Home Hot Smoked Salmon and raising money for Tonga

In two and a half weeks time I will be hopping on a plane bound for Tonga. When I tell people this they imagine tropical resorts, sun loungers and pool side wait staff. But this trip will be far, far different from your average tropical package holiday; because I'm going with 7 staff and 24 students on a Mercy Outreach to visit our Tongan sister school. We've been preparing for the trip for months: the Puletaha traditional formal uniforms are at the sewing factory being completed, the risk analysis has been written, we've all had our vaccinations, and the gear list is as long as your arm. 

Anyway, I wanted to fill the trip's coffers a little more so we could take a few more resources over with us. We all love food, and we've all been quite busy of late, so I thought a morning tea, available by donation, would be just the thing. I kept it quite simple, Cheese rolls, Chocolate Mud Cupcakes, both gluten and gluten free, a gluten free pizza bread and home made Hot Smoked Salmon served with sour cream and capers.

The home hot smoked salmon always goes down well. It's really delicious and really easy to make at home.

Home Hot Smoked Salmon

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons wine vinegar

1 teaspoon mustard powder

a piece of fresh salmon, about half a side, skin on - I used Akaroa salmon from Rare Fare

a couple of handfuls of manuka wood chips

4 tea bags of black tea

methylated spirits

some matches or a gas lighter

a stainless steel fish smoker

Mix the sugar, salt, vinegar and mustard.

Check the salmon for pin bones, and lay it in the centre of a large piece of plastic food wrap, or in a close fitting tray or bowl. Cover in the marinade, wrap or cover, then place in the fridge for about an hour.

Take the salmon from the fridge. Remove from the wrap and place it on the metal rack of the fish smoker. I always use the rack with the most clearance gap from the tray, as otherwise the wood chips always seem to end up on the fish. Use a paper towel to blot the excess marinade from the fish. 

Prepare the smoker by finding a suitable outside position on a level, non flammable hard surface. Place the manuka chips and tea leaves into the tray of the smoker. Half fill the methylated spirit container. 

Once you have every thing ready, place the tray with the salmon into the smoker and light the meths. Don't try to move the lit meths container as you will probably burn yourself. Place the smoker over the burning meths and put the lid on. 

Because the heat often causes the smoker to buckle, place a heavy pot on top of the lid to encourage a good seal. Smoke for about 15 to 20 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish. You can always lift the lid to check. The fish should be a dark colour and firmish to the touch. 

Once done, remove the rack and fish from the smoker and set aside to cool. It is very delicate and needs to be handled very gently to prevent it from falling apart. Once cold, transfer the fish by covering the top side with plastic food wrap and inverting the rack and fish onto a plate. Take care when removing the rack as the fish skin will be stuck to it. Just push down on the skin as you lift the rack. Wrap the fish and refrigerate overnight. 

The next day, unwrap the fish and peel off the skin. 

Using either plastic wrap or a plate, invert the fish, then gently ease it onto the serving platter. Refrigerate it until served. 

I usually serve it with crackers, both water and gluten free rice crackers, and a mixture of sour cream, mayonnaise, and capers. 

Thanks so much to everyone who gave so generously to this worthy cause. The morning tea fundraiser was a great success. 

125 Cheese Rolls for the Disco

There has been a huge amount of excitement and anticipation in our house this week because the school Disco was on Friday. I suspect Little Miss 5 and her school buddies have been talking it up all week. Here she is, all dressed and ready, busting her dance moves on the way out the door to go there.

My contribution to the night was to make some good old fashioned Cheese Rolls for the children to have for their disco supper. Popular belief says that the cheese Roll originated in Southland, and there are many different variations on the basic recipe. I'm sure they were probably dreamed up by a dairy farmer, as they are definitely all about the dairy products. Here is my adaptation, as well as one I modified to cater for the gluten free attendees. 

I used the gorgeous bread from The Village Bakehouse in Ilam for the main batch. Made by a genuine little French baker using traditional methods, this bread is delicious and makes the best toast ever. Be warned, once tried you will never go back to the supermarket variety. For the gluten free ones I used the Freedom brand of gluten-free bread.

The recipe below uses about 2 loaves of bread; that makes about 32 to 34 rolls. For the disco I made three and a half times this recipe and used 7 loaves of bread.

Cheese Rolls

1 small onion

40g butter - for sauteing the onion

2 cups grated tasty cheese

a 425g can of evaporated milk

1 packet of Maggi onion soup mix

1/2 teaspoon mustard powder

50g butter - for brushing the top of the rolls

2 block loaves of sliced Village Bakehouse bread - the block loaves have squared off tops

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and line a large baking sheet with paper.

Finely slice the onion and saute it in the first measure of butter until it is soft but not brown.

Add the evaporated milk, followed by the onion soup mix and mustard. Use a whisk to properly combine the powdered ingredients. Now add the grated cheese and stir constantly over a medium heat until the cheese is melted and the mixture has thickened. Do not let it boil or the protein in the cheese will harden and it will end up tasting chalky.

Take from the heat and set aside to cool a little while you prepare the bread. 

Using a bread knife and a good sawing action, cut the crust from the long edges of the bread. This is best done in batches. 

Lay the bread out on the board and spread with a generous coating of the cheese mixture. Work quickly so the bread doesn't stale, as this will make it hard to roll. 

Now fold the bread into three starting and ending with a crust edge. Lay them with the crust down on the baking tray. Push them down a little to ensure they stick together.

Melt the extra measure of butter and brush the tops of the rolls. 

Because these rolls were being reheated later, I baked them for just 10 minutes. If they are being eaten straight away, bake for 15 minutes until golden brown. To reheat, bake for 8 to 10 minutes at 180deg. C

Its a good idea to let them stand for a few minutes before serving as the cheese is molten hot.

Gluten free Cheese Roll Version

1/2 onion

20g butter

1 cup cream

1 tablespoon cornflour

1/4 teaspoon pure mustard powder

2 cups grated tasty cheese

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

extra 40g butter for brushing the tops

This is enough mixture to make two loaves of Freedom Gluten free bread. The cheese will store in the fridge for a few days, but can't be frozen successfully.

Melt the butter and saute the onion until soft but not brown.

Add the cream and mustard powder, but hold back a couple of tablespoons of cream to mix with the cornflour. 

Heat the cream until boiling point, then take from the  heat and thoroughly stir in the cornflour mix. Return to the heat and stir constantly until the mixture thickens and boils. Take from the heat again and stir in the cheese until it is all melted. There is no need to return the pot to the element, as there is enough heat in the cream mixture to do the trick. Lastly stir in the parsley once the whole mixture has cooled. 

Cut the crusts from the bread and spread each slice with the cheese mixture. Fold over once and secure with a tooth pick. Gluten free bread isn't very pliable, so don't worry if it starts to break. 

Brush with the extra melted butter and bake at 180deg. C for 10 to 15 minutes of until they start to turn brown.  

I didn't take any photos of the gluten free version, as it was getting late at night! I'm sure you will enjoy them. I put the parsley into the Gluten free batch so their could be no confusion over which cheese mix was which.