food comas

This is another recipe from Food Perestroika, the Eastern Bloc food blog I’ve been perusing, and definitely one I will make over and over again. I made the burgers for a couple friends and these delicious suckers were devoured very quickly. Technically I guess these Salmon Burgers aren’t super Eastern Blok-y, with the bok choy and all, but they are easy to make and go with anything. The original recipe calls for cream cheese, which I replaced with home-made Tzatziki because I just love the taste of yogurt over cream cheese and I think cucumber complements salmon very well, and served these with some Brussels Sprouts Gratin.  Oh, and, the salmon mousse was money!

Salmon Burgers (courtesy of Food Perestroika)

Yield: 4 burgers

Ingredients:

For the burgers:

• 4 oz baby bok choy leaves
• 0.5 oz water
• 1.5 oz butter, sliced
• salt and black pepper, ground
• 4 portions of cleaned salmon fillet, about 4 oz each, trimmed into an octagonal shape
• 4 brioche buns, about 3.5″ diameter
• 4 oz salmon mousse (recipe below as well)
• 2 oz cream cheese (alternatively, make tzatziki)
• 2 tsp finely chopped chives

For the salmon mousse:

• 6 oz cleaned salmon fillet
• 1/4 tsp smoked salt
• black pepper, ground
• 0.3 oz butter, sliced
• 2 oz heavy cream
• 0.5 oz lemon juice

Directions:

Use a small sauce pan with the water and 1/3 of the butter to wilt the bok choy over low heat. Reserve for later.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Take all the salmon (for the burgers and the mousse) and salt and pepper both sides. Place on a plate and cover with the remaining slices of butter. Cover the plate with plastic wrap and bake to almost the doneness of your liking. The fish will be finished in a pan, so if it is undercooked in the oven, it is not a huge deal. The baking will vary depending on the cut of the fish, 10-30 minutes.

Take out one of the fillets for the mousse. In a pan, use the fat from the baking plate and sear the sides of the remaining salmon and finish cooking the fillets.

Use the reserved salmon, some grease/fat from the plate, heavy cream and lemon juice and blend until you reach a mousse consistency.

Toast the brioche buns and spread the mousse and tzatziki on them. Garnish with chives and assemble with the salmon fillets and bok choy. Enjoy!