Warm Smoked Salmon with Spinach Dressing

Smoked-Salmon-on-Potato-Cakes

Ingredients

  • 8 slices smoked salmon
  • Mixed lettuce leaves, shredded

Dressing

  • 50g (2 oz) fresh spinach leaves
  • 100ml (4 oz) sunflower oil
  • 1½ tablesp. balsamic vinegar
  • ½ tsp. fresh lemon juice
  • Salt and black pepper

To Cook

Make equal-sized mounds of lettuce on four starter plate. Drape two smoked salmon slices over each mound. Blend or liquidise together the spinach, oil, vinegar and lemon juice. Season with salt and black pepper.

Warm each plate of smoked salmon in the hot oven for a minute. Pour dressing over and around the salmon mounds and serve.

Gerry Galvin
Drimcong House Restaurant,
Moycullen, Co. Galway

http://www.bordbia.ie/consumer/recipes/Pages/WarmSmokedSalmonwithSpinachDressing.aspx

Organic Salad with Roasted Vegetables, Salad Leaves and Cheese

Organic-salad-with-roasted-vegetables

This makes a perfect lunch with some crusty bread.

 Serves 4

Preparation time: 30 mins

Ingredients

  • 1-2 aubergines
  • 8 unpeeled garlic cloves
  • 3 tablesp.olive oil
  • 2 red peppers, halved and deseeded
  • 2 tablesp. balsamic vinegar
  • 4 scallions, finely sliced
  • 8-10 black olives
  • Salt and black pepper
  • Salad leaves, generous handful per person
  • 200g cheese

To Cook

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4, 180°C (350°F). Slice the aubergines lengthwise and mix with 6 of the garlic cloves and 1-2 tablespoons of the oil. Spread out on a baking sheet. Season well. Roast until tender – this will take approximately 20 minutes.

Grill the peppers until well blackened. Cover with a tea towel and leave to cool. Then remove the skins and cut into strips.

Whisk the vinegar with the remaining oil in a large bowl, peel and chop the remaining garlic and add to the bowl. Mix in the aubergines and peppers, scallions and olives. Taste for seasoning. Tear up the salad leaves, arrange on a large platter, top with aubergine mixture and sprinkle with cheese.

Serving Suggestions

Serve with crusty bread.

 

The Classic French Omelette

classic-french-omelette

 Everybody, 9-90, should know how to make an omelette, then dinner is only 3 minutes away. Here it is step by step.

Ingredients

  • 3 Eggs
  • 3 teasp. water
  • ½ tablesp. fresh herbs, chopped
  • Salt and black pepper
  • Knob of butter

Filling

  • A little butter
  • 25g Oyster or button mushrooms, chopped
  • 25g Farmhouse Cheese, grated

Alternative Filling:

  • Chopped tomatoes, basil, scallions

To Cook

Prepare the Filling

A non-stick omelette pan is essential. Beat the eggs, water, herbs and seasoning together. Heat the pan well, add the butter, pour in the egg mixture. Work quickly, drawing the egg to the centre of the pan as it begins to set. This allows the uncooked mixture to reach the base of the pan. Continue until you have the omelette cooked to your liking.

Place the filling along the centre of the omelette. Starting at the handle, fold over the omelette by 1/3.Slide the omelette down the pan.

Then, with your hand under the handle, tip the omelette onto a warm plate, making the third fold. Sprinkle with finely grated cheese (optional) and serve with mixed salad leaves.

Smoked Salmon on Potato Cakes

bord bia smo sal on pot cakes

Very good, easy to prepare starter, potato cakes can be made ahead and reheated

 Serves 6

Ingredients

  • 450g cooked, mashed potatoes
  • 75g flour
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 2 tablesp. scallions, finely chopped
  • Salt, pepper and nutmeg
  • 50g butter, melted
  • 125 ml soured cream
  • 1 tablesp. dill, chopped
  • Salt and black pepper

To Cook

Mix the potato, flour, eggs, scallions, salt, pepper, nutmeg and half the butter. Mix well together and shape into 12 small potato cakes. Heat the remaining butter in a non-stick pan and then cook the potato cakes until browned on each side. The cakes can be served immediately or kept overnight in the fridge. 15 minutes before serving reheat in a hot oven.

Serving Suggestions

Mix the soured cream, dill and seasoning. Place a slice of smoked salmon on each potato cake and top with the cream mixture.

Smoked Salmon with Boxty Pancakes and Soured Cream

Boxty is a traditional Irish pancake made with a mixture of mashed and grated raw potatoes.  Combined with smoked salmon it makes a great brunch or lunch dish.

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 250g potatoes, peeled, cooked and mashed
  • 250g raw potatoes, peeled and grated
  • 100g plain flour
  • 125ml milk
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1-2 tablesp. olive oil
  • A knob of butter
  • 8 sliced of smoked salmon
  • 150ml soured cream

To Cook

Put both the mashed and grated potatoes in a bowl. Sprinkle over the flour and seasoning and mix until evenly combined. Add the milk, little by little, until you have a dropping consistency.

Heat a little oil in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add a knob of butter. When the butter begins to foam, spoon a tablespoon of the mixture into the frying pan. Cook for a couple of minutes on each side until golden brown. Depending on the size of the pan you can cook two or three at the same time.

