Some people think the canapé has had its day – but I completely disagree. The canapé is an absolute entertaining godsend. Prepared in advance and ready to go when your guests arrive, the canapé means you can put your best foot forward while you deal with any main course issues that might be occuring in the kitchen at the same time. It allows you to appear like the proverbial duck – gliding smoothly through the water when looking from above, yet paddling its feet furiously if looking under water.
I don’t know about you, but I always seem to feel like the proverbial duck.
When it comes to a canapé, my go to is smoked salmon. We are blessed with spectacular smoked salmon here in Australia and it lends itself to a canapé very nicely. It provides a great delicate flavour that won’t overpower your guest’s palates in preparation for the rest of the meal.
So, why all this talk about canapés and smoked salmon? Because I’m delighted to announce that Chew Town and Woolworths have joined in partnership to bring you some wonderful recipes featuring products from Woolworth’s premium Gold range.
Woolworth’s Gold range of products makes it easy to create great meals as they use locally sourced high quality ingredients and traditional craftsmanship to create wonderful premium products for you to cook with at home.
Woolworth’s Gold Fresh Tasmanian Smoked Salmon has just been awarded Product of the Year in the Premium Deli category (Product of the Year is the world’s largest consumer-voted award for product innovation) and so to start off this partnership, I’m delighted to bring you two Smoked Salmon canapé recipes featuring this award winning product that will have you looking like an absolute pro at your next dinner party.
You can choose the best smoked salmon recipe for you depending on your level of confidence (or desired effort for the time poor) in the kitchen. The first recipe is for super cute Smoked Salmon Pate Puffs. These are perfect for those who have very little time to prep, or want to serve something to guests that looks much harder than it actually is.
If you have a little extra time, or some left over mashed potato in the fridge, you can try the oven baked smoked salmon and pea croquettes which are just spectacular fresh out of the oven.
Both recipes can be prepared well in advance so the pate can be piped, or the croquettes popped in the oven just before your guests are due to arrive. Whichever one you decide the try, the hero of both recipes is definitely the smoked salmon – so head over to your nearest Woolworths and grab yourself a packet of Gold Tasmanian Smoked Salmon.
COMPETITION
For those of you keen to give the Gold range products a try, you are in luck! Thanks to Woolworths, Chew Town has a $100 Woolworths voucher to give away to Australian readers. To be in with a chance to win, follow Chew Town on Instagram and share the Smoked Salmon Canape competition post with an answer to the question “what is your favourite smoked salmon dish?” and the hashtags #WoolworthsGold and #whatsfordinner. The tastiest answer will be chosen and notified via instagram on 27 March 2015.
Smoked Salmon Pate Puffs
Ingredients
- 3 sheets puff pastry
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tablespoon milk
- 200g Woolworths Gold Tasmanian Smoked Salmon
- 200g cream cheese
- 2 tablespoons Crème fraîche
- Juice of a 150g lemon
- 2 tablespoons chopped dill fronds
Directions
Preheat oven to 200° Celsius.
Defrost puff pastry sheets. Once defrosted, using a 7cm diameter circle cookie cutter, cut 12 circles from each sheet of puff pastry and place on baking trays lined with baking paper. Make an egg wash by combining the egg and milk in a small ramekin. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the tops of all the puff pastry circles with the egg wash. Place trays in the oven and bake for 10 minutes on 200 degrees or until the circles are puffed and golden. Remove from the oven to cool completely and store in an airtight container till ready to serve.
Meanwhile, slice the smoked salmon into rough pieces and set aside. Place cream cheese, crème fraîche and lemon in a food processor and blend until well combined. Add the smoked salmon, dill and pepper to taste and blend on a high speed until the mixture is smooth. Set aside in the fridge till ready to prepare.
A short time before your guests are due to arrive, place the pate in a piping bag with a large star nozzle and pipe a small amount of the pate onto each puff pastry round and top with a sprig of dill. Store in the fridge till ready to serve.
Baked Smoked Salmon and Pea Croquettes
Ingredients
- 1kg golden russet potatoes (or other good mashing potato)
- 2 tablespoons buttermilk
- 150g fresh shelled peas (or frozen peas)
- 1/2 tablespoon butter
- 200g Woolworths Gold Tasmanian Smoked Salmon
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped chives
- Zest of 1/2 large lemon
- Salt and Pepper
- 1/2 cup plain flour
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
- Olive oil spray
- Lemon wedges to serve
Directions
Peel and dice potatoes into 3cm squares then boil in a saucepan of water over medium high heat for 20 minutes or until soft enough to mash. Take off the heat, drain the water and return to the pot. Add buttermilk and mash with a hand masher until smooth (it is important not to make the potato mash too smooth or it will be hard to form the croquettes). Add salt to taste.
In a small pot, boil the peas for a few minutes until cooked, then transfer to a bowl with the butter and puree till smooth using a hand blender. Add the peas to the mash and stir till well combined and the mash turns a soft green.
Chop the smoked salmon into small pieces and stir through the mashed potato with the lemon zest, chopped chives and pepper to taste.
Set mixture aside in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill. Then, taking a tablespoon full of the mixture, form it into a log shape. Repeat with the remaining mixture. If your mixture is too hard to form, chill for longer before shaping.
Once the shaped croquettes are firm they are ready to crumb. Place flour on a plate, then Place breadcrumbs on another plate and Whisk egg and milk together in a shallow bowl. Roll croquettes in flour, shaking off the excess, then dip in egg mixture and coat in breadcrumbs.
At this point, if you want to shallow fry or deep fry your croquettes you can, but I am opting for the healthier baked option.
Preheat oven to 180° Celsius.
Divide the croquettes between two lined baking trays and spray liberally with olive oil. Place trays in the oven and bake for 20 minutes total (till the outside is golden and crisp and before the filling escapes).
Chew Town would like to acknowledge its partnership with Woolworths for this post. You can read Chew Town’s disclosure statement here for more information on brands that Chew Town chooses to work with and why. The recipe above was created, developed and photographed by Chew Town using ingredients from Woolworths.
Beautiful. The photos of the pate puffs are stellar… so delicate. I usually eat more with little bites of food like this. It’s a curse! Have a great weekend.
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Thanks you have solved my recipes for my next lunch for the girls.
xxxx
Elaine
I love the sound of these canapes! Thank you – I’ve been looking for smoked salmon recipe ideas.
That first shot is GREAT and the puffs look so perfect. Thanks for sharing
These look like gorgeous entertaining ideas with Smoked Salmon. Beautiful as usual.
I do love a good canapé, and I really adore the look of the salmon pate puffs.
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Reminds me of my days as a waitress at wedding functions in the late 60s when all sorts of piped stuff was served as canapés!!!!
Tasmanian salmon is farmed which means it is unsustainable.
They look really I’ll try them with family thankx
I actually came over to get this recipe 🙂 Dinner party on Fri, need a schamncy easy appetiser! 🙂
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