Hot Smoked Salmon Canape's with Kiwi, Strawberry and Cucumber

Incredibly simple and highly effective canape for any dinner party or function. The cool, refreshing cucumber and kiwi cuts through the oily salmon and sweet strawberry kecap manis dressing. Creating harmony in your mouth and the best part is they are almost virtually fat free!

1 cucumber
4 kiwi
250g hot smoked salmon
100ml kecap manis
60g strawberries
3 dashes of tabasco sauce

Method:
Hull the strawberries and place in sauce pan with kecap manis and tobasco. Put pan over a medium heat and bring to a slow simmer, cook till strawberries are just mushy.  Place sauce in food processor and blend till smooth.
Slice cucumber into 5mm thick rounds and lay out evenly on serving patter. Top and tail the kiwi, then using a sharp paring knife slice off the skin by running the knife down the sides of the kiwi. Place kiwi on its side the cut into thin rounds, top each piece of cucumber with a slice of kiwi. Gently flake small chucks of salmon and place on top of each canape. Finally using a teaspoon drizzle a small teaspoon sauce over the salmon and serve as soon as possible.

Kiwi Corn and Sweet Potato Canape

The first of a series of canapes to come. Last week I had to cater for 3 evening functions and presented with the challenge of designing New Zealand inspired canapes for a kiwi Olympic gold medalist.
Usually I'd use kumara which is a type of sweet potato with purple skin and white flesh from New Zealand. However its just sooooo gosh darn difficult to get in the UK. Sometimes I'm lucky and I come across a Indian or Caribbean vegetable stand that sells something similar. But for the sake of my sanity and to make things easier I've used regular sweet potato this time.
When I was very young one the first things my mum let me cook on the stove top was pikelets from the Edmond's Cook Book, a cooking bible for kiwi's. Usually served with butter and strawberry jam but works just as well with sweet corn. I've based this canape on a typical New Zealand brunch of sweet corn fritters with chilli sauce and bacon. Essentially all the same components but in one bite sized piece! 

150g pancetta

SWEET CORN PIKELETS:
150g plain flour
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
200ml milk
1 tablespoon melted butter
150g corn kennels

SWEET POTATO CHEESE:
2 large sweet potatoes
200g buffalo mozzarella ball
1 brown onion
1 teaspoon sea salt

SWEET CHILLI:
4 red peppers
4 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 long red chillies
1 green apple
1 tablespoon grated ginger
200g sugar
75ml white wine vinegar
1 lime

METHOD:
To make the sweet chilli cut pepper's in half and remove seeds. Lay peppers on baking tray with whole garlic cloves and sprinkle with salt and olive oil, place in oven set at 200oC for 15minutes. Roughly slice chillies, peel and quarter apple then add to pot with ginger, sugar, vinegar and juice of lime. Place sauce pan over high heat and bring to the boil, once apple is soft remove from heat and put in food processor with roasted peppers. Blend together for 2 minutes then place aside to cool.

Peel the sweet potato and cut into quarters, dice onion and add both to a pot and cover with cold water. Place pot over a high heat and bring to the boil, once boiling add salt. Cook the potatoes till tender then drain and place in food processor with broken up mozzarella ball. Blend together till super smooth.

For the pikelets sift flour and baking powder together, then add salt and sugar. In a separate bowl beat the egg and corn together then add half the milk and half the dry ingredients and beat together till combined. Beat in the remainder milk and dry ingredients till smooth and lastly stir in the butter.
Place a fry pan over medium heat and using oil spray lightly grease pan. Using a tablespoon place 4 little amounts of pikelet mixture around the pan and cook till bubbles start forming on top, then flip and cook the other side till golden brown. Repeat with remainder pikelet batter.

Once pikelets are cooked gently fry the pancetta in the pan till just crispy.
To construct each canape spoon or pipe a tablespoon amount of sweet potato cheese on each pikelet followed by a teaspoon of sweet chilli and 2 torn piece's of pancetta. 

Hot Smoked Salmon and Kiwi Salad with Strawberry Dressing

As the weather has gradually been improving I've had seafood on my mind. Over the last 2 and a half years I haven't used much seafood at Kaffeine because I'm presented with the challenge of not making anything to order not that I'm complaining. The pressure of people ordering from a menu and waiting can be some what over whelming. I prefer the office idea of a dead line 11:50am food ready for lunch.
Smoked foods usually last longer and are more resistant to contamination.
Here's the recipe for my new favourite salad and no I wasn't smoking anything when I thought of combining kiwi and strawberries with hot smoked salmon. You'll find the sweetness of the fruit brings out the chicory and honey flavours of the salmon. Enjoy and happy summer 2012!

400g hot smoked salmon
4 kiwi
100g baby spinach

DRESSING:
200ml kecap manis
50ml calvados brandy
150g hulled strawberries
1 green jalapeno sliced
1 clove garlic crushed

METHOD:
First make the dressing place all ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to a light simmer over a medium heat and cook till the strawberries are just tender then remove from heat. Place the dressing in a food processor and blend till smooth and leave to cool.
Peel the kiwi then slice in half length ways and slice into 2mm semi circles, wash the spinach and lightly pat dry or use a salad spinner.
Now its time to construct the salad, on a large platter lay out half the spinach leaves then evenly distribute half the kiwi slices over the spinach. Gently flake the salmon and sprinkle over salad then drizzle the desired amount of dressing over the top then repeat the process again with another lay and serve as soon as possible.