Remove from the pan and keep warm while you finish cooking the pancakes. Serve with sliced smoked salmon and a spoon of soured cream.

 

Poached Eggs on Tomato and Mushroom Toasts

poached-eggs-on-tomato-and-mushroom-toasts

Ingredients

  • Olive oil
  • 2 large flat mushrooms, thinly sliced
  • Pinch of salt & black pepper
  • 1 tablesp. white wine vinegar
  • 4 eggs
  • 4 thick slices of good bread, toasted on one side
  • 4-6 cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced
  • 4 slices cheese

To Cook

Heat a little of the olive oil and sauté the mushrooms for a minute or two and season.
Set aside. Bring a shallow pan of water to simmer, add the vinegar and salt. Break one egg onto a saucer, stir the water to create a whirlpool, tip in the egg and leave to cook for 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, lift on to a plate. Repeat with the remaining eggs. Keep the water hot.

Heat the grill to high, arrange the mushrooms on the untoasted side of the bread, cover with the tomatoes and then the cheese, grill for 5-6 mins until the cheese has just melted. Place the toast on warmed plates. Slide all the eggs back into the hot water and leave for 30 seconds, lift out and drain on kitchen paper, then put one on top of toast. Season and serve.

Nutritional Analysis per Serving

Protein: 16g 

Carbohydrates: 25g 

Fat: 16g  

Iron: 2.2mg 

Energy: 292 kcal 

http://www.bordbia.ie/consumer/recipes/eggs/pages/poachedeggs.aspx

Colcannon Cakes with Poached Eggs and Hollandaise Sauce

colcannon-cakes-with-poached-eggs-and-hollandaise-sauce

This dish would also be delicious served with a slice of baked ham or bacon if you have any leftover. Alternatively, chop up the ham or bacon and add to the colcannon mixture before shaping into patties.

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 450g potatoes, peeled
  • 40g butter
  • 3 scallions, finely chopped
  • A little salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 50g Savoy cabbage, shredded
  • A little plain flour, for dusting
  • Olive oil, for frying
  • 1 tablesp. white wine vinegar
  • 4 large eggs

For the Hollandaise Sauce

  • 2 teasp. white wine or tarragon vinegar
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 100g unsalted butter

To Cook

Cook the potatoes in a covered pan of boiling salted water for 15-20 minutes until tender.

Meanwhile, heat a knob of the butter and one tablespoon of water in a heavy-based pan with a lid, over a high heat. When the butter has melted and formed an emulsion, add the scallions and cabbage with a pinch of salt. Cover, shake vigorously and cook over a high heat for 1 minute. Shake the pan again and cook for another minute, then season with pepper.

Drain the potatoes and mash until smooth, then beat in the remaining butter. Fold in the cabbage mixture. Shape the mixture into four balls, dust with flour and press into neat patties.

Heat a thin film of olive oil in a heavy-based frying pan and add the patties, then cook for 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown.

To make the poached eggs, bring a large pan of water to the boil. Add the vinegar and season with salt and keep at a very gentle simmer. Break the eggs into the water and simmer for 3-4 minutes until just cooked but still soft on the inside. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain well on kitchen paper, trimming away any ragged edges.

To make the hollandaise sauce, place the vinegar and egg yolks in a food processor with a pinch of salt. Blend until just combined.

Gently heat the butter in a heavy-based pan until melted and just beginning to foam. Turn on the food processor and with the motor running at medium speed; pour in the melted butter in a thin, steady stream through the feeder tube. Continue to blitz for another 5 seconds and pour back into the pan but do not return to the heat. Allow the heat from the pan to finish thickening the sauce as you stir it gently for another minute before serving. Season to taste with salt.

Serving Suggestions

To serve, place a colcannon cake on each warmed plate and place a poached egg on top of each one. Spoon over the hollandaise sauce and add a grinding of black pepper.

Nutritional Analysis per Serving

Protein:   13g 

Carbohydrates:   23g 

Fat:    46g 

Iron:    2.5mg 

Energy:  555kcal 

What’s in the Fridge Omelette.@bordbia

whats-in-french-omelette2

Brunch, lunch or dinner in 15 minutes.

 Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 1½ tablesp. olive oil
  • 4-6 potatoes, peeled and diced
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 8 eggs, beaten with 2 tablesp. freshly grated cheese
  • A little salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Chopped parsley

To Cook

Heat the oil in a non-stick pan and cook the potatoes for 8-10 minutes until nearly cooked and beginning to brown. Add the onion and continue to cook until the onion is just golden, then add the garlic.

When the potatoes are just cooked, season the egg mixture and add to the potatoes. Stir well and allow the eggs to cook on the base. Place a plate over the pan, carefully turn the omlette onto the plate, then slide back into the pan to cook the other side.

Serving Suggestions

To serve, sprinkle with parsley and cut into wedges.

Note

You can add other ingredients, whatever is available – chopped ham, bacon, scallions, mushrooms. You can of course use up cooked potatoes, but the flavour is much better if you start out with uncooked.

http://www.bordbia.ie/consumer/recipes/Christmas/Pages/WhatsintheFridgeOmlette.aspx