Smoked Salmon and Cottage Cheese Pie

Last week I made the ideal dish.

By that I mean it is light and easy to eat during the scorching days of summer.

It’s meatless, so perfect for the Nine Days and any other time we don’t want to eat the usual meat-two-veggie or salad dinner.

I got to use up leftovers and bits of this and that (smoked salmon, cottage cheese, cream cheese).

It served as dinner and also as hors d’oeuvre — I rewarmed the leftover portion and cut it into bite-size pieces for some socially distanced company.

You can use any leftover fish. I happened to have smoked salmon, so that’s what I used.

Smoked Salmon and Cottage Cheese Pie

• 1 tablespoon butter

• 1 large shallot, chopped

• 1 partially baked pie crust

• 3-4 ounces smoked salmon, chopped

• 2 tablespoons cream cheese

• 4 large eggs

• 1 cup cottage cheese

• 1 cup half and half

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

• 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Heat the butter in a small frying pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted and looks bubbly, add the shallot and cook for 3-4 minutes or until softened. Spoon the shallot onto the bottom of the partially baked pie crust. Scatter the salmon pieces on top. Cut the cream cheese into small pieces and scatter them on top. In a bowl, beat the eggs, cottage cheese, half and half, dill and salt together until well mixed. Pour into the pie crust. Bake the pie for about 45 minutes or until the top is nicely browned and the custard has set.

Makes 4-6 servings

Handmade Potato Chips with Smoked Salmon Tartare

Potato latkes for Hanukkah? Of course!

But homemade potato chips also satisfy the holiday requirement of crispy potato.

And SO MUCH EASIER! And HEALTHIER. Because the chips in my recipe are baked, not fried (you could fry them if you wish though). They are so crispy they crunch as if they were fried.

And of course a homemade potato chip topped with smoked salmon tartare is perfect for my New Year’s celebration.

If you’ve never tasted homemade potato chips you have missed something spectacular in life. Do try this soon, with or without the salmon. You could serve them plain or with sour cream or applesauce, just like latkes. If you want to get fancy, make a dip by mixing some chopped fresh herbs into creme fraiche or mascarpone cheese.

Potato Chips with Smoked Salmon Tartare 

• One large Russet baking potato

• Vegetable oil

• salt

• 1/4 pound smoked salmon pieces

• 2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion

• 1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

• a few drops of olive oil

• few drops of lemon juice

• cream cheese, dairy sour cream, crème fraiche or mascarpone cheese, optional

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Peel the potato and slice 1/8-inch thick slices. Wipe the slices with paper towels. Brush the slices on both sides with vegetable oil. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 9 minutes. Turn the slices over and bake for another 8-9 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and set aside. Chop the smoked salmon. Add the red onion and dill and mix thoroughly. Sprinkle in a few drops of olive oil and lemon juice and mix. For a dairy hors d'oeuvre, spread the chips with cream cheese, sour cream, crème fraiche or mascarpone cheese. Top with some of the salmon mixture. For a parve hors d'oeuvre, place the salmon mixture directly on the potato chips

Makes 16-24

Smoked Salmon and Egg Salad Tea Sandwiches

It’s hot, hot, hot. The new big thing. Trendy.

It was all over the Fancy Food Show last month.

What am I talking about?

Smoked food.

Smoked cheese, smoked meat, all sorts of jerky (dried smoked meat). Smoked caramel chocolates. Smoked vegetables. Even smoked sea salt.

I don’t like any of it.

Okay, maybe the smoked salt is good. And it’s true, I use a smoked turkey neck or wing when I make split pea soup.

But I really really dislike smoked mozzarella, liquid smoke-infused barbecue sauce, smoked turkey breast. Don’t give me smoked brisket or smoked pecan ice cream. Please, please NO smoked pizza. I don’t even like Lapsang Souchong Tea.

And yet —

Smoked Salmon is another whole thing. Gaspe Nova Scotia Smoked Salmon to be specific. The fancier stuff — Scottish, Irish, Norwegian and so on — is too dry and smoky for my tastes.

Give me Gaspe Nova Scotia Smoked Salmon. Soft, moist, glossy slices over a crispy potato pancake. Chopped and mixed with seasonings for Smoked Salmon Tartare. Pureed into Smoked Salmon Pate. Smeared with cream cheese and wrapped around asparagus as a quickie hors d’ouevre.

Or as a component of tea sandwiches, for some of the simplest, easiest party food nibbles there are. You can make these in minutes (okay, you will need some egg salad for starters). I don’t buy the expensive sliced salmon for these — the much cheaper “ends,” which many stores sell, is just fine.

Smoked Salmon and Egg Salad Tea Sandwiches

16 slices loaf type bread (whole wheat, multigrain, white)

1 cup egg salad

1 cup finely chopped smoked salmon

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1 cup finely chopped fresh parsley or dill, or 1/2 cup each

Place 8 slices of bread on a board and spread about 2 tablespoons of egg salad on each slice, evenly covering the entire surface up to the crust. Top each egg salad layer with chopped smoked salmon, using about 2 tablespoons for each piece. Spread half the mayonnaise on the remaining 8 slices of bread. Place these slices on top of the smoked salmon, press down lightly. Trim the crusts. Cut the sandwiches in half diagonally, then cut each half in half diagonally. Use the remaining mayonnaise to spread on the cut surfaces of each triangle sandwich. Press the edges into the chopped herb to garnish the edges.

Makes 32 pieces

Here’s how I make egg salad: 3 large hard-cooked eggs — peel and grate into a bowl. Mix in 2-3 tablespoons mayonnaise, a small amount of Dijon mustard (optional) and salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. (Makes one cup)

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Smoked Salmon and Asparagus Rollups

What’s a good last minute, easy hors d’oeuvre?

This one!

My neighbor asked a few of us women over the other night because one of the women on the block is moving. And when I asked if I could bring something she said “yes, how about some hors d’oeuvre!”

I didn’t have much time, so I prepared an old standby: smoked salmon rolls. 

No recipe really. Here’s what you do: buy some smoked salmon (ask them to slice it wide, not into narrow strips). Wipe each slice with paper towels (so you can spread the cheese). Then spread some cream cheese (goat cheese, herb cheese or anything else spreadable) on the top of each slice. Place a cooked asparagus (or green string bean) on top. Sprinkle with lemon juice and freshly ground black pepper (add chives or capers if you wish) and roll the salmon slices, jelly roll style. 

After you roll the slices, place them seam side down on a dish and refrigerate for about one hour (to firm up the cheese). Then, slice each roll into bite size hors d’oeuvre.

It couldn’t be easier. And they look good too.