Smoked salmon, filo dough, cream cheese, chives, lemon juice, and salt. That’s it - and about 10 minutes- and you have a plate of sophisticated and delicious appetizers. These go perfectly for gatherings of all kinds as they’re easy to do assembly-wise, can be made a few hours ahead (not too much more or the cups won’t be as crispy) and even thsoe who are culinarly-challenged can easily be of help. Even the boyfriend could assemble these.

Smoked Salmon Filo Cup Appetizers

Ingredients:

• 1 package wild (please, do make sure it’s wild) smoked salmon (NOT atlantic) (the redder the better (but not if food colouring made it so))
• 1/2 package (4 oz) cream cheese (reduced fat works fine, plain, softened)
• 2 packages (usually about 12-15 cups in a package) frozen filo dough cups
• the juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 5 or strands of fresh chives
• pinch of salt

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place all filo cups on a large baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes until lightly golden. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes to rest.
2. Place approx. 1 tsp (or just a chunk, really) of cream cheese in the center of each cup.
3. Place a small piece of the salmon over the cream cheese.
4. Cut the chives into inch-long pieces and place 3 or so pieces on each filo cup.
5. Sprinkle lightly with a tiny bit of salt and place two drops or so of lemon on each filo cup (feel free to omit this)

And you’re done! Assembled in mere minutes after baking! And yet for some odd reason, people will be quite impressed by these. Little do they know how simple they are to put together :). Try them out for yourself, they’ll be a hit!

Summertime is here and that means, traditionally speaking, an ample amount of grilling! Sadly I have no balcony or backyard at the apartment and thus grilling indoors results in some smokey-ness… but I suppose if we were ever to eat the apartment, I could bill it as a ‘smoked apartment’ with ‘smokey flavour’… not that we’d ever be eating the dry-wall, so the point’s completely moot.

The boyfriend has been doing quite a bit of physical labour as of late for my family. I told him it’s like being a husband with none of the perks, constantly being asked to lift heavy things and whatnot- so I opted to say thanks in the form of steak. Like most men, he has a high appreciation for meat. As I don’t, I opted for salmon (yay, fish and fatty acids).

The char was strong, but I personally enjoy the char of grill, so some blackening was by no means a hardship. The addition of balsamic vinegar (fake, of course, I have yet to obtain a bottle of the real thing but it’s on my life’s to-do list… read the wiki for more information, and realize that the likelihood of your having had actual balsamic is, unfortunately, low) and olive oil- with some spice- took away the slight bitterness of the spring mix, making for a crisp, crunchy, summery dinner.

Grilled Herb Steak, Wild Salmon, and Summer Vegetable Salad

Ingredients (for two):

• 1/2 yellow bell pepper, hulled, cut into 1/8ths
• 8-10 cherry or campari tomatoes, halved
• 12 baby carrots
• 3 cups organic spring mix
• 2-3 tblspn organic canola oil
• 1.5 tblspn extra virgin olive oil for salad, 1 tblspn for meat
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/16 tsp cumin, coriander, salt, pepper for salad
• 2 tsp salt, pepper, paprika for meat
• 2 steaks (your choice of size) or 2 fillets of wild salmon (King or Sockeye) or mix-’n-match proteins!

Process:

1. Heat grill pan (not press) on medium heat and drizzle in 1 tblspn canola oil. Once grill pan is hot, place vegetables in pan (depending on the size of your pan, you may need to do this in batches). Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper if desired. Flip over often, being sure to grill but not burn, getting as many grill marks as possible. Add extra canola oil as needed when the smoke becomes excessive. Set aside on a plate once complete (tender, soft but not falling apart by any means, and with char marks)
2. For meat, rub on paprika, salt, and pepper, then brush on olive oil and place on grill; then repeat rub and oil process for other side, and flip after 4-5 minutes (depending on how you’d like your steak to be cooked and how thick it is). For the fish, go with the same process or to let the salmon’s flavour speak for itself, skip the paprika and simply brush on the oil with a sprinkling of salt and pepper.
3. Prepare dressing by mixing together balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and spices; whisk together forefully to ensure the vinegar and oil mix. Pour over salad in a bowl and toss throughly.
4. To plate, place the salad on the plate first as bedding; then add the grilled vegetables; then the meat. If you’d like a sauce, I’d suggest a cold, white-based one :)

It’s very simple, but I believe that’s what this sort of dish is meant to do- celebrate the flavours brought out by the grilling and not adding too many extra aromas or flavours to the mix. It lets the vegetables and meat speak for themselves, and it’s a lovely sunset summer dish to enjoy with friends.

So I recently purchased a fantastic cookbook at Half-Price Books entitled The Complete Ste-by-Step Family Cookbook, by Gina Steer. H and I were looking through it together recently, and as we did so, she mentioned that she had purchased some beautiful wild salmon at Whole Foods. Unfortunately, when she froze it, she didn’t realize it had been previously frozen, and thus was seeking a use for it that didn’t depend on nice texture. We happened upon this salmon fish cake recipe in the book and thought, aha, we have all the ingredients for this between the two of us! Not shopping for specific recipes = exciting, so it was on :)

Salmon Fish Cakes

Following the recipe from the Complete Step-by-Step Family Cookbook

Ingredients (makes 7 3-inch-wide cakes):

• 1/2lb or about 225g Wild Sockeye salmon fillet, skinned and de-thawed
• 2 medium-sized Yukon Gold potatoes
• 1 tablespoon soy butter
• 1 tablespoon organic fat-free milk
• 1 medium-sized tomato, carved out and chopped into a fine dice
• 2 tablespoons finely-chopped fresh parsley
• approx. 3/4 cup wholemeal bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons grated cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 egg (organic, cage-free!), beaten
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• seal salt & freshly-cracked black pepper
• for garnish: fan-cut cherry tomatoes, uncut parsley sprigs, and large dollops of low-fat sour cream

Process:

1. Lightly season the salmon fillet with salt and pepper, then poach in water for about 10 minutes, until cooked through. Drain thoroughly, place onto a cutting board, and flake (use a flat wok spatula or similar item to flake the salmon out).
2. Rinse the potatoes, then poke a few holes on either side with a fork, place on a paper towel, and put in mocrowave for 3 minutes. Then flip the potatoes and cook for another 3 minutes. Continue repeating this 3-minutes-and-flip process until the potatoes are cooked through entirely (if you press down upon one and it caves inward, then it’s done!)
3. Peel the potatoes, and place in a bowl. Add the butter, milk, a dash of salt and a dash of pepper (optional: pinch of nutmeg) and mash. Add in the flaked fish, diced tomatoes, and half the parsley and mix.  Place in freezer for 25-30 minutes to firm.
4. While the mixture is firming and cooling, prepare the three dipping bowls. Place the flour in the first, and beaten egg in the second. For the third, mix together the breadcrumbs and grated cheese with the remaining parsley.
5. Form the now-cooled mixture into 7 cakes, about .5-inch thick and 3 inches across and place in the flour (thin coat), then egg, then the breadcrumb mixture (pat it on thoroughly). Place aside onto a plate until all the cakes are dipped and ready to cook.
6. Heat some of the olive oil in a frying pan and fry the cakes for about 3 minutes per side (until a nice seared, golden-brown colour appears) and well-crisp. For garnish, serve with a fan-cut cherry tomato, fresh parsley sprigs, and large dollops of cold and creamy low-fat sour cream. (the book suggests raita with mint but I that seems overpowering to me).

They’re delicious, very convenient as a keep-in-fridge thing to heat up later on and they go so well with the sour cream! This was also my first successful fan tomato, so I was quite happy with that :)