Thursday, July 10, 2008
Croque Salmon
Ingredients
4 slices white bread
1 tbsp melted, clarified butter
3 tbsp whipping cream
50g finely grated gruyere
freshly grated nutmeg
fine sea salt and powdered white pepper
1 tsp of finely chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley
100g smoked salmon
How to make Croque Salmon
This is a great breakfast, snack, or light lunch sandwich. It's based on the popular croque monsieur, but done with smoked salmon instead. Feel free to swap the salmon for some other cured meat and substitute appropriate herbs/spices in the cheese mix as well. The only important thing to note is that the gruyere has to be VERY finely grated, so unless you're using a very fine grater (e.g. a fine microplane), finely chop the cheese again after it's been shredded.
Cut the skins off the bread, and spread one side of each slice with clarified butter.
Whisk the whipping cream until it has thickened, but before it forms soft peaks (it should be kind of frothy, like a thin milkshakes consistency). Fold in the cheese, a pinch of nutmeg (I used about 1/4 of a whole nutmeg, grated in freshly), and season with salt and pepper. Add in the parsley, and mix gently to combine.
Spread the cheese-and-cream mixture onto the unbuttered side of the bread. Layer the smoked salmon slices over the cheese mixture on two slices of the bread, trimming the slices so they don't stick out from the sides of the bread and ensuring that the entire surface is covered. Cover with the other slices so the order of each sandwich is butter, bread, cheese, salmon, cheese, bread, butter. (You can make the sandwiches until this step and store them in the fridge overnight.)
Just before serving, heat a non stick sauté pan over medium-low heat. Place the sandwiches in and cook gently to toast the bread and to warm through and melt the cheese without overcooking the salmon (it should take about 3 minutes per side). Cut into smaller pieces and enjoy!
