Easy Salmon Pie with Cheesy Crust

March 22, 2021April 8, 2021 Forestwood

Salmon is low in fat and high in protein. Not to mention it is a good source of B12, potassium, iron and vitamin D. No wonder the Scandinavians enjoy it.

Making pastry can be a pain but it’s a breeze with this recipe as the kitchen food processor blends and forms a delicious, cheesy pastry shell.

Cooks Notes:

This recipe is substantial and makes a filling pie great for serving the family or group. The pie cuts easily and holding its form brilliantly on the day of cooking as well as the next day for a summer lunch.

Salmon Pie Recipe

Preheat Oven to 180 C (350F)

Cheesy Pastry Crust Ingredients

1.5 cups Plain flour
1/2 teaspoon Paprika
125 g Butter
1 cup grated Cheddar or firm Cheese (substitutes are fine as long as it isn’t a cheese that melts too much such as mozzarella)

Rub the butter into the flour using a Food Processor but not so much that it turns into a ball (keep it crumbly)
Add the grated cheese and mix through the pastry.
Set aside 1/4 of the mix to reserve for the pie topping
Press the remainder into an 8-9 inch pottery, or glass, pie dish until it covers the base and sides to form the pastry shell.

Filling Ingredients

220 gram (around 8 oz) can cooked Red or Pink Salmon, preferably boneless
3 Eggs
375 grams Sour cream (13 oz)
1 Onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon chopped Chives
2-3 drops of Tabasco sauce (optional)
1/2 cup grated Cheese (extra)

Drain and flake salmon and combine with the rest of the filling ingredients
Place the combined mix into the pastry shell
Crumb the reserved portion of the pastry crumbs on top
Bake 40 – 50 minutes at 180 C (350 F) or until golden brown on top

Delicious served hot or cold the next day with a green salad.

food, health, home

DIY Pickled Cucumber Salad -Agurksalat Recipe

July 12, 2020July 12, 2020 Forestwood

I love to try Nordic cooking and dishes. My connection with my Danish family feels a little stronger when I make something peculiarly Danish.

The bonus comes when the dish is healthy AND tasty.

Cucumbers are a humble yet versatile vegetable that hold an important place in salads and summer dishes.

Pickled cucumbers extend the life of salad vegetables, so we can enjoy them for longer. For those of us living in a warmer part of the world, cucumbers are an everyday part of life.

Nutritional Benefits of Cucumber

In just a single cup of cucumber slices, you’ll get 14% to 19% of the vitamin K you need for the day. In addition, you will find vitamins B and C along with minerals like copper, phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium.
Web.MD

Danish Cucumber Salad

This really quick and simple form of cucumber salad, (or in Danish, ‘Agurksalat’), that can extend the life of your salad vegetables and impart another flavour to your meals.

Tart and scrumptious with a tuna or smoked salmon sandwich, or with cold meats, this form of cucumber salad will keep in the fridge for days.

If you run out, you can reuse the liquid and top up with another cucumber or two before you dispose of it.

Recipe

Ingredients

1- 2 thinly sliced cucumbers (I use Lebanese)
¹/2 cup white vinegar
¹/2 cup sugar
ground pepper
Rosemary or Dill

Thinly slice cucumbers. Peel them if you prefer or have an issue with digesting vegetable skins.
Place in a bowl and sprinkle with a generous amount of salt. Set aside for an hour then drain off the liquid, or pat dry with a paper towel.
Place the sliced and drained cucumbers in a glass jar. Use a glass jar due to the vinegar. (2 cups is a good starting amount, but you can use up to 2 full cucumbers for the amount of vinegar and sugar.) Add more if you are using large cucumbers but equal quantities of vinegar and sugar.
Place the vinegar and sugar in a pan. Heat until sugar is dissolved. I throw mine in the microwave for a minute. (Feel free to add a couple of tablespoons of water if you feel that the vinegar is too strong.)
Pour the vinegar and sugar over the cucumbers. Add pepper to taste. (Black pepper is fine, but white is less noticeable.)
Place a sprig of dill or rosemary in the jar (optional) and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour before serving.

NB. As you finish the cucumbers, you can slice some more and continue to use the liquid for some time.

Whilst everyone has their own individual recipe, there are many similar versions

environment, home

Grow Your Own Lemons

February 17, 2020February 18, 2020 Forestwood

How much better is it to source organic citrus fruit straight from the garden?

Fruit that you can be sure is free from pesticides and sprays, because you have picked it directly from your own backyard?

If you have only experienced food purchased from the supermarket, you don’t know what you’re missing. Home grown fruit is so much juicier. This applies to most foods, freshly sourced.

It is not as hard as you think to grow your own food, even with limited space.

Benefits of Growing Your Own Fruit

save on packaging waste with supermarket products
better nutritional goodness
increased levels of juiciness and palatability
using your property to productive use
promoting food sources for bees

Unfortunately, those sad supermarket lemons sit in freight or storage for two weeks, before hitting the supermarket shelves, and then spend far more time in the supermarket, itself. Finally, someone purchases them, takes them home and pops them in their fridge, so they could be up to one month old or older, when they use them for meals. Eeew? Not really nutritionally sound.

I don’t have the space for a garden and my soil quality is poor, I hear many lament.

Citrus trees, such as lemons, can be successfully grown in pots, as long as they are positioned in a sun drenched spot, in the garden or courtyard and a good citrus fertiliser added in Autumn.

Meet ‘Lemon Heaven’ – a new seedless variety of lemon tree.

It is the latest addition to the Home by the Sea.

If you live in Australia, a dose of citrus food in small amounts monthly from August to mid autumn will help the little tree along. I also added some Seasol to the pot to help the new addition settle into family life at the Home by the Sea.