Recipes: Fabulous Festive Fish! Little Smoked Salmon Cucumber Cups With Peppered Crème Fraiche (2024)

FAQs

How to prepare and serve smoked salmon? ›

The classic option is to serve a slice of the fish on a pancake or blini, but try it out in homemade sushi with cold smoked salmon, in tortilla rolls with cream cheese, or on toasted crostini too.

Try smoked salmon any number of ways in tacos—with pineapple tomatillo salsa, pickled radishes or cilantro slaw and mango salsa. Or use the salmon in pastas like Salmon and Broccoli Penne or Spinach Pesto Fusilli, or over crisp rounds of baked polenta.

Spread a thin layer of cream cheese over a slice of smoked salmon; add half a dozen capers and a little black pepper; roll it around a spear of chilled cucumber or a grilled asparagus.

Cold-smoked salmon is best enjoyed cold and fresh. In other words, don't cook it or bake it. Top bagels and cream cheese with thin slices of cold-smoked salmon and capers. Use it in homemade sushi rolls, on crackers, or on blinis.

Portion size. Serving: As soon as the salmon arrives, place in the refrigerator (or freeze if for use at a later date). Smoked Salmon is already cooked, so it typically needs no further cooking. Preparing it as often as simple as pairing it with herbs, bread, wine or other foods and drinks.

I like a combination of cool cucumbers and tomatoes with bold, peppery radish, red onion, and crispy green peppers. Slicing the veggies thinly into rounds makes them easy to stack with the salmon on top of your favorite cracker, bagel or whatever you serve along.

Cheese to use with smoked salmon

Cream cheese is the classic, obvious choice to pair with lox, but other soft cheeses such as goat cheese, labneh, brie, or feta (my favorite!) could work as well. To make my feta more spreadable, I break it up with the back of a spoon and mix it with some quality extra virgin olive oil.

Salmon skin is usually considered safe to eat. The skin contains more of the same minerals and nutrients contained in salmon.

Salad – A leafy green salad, chopped salad or potato salad are all perfect pairings. Vegetables – Any vegetable side such as carrots, green beans, Brussels sprouts, bell peppers, pickles, grilled corn or corn on the cob taste great alongside this rich-tasting fish.

If you're looking for a more traditional option, water crackers are a classic choice that won't overpower the delicate flavor of the fish. For something with a bit more crunch, consider using rye crackers, which offer a hearty texture that pairs perfectly with the smokiness of the salmon.

How to spice up smoked salmon? ›

Try adding some chopped herbs to your smoked salmon dish to give it a fresh, bright flavor. Serve it with a creamy sauce: Smoked salmon is rich and flavorful on its own, but pairing it with a creamy sauce can take it to the next level. Try serving your smoked salmon with a dill cream sauce or a lem.

Both types of smoked salmon can be eaten cold right out of the package. Hot-smoked salmon can also be reheated and is great in hot dishes. Unlike fresh salmon, which should be prepared and eaten within 48 hours, smoked salmon has a longer shelf life.

For the buffet table at a co*cktail party, LeDuc says, "We allow 2 oz. of smoked salmon per person if other proteins are offered on the table, or 4 oz. per person if salmon is the main course.

Arrange salmon, potatoes, onion, cucumber, radishes, tomatoes, eggs, roe, capers and lemon wedges on a platter (or platters). Sprinkle with chopped dill and pepper. Garnish with fresh dill sprigs, if desired.

For a subtle and nutty flavor, try pairing smoked salmon with whole-grain crackers. If you're looking for a more traditional option, water crackers are a classic choice that won't overpower the delicate flavor of the fish.