A Technical Challenge in the Kitchen

For many years now we have shared meals on a fairly regular basis with two sets of neighbours. We have an international theme, with each couple picking a random country - we wrote out the country slips after slightly too much wine, so some are very random indeed! - and providing either a starter, main course or dessert. Yesterday it was our turn to cook the main course and our country pick was Russia. One of our neighbours (technically now a former neighbour!) is currently eating fish but not meat, and the only suitable Russian fish dish I could find was this salmon coulibiac. 

I enjoy baking and I am a reasonably competent cook, but this was definitely out of my comfort zone! I am a big fan of the Great British Bake Off, and this was my equivalent of the technical challenge. Fortunately, unlike the contestants in Bake Off I had a picture of what the end result was supposed to look like, and a detailed recipe. Again, unlike Bake Off I did not have to make the puff pastry from scratch, which would have added a whole extra layer of difficulty. As it was it took me over an hour and a half to prepare. I was organised and got all my ingredients ready first. Instead of buying a large piece of salmon I bought six individual fillets as it worked out considerably cheaper. When it came to skinning them I may have regretted this a little. It was fiddly.

A salmon coulibiac is layers of seasoned rice mixed with hard boiled egg surrounding a salmon fillet, and wrapped in puff pastry - though I did see some recipes using filo pastry. The rice was first cooked with onion, garlic and fish stock, then seasoned with herbs and lemon before adding the chopped egg; meanwhile the salmon had to be part-baked.

Fortunately the pastry was pre-rolled, otherwise the chances of me getting it rolled to the exact size and thickness needed would have been slim! One sheet on the bottom, then a layer of the rice mixture, then the salmon ...

... and finally another layer of the rice, topped with a second sheet of pastry. I followed the instructions which said to make slits in the pastry, but I'm not entirely convinced this is how it was supposed to look. Fortunately it all held together.

And here is the finished pie. I was delighted with how it turned out, and it tasted very good. I served it with boiled new potatoes tossed in butter and dill, sautéed cabbage and green beans.

Part of the fun of these meals is that everyone has to try to guess the origin of the dishes they haven't cooked. This one came very close to defeating the guessers! They only made it to Russia with the help of a couple of clues. The starter was Moroccan (lamb kebabs, fish patties and chickpea salad) and the dessert Brazilian (a creamy mousse in a biscuit crumb case and a passion fruit cream). It always amazes us how our very eclectic country picks manage without fail to produce a three-course meal that works without any weird taste clashes. 

The combination of good food and good company always make it a fun evening. As our former neighbours now split their time between the UK and Spain it is especially good for us all to have the opportunity to catch up.