Salmon Pastry Puffs

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When I saw her in November, my sister gave me a recipe book she'd put together for me, complete with subject index, pictures, and the necessary level of dumbed-down Dena directions. Still, I had to phone her yesterday for help.

"Guess what?" I said when she picked up the phone. "I'm going to make your salmon pastry puffs recipe tonight."

"You'll love it," she replied. "Best quick dinner ever."

"Riiiight," I said. "Hey, one question. Um, what's a puff pastry?"

After she walked me through where to find them ("Go to frozen foods near the pie crusts," were my marching orders) and stopped laughing at me (rude), she again emphasized what a delicious meal this was and that I could even use it for entertaining.

Maybe. I haven't had a lot of luck with salmon recipes so I didn't get my hopes up.

Oh. My. God. People--this is a life-changing recipe. SO GOOD. I ate myself sick last night but didn't want to waste an ounce of food. Delish, delish, delish. Definently a new favorite in the Harris household.

So Nicole, I hope you don't mind my sharing the recipe but it's too good--and too simple--to keep secret. Here it is, complete with my sister's italics which are code for "Dena, don't mess this up."

SALMON WITH PUFF PASTRY & PESTO

  • 4 pieces of purchased puff pastry, each cut to be just larger than a piece of salmon
  • 4 (4-6 oz.) pieces salmon
  • 1/4 cup sliced almonds
  • 1/4 cup purchased pesto
  • 2 tomatoes, sliced

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

On a foil-lined baking sheet, place the 4 pieces of puff pastry. Also place the 4 pieces of salmon, being careful to make sure they are not touching (don't cook them on top of the puff pastry.) Sprinkle each piece of salmon with 1 tablespoon of the sliced almonds. Bake for 10 minutes.

To serve, place each piece of puff pastry on a plate. Top each pastry with 1 tablespoon of pesto. Top the pesto with 2 slices of tomato each. Top the tomatoes with the salmon and serve.

Serves 4  / Prep Time: 5 minutes  /Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Snow Day

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Yesterday I had one of those days where even though I kept checking things off the "To Do" list, the list kept growing, making me feel I was sliding backwards instead of moving forward. Not to worry. Today is a new day. A new SNOW covered day. We got about an inch last night, the first snow in what seems like years. I'm disappointed I didn't get to watch it fall, but it's supposed to snow intermittently throughout the day so there's still hope.

I'll probably be out in it. Part of today must be spent canvassing Madison merchants and asking if they'll post a flyer for our Whine & Cheese shelter fundraising event AND if they'll participate in our Februrary APSRC fundraiser. We drop off pink paper hearts to merchants and for $1, people can buy a heart and dedicate it to a pet. The merchant posts the heart in their store and we come back at the end of February and collect the money.

It's a good exercise for me because I HATE to do this sort of thing. Mingle with people? Bah!  And especially mingle with people and ask for a favor. Yuck. But it's important, so I'll do it.

That and the other 80 things on my list. It's 6:37 AM and I already feel like I'm running behind schedule. But I'm still going to take a minute to sip some coffee and stare out at the snow. Might be years before I have the chance again.

Have a great day!