Sometimes the simplest things are the best, in fact very often and particularly when it comes to food. Forman’s London Cure smoked salmon, great bread, cream cheese a few chives and a squeeze of lemon, as served at Poilane Cuisine de Bar in London. Encore s’il vous plait!
Read Zagat’s recommendation in full here - http://blog.zagat.com/2013/01/best-thing-we-ate-today-smoked-salmon.html
We’re incredibly lucky to have a guest recipe post from a true food blogging hero, Nazima Pathan of Working London Mummy.
The blog strapline may be ‘Feeding my family. One meal at a time’ but as you will see, there’s a lot more joy in her cooking and writing than just putting food on the table. The blog is big on beautiful desserts and cakes but taking in everyday savouries for the family and stunning restaurant style dishes such as the one that follows. Photography is always spot on and for balance the blog takes in food events and covers issues with personality and charm.
Nazima was a worthy winner of our recent ‘Forman’s Jubilee Bake Off’ for good reason – click here to see our judges’ comments.
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Courtesy of http://www.workinglondonmummy.com/
Smoked Salmon with Candy Beetroot Jelly and Purple Potato Crisps
The smoked salmon from Forman & Field is delicious, the slices have a beautiful texture and are smoked just right. Not overly strong nor too salty. I was sent some of it to develop a recipe for this guest post. After a lot of deliberation, my husband and I decided on these smoked salmon ‘flowers’ on a bed of purple potato crisps and a strip of candy beetroot jelly. Some sour cream and capers to top it off.
The delicacy of a fine smoked salmon pairs well with the light beetroot jelly in this recipe. Purple potato crisps made using the Vitelotte variety offer a different texture and add a visual complement in this easy to create dish. The best thing is that you can prepare ahead and assemble at the last minute. We used candy beetroot, mainly because it is such a lovely colour, and although it is not cheap you only need a couple of them. If you cannot source it then normal beetroot is fine. The jelly may be slightly more strongly flavoured but you can reduce the time you simmer the beetroot.
Here is how we made this recipe.
Ingredients (to serve 6):
2 Candy Beetroot
1 and a half teaspoons caster sugar
Pinch of star anise
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
Gelatine powder (use dose indicated on packet, around 1 teaspoon)
6 slices of smoked salmon
6 teaspoons of Sour Cream
6 large capers
Salt and Pepper to season
3 large Vitelotte potatoes (or other purple potato variety)
Olive oil spray
Method:
Firstly prepare the jelly. Peel and cut the beetroot into small pieces. Place in a saucepan with the sugar, vinegar and star anise. Cover with 350ml of water and bring to the boil.
Simmer on a low heat for 10 minutes and then drain the liquid using a sieve into a measuring jug. Note the volume (it is likely to have reduced somewhat) and pour into a clean saucepan. Bring to 95 Deg C and add the gelatine in an amount indicated by the manufacturer (in my case it was 1 level teaspoon per 500ml so I used half that since I had around 250ml left). Remove from the heat and pour onto an oiled greaseproof paper placed in a small rectangular baking dish to a depth of no more than 4mm.
Once it has set, carefully remove the greaseproof out of the dish and lay it on a chopping board. Cut strips of jelly about 2.5cm thick. Leave the jelly on the greaseproof until ready to assemble.
Now to the potato crisps.
Preheat oven to 140Deg C. Peel the potatoes and using a food processor, mandolin or sharp knife cut wafer thin slices. Spritz with olive oil spray on both sides and place on a baking tray. Bake for around 20 minutes until the edges start to curl up Remove from oven and sprinkle a little sea salt and ground pepper over them. They will crisp up a little more as they dry and cool. Store in an airtight container.
For the salmon, take a slice of salmon and cut into slices around 2.5 cm wide. Carefully roll these up and fluff out one end of the roll to create a flower shape. You need 3 flowers per plate.
To assemble the dish place a salmon flower in the centre of the dish. Use a palette knife to lay a strip of jelly across the salmon.
At each end arrange the potato crisps and place a salmon flower on top of this.
Use a teaspoon to place a quenelle of sour cream on the middle flower on top of the jelly and place a caper on top. Ready to serve!
We’re delighted to be featured on Simon Hulstone’s new menu for BA 1st and Club class flights. Our smoked salmon is included in a tartare with pickled radishes and cucumber and an elderflower dressing.
