretending" mythic holidays (i.e. being an awesome Santa or E.B.). Don't get me wrong, I love that my kids are still way into the spirit of Easter and the big ol' bunny (even though the 10-year-old knows the real deal). But, lordy me, I can't imagine how parents who aren't craftellas or craftellers (male equivalent) survive. I've been in craft/spokesperson deals with both RIT Dye for spring crafts and Michael's Arts and Crafts (a freakin' 10 city tour) and find Easter to be way more exhausting! Maybe it's because you invest so much emotionally in kid-centric holidays when you're a parent. Think about it. A kid only has about 10 cycles of a holiday where it's total magic, meaning that they still believe in Santa or the Easter Bunny, and the pressure as a parent is on! My daughter is 5-years-old, peak operating hours for creating happy holiday memories by filling the long days leading up to that morning of a sea of presents under the x-mas tree or a boat load of candy in a basket with activities to occupy their time and their precious, creative little minds. What does my mommy diatribe have to do with this salad? Cooking feeds my soul, relaxes me, helps me be a better parent.

• 8 strips bacon
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 8 oz. pack sliced fresh button mushrooms
• 8 jumbo sea scallops
• 8 oz. fresh spinach leaves

Warm Lemon-Bacon Dressing

• 3 tablespoons rendered bacon fat
• 6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• pinch of salt and pepper

Fry bacon until just crisp; reserve bacon fat. Remove bacon from pan on to a bed of paper towels to absorb grease. When cool enough to handle, coarsely chop bacon.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, until golden brown out 8 minutes.

Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add scallops and cook until brown on underside, about 3 to 5 minutes. Flip scallops over and cook until brown on other side and just opaque (i.e. loose their glossy, translucent look and appear more of a milky white).

Add spinach, bacon, and mushrooms in a large salad bowl.

To make Warm Lemon-Bacon Dressing: Add rendered bacon fat, lemon juice, olive oil, water, sugar, salt, and pepper into a small saucepan. Cook while whisking over low heat until mixture loses its translucent appearance and any solid fat melts, about 1 to 3 minutes.

Remove dressing from heat and pour most over spinach and ingredients in salad bowl; toss until
ingredients are coated. Arrange scallops on top of salad and drizzle remaining dressing over them. Serve immediately.

Makes 2 to 4 servings

Photo credit: wwsocookbook on flickr

Seafood and Artichoke White Lasagna

Everyone knows an Italian pal who has procured Grandma’s heirloom lasagna recipe. Making this traditional and time-consuming dish is a great way to introduce children to the kitchen. After you cook and prepare the ingredients, let the little fingers build the lasagna as you supervise with your glass of Chianti. Once assembled, lasagna can be frozen and then reheated for an easy supper.



Lasagna Layers

• 1 (1 lb. box) lasagna noodles
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 lb. bay scallops
• 1/2 lb. bay shrimp
• 1 (8 1/2 oz.) can artichoke hearts, chopped
• 1 cup shredded Swiss Cheese
• 1 cup shredded Gruyere Cheese
• 1/2 cup basil leaves, shredded

Lasagna Filling

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 2 large leeks, washed and chopped
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 (2 lb.) container ricotta cheese
• 3 tablespoons fresh basil, finely chopped
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

White Sauce

• 1/2 cup butter
• 6 tablespoons al-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups half &half
• 1 cup fresh grated Parmesan
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper

Add 1 teaspoon salt and 2 tablespoons olive oil to a large pot of water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add lasagna noodles and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Gently remove noodles with tongs and drape over the side of several pots or large bowls. Do not overlap noodles as they will stick to each other and tear.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add scallops and cook for 5 minutes until scallops are no longer opaque. Add shrimp and cook for 2 minutes more until shrimp is pink. Remove from heat. Toss together scallops, shrimp and artichoke in a large bowl. Cover bowl and set aside. Toss together cheese in another bowl and cover and set aside.

Meanwhile, make lasagna filling. Heat butter, oil, and garlic in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add leeks and wine and cook over medium-high heat until leeks are tender and liquid reduces completely, about 8-10 minutes.

Spoon ricotta cheese into a large bowl. Add leeks, basil, eggs, salt and pepper and mix until blended. Cover bowl and set aside.

To make White Sauce, melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add chicken stock 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly, to incorporate liquid. Add cream and stir as sauce thickens. Stir in cheese until blended. Add 1/2 cup of hot sauce to bowl with beaten eggs and stir to temper eggs. Add eggs to sauce and stir constantly for 2 minutes more, then remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 350F (175C).

To assemble lasagna, smear white sauce on the bottom of a 13 x 9 inch baking pan. For each layer, lay 3 noodles, side by side, over bottom of pan. Cut broken noodles to fill in any gaps or extend the length of the pan. Dollop 1/2 cup ricotta cheese mixture over noodles. Scatter 1/3 cup of scallops, shrimp, and artichoke over ricotta. Spoon 1/3 cup sauce over ingredients and top with 1/2 cup of Swiss and Gruyere cheese mixture. Repeat layers 3 more times. Top final layer with noodles and spoon sauce over top. Scatter Swiss and Gruyere cheese over sauce. Bake for 45 minutes or until top is bubbling. Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes.

Precut lasagna into 3-inch squares and place on a trivet or hot plate on the buffet table. Garnish with shredded basil leaves. Store covered in the refrigerator or freezer and reheat before serving.

Makes 12– 15 servings

Photo Credit: jough on Flickr