Simple Salmon En Croute - Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

Hi Everybody!

I've got a great recipe for you all. I just tried it tonight and couldn't wait to share!

Once again, over the weekend I chose a few random cookbooks and said to myself, "Ok, I gotta pick one or two new recipes and make them this week"  I make it sound like its such chore!

So as I was having my Saturday morning coffee, flipping through Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution cookbook …


I want to interrupt my story to tell you that my husband laughs at me little because as he reads his newspaper on Saturday mornings, catching up on current events, I sit there pouring over several cookbooks - asking him which of these recipes he'll want to eat next week.  He usually exclaims, 
"I don't know what I'll want to eat NEXT WEEK!"   


Jeez…I do.

Anyway,  I came across this recipe towards the end of the book. Salmon en Croute. It caught my eye because first of all, I try to eat fish at least once a week (Omega 3!!!!) and because it called for puff pastry. I LOVE anything in puff pastry. Put cardboard in a little puff pastry and I'll eat it.
I looked over the recipe to see if it was feasible for a weeknight dinner and it was - Simple ingredients, fresh, not heavy, cooking time was acceptable.

I don't know about you but whenever I think fish and puff pastry, I also automatically think "cream". This recipe does not contain cream. Perfect for a weeknight. I tend to reserve heavier, more rich foods for the weekend.


Anyone who knows me knows that I love Jamie Oliver's recipes , cookbooks , products - anything Jamie.    His Food Revolution cookbook is one of my favourites because the recipes are easy, delicious, international and affordable. 

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

• All purpose flour for dusting
• 2 sheets of puff pastry ( I bought frozen Tenderflake puff pastry)
• 1x 1 + 3/4 pounds of Salmon fillets bones removed and preferably skinned (I used trout this time)
• Olive oil for drizzling
• Kosher salt and fresh pepper
• 1/4 cup black olive tapenade (I bought Fontaine Sante)
• a small bunch of fresh Basil
• 2 ripe tomatoes
• 1 beaten egg (to brush on your pastry)
• 1/4 pound ball of fresh mozzarella (Saputo is fine - Looks like this (below) and is usually stored in water)

To prepare your salmon en croute:


Preheat oven to 400F
Get yourself a large flat cookie sheet and dust with flour
Dust a clean surface and a rolling pin with flour.
Lay the puff pastry as is -  out of the box
Roll out your pastry until its the same size as your cookie sheet. (about 12x6 inches) (Mine was slightly bigger and it worked out fine, I just rolled out the pastry to the size of my pan. I also had two small fillets , I placed them side by side, so it worked out)
Place the pastry into your floured pan.
Drizzle the salmon fillet with olive oil and season with a pinch of salt and pepper.
Transfer your fillet to the pastry, skin side down, then spoon the black olive paste over top, spreading it out in a thin layer.
Pick the basil leaves , tear into large pieces and place them over the fish.
Slice the tomatoes and place them over the basil.

Tear the mozzarella into pieces and scatter these on top.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil.
Gather up the sides of the pastry and pinch and push them together.
With a pastry brush, brush your beaten egg over the pastry edges. This will ensure your "croute" becomes a beautiful golden colour.

To cook and serve your salmon en croute.

Place the cookie sheet at the very bottom of the preheated oven with an empty cookie sheet on the rack above to protect the top from getting too much heat.
Cook for 35 minutes, then remove from the oven and serve in the middle of the table so that everyone can cut themselves a slice
Great served with any steamed veg or a lovely green salad (the usual story!)

Steph's notes: There's only one thing I would do differently next time - just to try..I would like to use Feta or soft goat cheese instead of fresh Mozzarella. I think that the flavour would go so well with the olive tapenade. Of course I wouldn't put much and I wouldn't salt the dish as much. I could just imagine it browning a little. mmmmm! I'll try and get back to you! =)

Right about at this stage, I knew this was gonna be great That's why I started taking pictures from this point..lol

Yay - Cheese!

I folded the edges in as neatly as I could.

After the egg wash

I really wanted to place it in a nice dish for the picture but  alas, it was stuck.

Does it look tasty?  Don't now how it looks to you guys.
It looks good to me 'cause I made it and ate it like, two seconds after this shot.
My taste buds were dancing the cha-cha!!

See why Omega 3 is so important for maintaining good health! Click on the link below.
Its great to prevent heart disease, improves brain function, and more (I accidentally wrote brian function…so I guess I need more Omega 3)


http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/omega-3-000316.htm


Thanks for reading xoxo