Smoked and Fresh Salmon Roulade with Leeks

Mastering Seafood II

This recipe was adapted from my Superior Cuisine Class at the Paris Cordon Bleu School and even though it came from the advanced class, it is pretty easy to prepare, but still mouth-watering delicious. It combines smoked salmon with raw salmon that is first marinated in lemon juice; the citric acids in the juice wind up ‘cooking’ the salmon, so there should be no worries about eating it. All the flavors infuse together nicely: the smokiness of the salmon, the lemon juice, shallots, capers, chives- making this either a nice appetizer or mains for lunch time.

I garnished my plate with several dots of reduced balsamic vinegar and some caviar placed on top of dried coriander leaves- this helps to dress up the plate a bit.

My last post Calamari and Prawn Thai Salad, revealed that I’m in the midst of teaching a class called ‘Mastering Seafood’, so I’ll be teaching this Salmon Roulade recipe to the class. Last week, I gave the class a preliminary taste of this recipe and there were lots of ‘oohs and aahs’ being emitted! It was also great to see some of the students taking their Whole Baked Snappers out of the oven and learning new techniques of making Crab Bisque using the shells of the crabs.

 

• Smoked and Fresh Salmon Roulade with Leeks (see printable recipe below)

 Ingredients

•  100 g of smoked salmon, thinly sliced
• 200 g fresh raw salmon, thinly sliced
• Juice from 3 lemons

 Filling for the salmon roulade

•  2 hard-boiled egg whites
• 2 tsp chives, diced
• 2 tbsp shallots, diced
• 3 tbsp ricotta cheese
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp capers
• Salt/pepper to taste
• 1 leek (white part) sliced into julienned strips
• 1 tbsp butter

Directions

• Slice the fresh raw salmon into thin strips of about 2 mm or 1/8 inch thick. Marinate the salmon in the juice of 2-3 lemons for at least 30 minutes until the flesh turns a light pink. This marinade will ‘cook’ the salmon.

• To prepare the filling, roughly chop the egg whites from two hard-boiled eggs. Add this to the bowl of a food processor along with the chives, shallots, ricotta cheese, olive oil and capers. Process until smooth and set aside. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

• Slice the white part of a leek in half lengthwise, then cut into thin julienne strips. Soften the leeks in a little butter in a small saucepan on the stovetop.

• To assemble the roulade, place the thin strips of smoked salmon on a large piece of plastic wrap set on a work surface, overlapping them to form a rectangular shape about 9 inches wide (23 cm) and 5 inches long (13 cm).

• Spread the ricotta cheese filling in the center of the smoked salmon rectangle, leaving a margin of about one inch on the sides. Now add the thin slices of marinated fresh salmon on top of the filling, followed by a thin strip of leeks.

• Lift the edges of the salmon mixture and begin to roll it up into a tight sausage shape, with the plastic wrap remaining on the outside of the roulade. Hold the two ends of the plastic wrap close to the salmon mixture as you roll it into the sausage shape. Tie each end tightly with some kitchen string.

• Place the roulade in the fridge for at least two hours until the it becomes firmer and the flavors start to infuse together. Slice into rounds about 1 – 2 inches thick and serve on top of a small bed of mixed greens. Decorate the plate with some dots of reduced balsamic vinegar and dried coriander leaves, if desired.