大象传媒

All recipes courtesy of Ballymaloe Cookery School.

Hot Smoked Duck Breast

Serve thinly sliced in salads or simply on warm toast, also delicious with beetroot relish.

First prick the duck breasts well with a thin skewer. Immerse them in 80% brine for 2-3 hours depending on the size. Then drain and dry on a rack for 12 hours in an inactive smoker.

Cold smoke for 12-24 hours at 24-26掳C (75-80掳F). One could finish them off by hot smoking for an hour at 110掳C (230掳F).

Cool and eat within a week. Vacuum packed they keep for 5 or 6 weeks.

Note: We often hot smoke duck breasts in a biscuit tin over a gas jet. Just scatter a few tablespoons of saw dust on the bottom of the tin. Put a rack on top. Place the dried (brined) duck on top and cover the box. Pop on top of the gas on a low heat for 15 minutes. Turn off. Heat again for 3 or 4 times.

Smoked Salmon

Ingredients:
1 wild Irish salmon or organic salmon
Pure sea salt or Brine
If you are brining, use an 80% salt solution: 1.2kg (2lb 10oz) of salt to 4.5litres (1 gallon)

Preparation:
First fillet the salmon (no need to remove the scales) with a large sharp chef鈥檚 knife. Cut around the head and in front of the fin. Slide the knife between the flesh and the backbone, cut through the pin bones from head to tail keeping the knife as close to the bone as possible. Repeat on the other side starting from the tail and working towards the head.

Lay each fillet skin side down on the board, trim off the rib bones and tidy the belly if necessary. Run your fingers along the fillet to identify the pin bones and remove them with a tweezers or a fish pincers. Wash if necessary and dry very well. Weigh each fillet and record weight

Lay the fillets on a stainless steel or delph platter at a slight angle so the dish tilts down towards the tail.

Salting (removes excess moisture and renders it unappetising to bacteria)
Sprinkle each fillet with sea salt to form a 5mm (1/4in) layer but stop 5-7cm (2-3in) from the tail. Allow to stand for 1 1/2 to 2 hours depending on the size of the fillet. Rinse the fillet under cold water to remove excess salt and dry well.

Brining
If you prefer to brine, choose an oval shape container. You will need to weight the fish down to prevent it from floating to the surface. Leave the fish in the brine for 1-3 hours depending on size and fat content (farmed fish tend to be fatter than wild fish).

Drying
If the fish has been brined, don鈥檛 rinse off the brine. Hang the fish in the inactive smoker for 12-24 hours. If the fish is not dry enough it will be too moist to smoke properly.

Smoking
Decide whether you wish to hot or cold smoke the fish.

The smoking time depends on your personal taste, ambient temperature and humidity. The colder and more muggy the weather the longer the process 鈥� it will take anything from 2-3 hours for hot smoking or 4-12 hours for cold smoking.

The fish should weigh 17-18% less when it is fully smoked. Lay the fish fillets on a wire rack or suspend by a hook from a pole.

Cold smoke at 28掳C (82掳F) for 48 hours, for mild smoking 24 hours (if the temperature rises above 29掳C (85掳F) this is the danger zone for bacteria) or Hot smoke at 55掳C (130掳F) - 82掳C (180掳F).

Mackerel can be smoked at 93掳C (200掳F).

Poultry and meat can be smoked at 82掳C (180掳F) to 115掳C (240掳F).

Maturation
Try to resist eating the salmon for 24 hours to allow the smoky flavour on the skin to penetrate the flesh.

Storage
Wrap in greaseproof, store in a fridge. Smoked salmon will keep for 8-10 days.

Smoked Irish Salmon with Potato Wafers and Horseradish Cream
Serves 6

Ingredients:
4 large potatoes
Olive oil for deep-frying
18 slices of smoked Irish Salmon
Freshly squeezed lemon juice
Ground black pepper
Horseradish Sauce (see recipe below)
Ballymaloe Cucumber Pickle (optional 鈥� see recipe below)
Garnish: Chives or Red onion rings, sprinkled with vinegar and sugar

Preparation:
First prepare the Horseradish Sauce (see below)
Put thinly sliced red onion rings into a bowl, sprinkle with a little vinegar and some sugar, they will soften and become even rosier in colour.

Scrub the potatoes, cut into very thin slices preferably with a mandolin (vegetable slicer). Heat the olive oil or a mixture of olive and sunflower oil in a deep fry to 200C. Cook the potato slices until crisp and golden. Drain on kitchen paper.

Slice the salmon thinly.

To assemble: Place a blob of Horseradish Sauce in the centre of a plate. Place a warm potato wafer on top, a ruffle of smoked salmon and some Ballymaloe Cucumber Pickle on top of that. Brush with freshly squeezed lemon juice - another blob of Horseradish Sauce, some freshly ground pepper, another potato wafer. Repeat twice more if you can manage to balance it, ending with a potato wafer.

Garnish with a blob of Horseradish Sauce, red onion rings and a couple of cheeky chives - Have fun eating this!

Horseradish Cream
Serves 8 - 10

Horseradish grows wild in many parts of these islands and it looks like giant dock leaves, the root which you grate can be dug up at any time of the year. If you can鈥檛 find it near you , plant some in your garden but be carefully it spreads like mad and can become a pest unless you are eating lots of horseradish.

Ingredients:
1 1/2-3 tablespoons grated horseradish
2 teaspoons wine vinegar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
pinch of freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
230ml (8 fl ozs) softly whipped cream

Preparation:
Scrub the horseradish root well, peel and grate. Put the grated horseradish into a bowl with the vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar. Fold in the softly whipped cream but do not overmix or the sauce will curdle. It keeps for 2-3 days in the fridge, cover tightly.

This is a fairly mild horseradish sauce. If you want to really 鈥渃lear the sinuses鈥�, increase the amount of horseradish!

Cucumber Pickle
Serves 10-12

Ingredients:
2 lb 4 ozs (1 kg/6 cups) thinly sliced unpeeled cucumber
3 small onions thinly sliced
12 ozs (340 g/1 3/4 cup) sugar
2 level tablespoons (2 American tablespoons + 2 teaspoons) salt
8 fl ozs (250 ml/1 cup) cider vinegar

Preparation:
Combine the cucumber and onion sliced in a large bowl. Mix the sugar, salt and vinegar together and pour over cucumbers. Place in a tightly covered container in refrigerator and leave for at least 4-5 hours or overnight before using.
Keeps well for up to a week in the refrigerator.

Seasonal note:
When we have our homegrown organic cucumbers we find that we need to reduce the sugar by 2-3oz.听

Retired? Downsizing? Moving home to be nearer the kids?