It was one of those moments when you try something new and you know what the joy of good food is.
So said resident sis after we had practically inhaled a lunch of mildly sweet and delicate gravad lax from Kinvara Smoked Salmon (proving that you don’t have to be famous to get quoted on this blog, but it does help if you’re related).
She’s in good company as far as her opinion of Kinvara’s smoked salmon goes. Nigel Slater and Jeffrey Steingarten are among the noteworthy food writers who have had kind words to say on that particular subject. Having worked my way through the samples very kindly sent to me, I can’t say that I would object to finding any of them on my plate (though the gravad lax remains a particular favourite).
Pressies from Kinvara Smoked Salmon
And though it is fair to say that you should do very little to good smoked salmon except eat it, I think that there’s nothing wrong with using some classic potato salad to provide a soft, creamy filling around which to wrap a slice of perfectly smoked salmon. But there again, I would say that. You can quote me if you like.
Smoked Salmon Stuffed with Potato Salad
This part hardly needs a formal recipe – just wrap your slices of salmon around a dollop of potato salad, serve with a wedge of lemon and some dill and you’re done. Apart from eating the end result, that is, but I was taking that part as read.
The amount of filling you can add to a slice of salmon will naturally depend on the size of the slices you have. The slices of Kinvara smoked salmon were around 15cm long and between 5cm and 8cm wide and I filled them with 2 heaped tablespoons of the salad. Adjust according to the size of slices you have.
You could serve a couple of these as a starter, say, or for a lunch serving, have two or three of these with an additional helping of the salad on the side, along with some brown soda bread.
You’ll need:
- Smoked salmon, sliced fairly thinly, with individual slices large enough to be formed into a small filled roll
- Potato and egg salad (see below)
- Lemon wedges to serve
- Chopped dill to garnish
The Steps:
- Scoop around 2 heaped tblsp of potato salad onto the centre of each slice of smoked salmon and form into a roll.
- Garnished with chopped dill and serve with a lemon wedge.
The Results:
- As many filled smoked salmon rolls as you have slices of salmon.
Potato And Egg Salad
This is really a fairly classic potato salad, though it does use cream cheese in place of the usual mayonnaise and generally involves lots of things that are happy, not just in the company of potatoes, but in the company of smoked salmon too.
You’ll need:
- 800g new potatoes (or waxy salad potatoes)
- 2 cloves garlic, lightly crushed
- 2 tsp salt, for boiling the potatoes
- 4 eggs, hard-boiled
- 120g cream cheese, softened
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- 3 tblsp lemon juice
- 30 drops tabasco
- 4 tblsp capers
- 8 spring onions, white and green parts finely sliced
- 100g celery, finely diced (2-4 sticks, depending on size)
- 4 tblsp finely chopped dill
- 1 tsp coarse salt or to taste
- freshly ground black pepper
The Steps:
- Scrub the potatoes and halve or quarter any larger potatoes so that you have roughly even-sized pieces, then bring about 1.5l of water to the boil in a saucepan, add about 2 tsp salt, the pieces of crushed garlic and the potatoes.
- Bring the potatoes back to the boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer gently, covered, for around 15-20 minutes or until just fork-tender, then drain well, return them to the saucepan and allow them to cool, covered by a tea-towel.
- Once cool enough to handle, peel the potatoes or not as you prefer, and chop into approx. 0.5cm chunks.
- In a large bowl, mash together the hard-boiled eggs, cream cheese, mustard, lemon juice, tabasco and capers.
- Stir in the chopped potato, spring onions, celery and dill. Add salt and black pepper to taste and more tabasco if you like.
The Variations:
- You could certainly replace some or all of the spring onions with chives or add some horseradish for a bit of extra bite.
The Results:
- Salad servings for 4-6 or enough to fill around 25 to 30 slices of smoked salmon as above.
Lovely! That salmon looks wonderful and I love the addition of cream cheese to the potato salad. I must try that.
I am a big fan of salmon but for some reason smoked salmon/lox freaks me out. Ha. It is a big part of the Jewish culture but I tend to avoid it. There is just something about it that weirds me out. However, this dish and my love for potatoes might actually get me to try it. Good job!
Yum – potato salad wrapped in smoked salmon is one of my absolute favourites. Making the salad with cream cheese sounds like a fab idea – so it goes even better with the salmon. I’m definitely going to give this a try.
Susan: the salmon was lovely, the potato salad too :)
GrilledShane: I guess everyone has foods that, for whatever reason, weird them out and maybe smoked salmon is not for you. But hey, even if you don’t care for the smoked salmon part, you can always have the potato salad!
Nora: you know, I think it was the first time I ever wrapped potato salad with smoked salmon, but not the last :)
Gorgeous recipe! And for all you trying out the cream cheese potato salad why not give our Yeats Country Organic Soft Cheese a try.
Mmm, I can just imagine how that tastes. I bet just as good as it looks!
Yeats Country Foods: your gorgeous cream cheese would, of course, be an excellent choice here!
Carla: welcome and thanks for dropping in – it does (or rather did!) taste pretty good alright :)
I love smoked salmon and had some incredible samples when I was in Ireland, especially around Kinsale and Cork. I see that Kinvara is in Galway, oh dear, I missed them and now I need to go back.
Your salad looks absolutely spectacular – I love the capers, mustard et al. I’ve never added cream cheese to my potato salad before, but I bet its awesome.
Cheers to the smoked salmon. No doubt you know how to put it to good use.
I hate potato salad – not sure why, it just doesn’t do much for me, however, I LOVE smoked salmon. I could eat it all day. Perhaps I’ll give this a shot – my fiancee likes potato salad, so maybe we can both be happy with this.
OysterCulture: we really do have some great smoked salmon in these parts and you would have gotten some good stuff down in Cork; looking forward to when you come back to sample some more!
Velva: the salmon is so good that it’s not hard to think of ways to put it to good use :)
Ross: hey, potato salad is not for everyone and that’s allowed; you can always have the salmon and your fiancee can have the salad, so long as you’re both happy!
I love it, and want some of it now! Crazy good…
Hey Chef E, I’ll send some right over!
Brill-EEE-ant! Cream cheese in potato salad, then wrapped in smoked salmon? Be still my rumbling tummy! My pesce-vegetarian sister is coming for a visit and I’ve been looking for recipes to serve her. This is absolutely perfect!
Hope your sister likes, TN. Hope you like it too, of course :) I have just about come to the end of my stash of smoked salmon and am thinking I might just have to go and get some more!
I am wild about smoked salmon and I love what you’ve done with it here! Almost like involtini!
Glad you like it Sarah! And they are definitely a bit like involtini, which can’t be a bad thing :)
Two of my favourite ingredients. That is not fair – not when i am not eating potatoes. however, i do have to say that the use of cream cheese instead of mayo is genius.
Oh Valentina, I’m so sorry to taunt you so when you’re avoiding potatoes! I would be in big trouble if I had to avoid eating potatoes myself :D
I LOVE salmon- that looks delish! My absolute favorite salmon dish is linguine with smoked salmon. It’s definitely not healthy, but it tastes amazing!
Hey Kathryn, thanks for stopping by. That linguine sounds fab – must give it a go sometime!
Another great salmon recipe…I like it!
Now this so good. Definitely going to try this. Thanks for sharing.
Simon