Watch video of the popup restaurant launch of the new menu here:
And for more detail on the fabulous food turn to top blogger Eat Like a Girl for her review:
Great news from the FT on Saturday that we will be featuring on the new British Airways menu designed by Heston Blumenthal. Our smoked salmon is Heston’s choice to ensure perfect fish without the need to rely on cooking on board.
When Heston visited Forman’s in 2011 we served him our classic London cure smoked salmon and also the newest cure in our repertoire that we thought would play well with the experimental Chef – gin and tonic!
We were recently honoured to play host to the weigh in and crew announcement for the 2012 Oxford & Cambridge boat race. With our 2012 Olympic stadium backdrop the organisers picked our events venue Forman’s Fish Island for an exciting day presenting the two crews to the press and the all-important weighing ceremony – from the giant 106kg Steve Dudek of Cambridge to the two rather more pint-sized coxes.
The result is that the Oxbridge crew tipped the scales to a 707kg, with the chaps from Cambridge coming in at 770kg. Good luck to all on Sunday the 7th April!
For the inside line on what it all means and all news on the race, we recommend you check out the official boatrace site – click here
“After seeing our average at the weigh-in Forman’s Fish Island must think we need feeding up!” – Karl Hudspith, Oxford University Boat Club President
Smoked Salmon platters – “The perks of doing your weighin at Forman &Field” – Cambridge University Boat Club
Great picture of owner Lance Forman in yesterday’s Sunday Times, an iconic view from our roof terrace in the background too!
If that’s making you hungry, details of our smoked salmon to be found here http://www.formanandfield.com/the-fishmongers-smoked-salmon-c-130_1_35.html
BBC News visited us today to talk about the role food exports can play in boosting the economy. If only London Cure Smoked Salmon could be as well known as Parma Ham or Scotch Whisky… one day!
Great footage of our smokery covering almost the whole process – traditional hand slicing skills, salt and oak smoke.
This just in – from The Daily Mail a couple of days ago actually. A nice piece with Lance Forman about opportunities – or lack of – for small businesses and banging the drum for the legacy.
Small firms urged to grab last £50m of Olympics contracts By HELEN LOVELESS 22nd January 2012
About £50million of contracts for the London Olympics are still up for grabs and small firms are being urged to act quickly.
One that didn't get away: Lance Forman is expanding his fish smoking business on the back of the Olympics
Nearly 70 per cent of suppliers to the Games are small and medium-sized businesses, with more than 250 such firms having been awarded contracts. Two-thirds of those companies are based outside London.
The Olympic Delivery Authority, which is responsible for the infrastructure of the Games, has some 1,500 suppliers, most of which are small businesses.
Chris Daniels, head of London 2012 activation for Lloyds TSB, a ‘tier one’ sponsor of the Games, says that areas where there are still contracts to be won include banner signage, security and hospitality.
He says: ‘There are still many contracts in cottage industries, for example, creative areas such as costumes and flowers.’ Details of available contracts can be viewed on competefor.com, a website set up in association with the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Lance Forman runs family business Forman’s Smokehouse in Stratford, east London. The firm, which was set up in 1905, claims to be the oldest producer of smoked salmon in Britain and supplies luxury foods to the House of Lords, the Savoy hotel and department store Fortnum & Mason.
The business was forced to relocate from its original premises on the Stratford site of the Games after London won the bid to host the 2012 Olympics.
However, Lance, 49, has more than made the most of the opportunities offered as a result. Not only are the new premises the nearest building to the Olympic stadium, but Lance has launched three new businesses, including a hospitality venue that will play host to major Olympic-related events including the Olympics after-party.
He has also opened a restaurant by the site and an art gallery which shows the works of local artists. The company employs 85 staff, but Lance expects to take on hundreds more during the Games.
He says: ‘This is a chance for us to boost business, but also to showcase what we do, in particular how good British food can be. What is most important is ensuring that the boost given by the Olympics is sustained after the event is over.’
Steve Wheeler, local business director for small and medium-sized firms at BT, a partner to the Games, says: ‘Businesses need to prepare thoroughly for the Games – leaving it to the last minute will not work.
‘Our research shows that 74 per cent of small firms expect disruption during the Olympics, yet only a quarter are taking steps to address it.’
We love this website. The wonderful Roy Ackerman visits Restaurants, Hotels, Chefs and Food Producers to interviews, taste and test. The filming is stunning and covers some of the true greats of the food scene – Raymond Blanc, Brian Turner, Theo Randall, Giorgio Locatelli, Mark Hix, Anton Mosimann, Michel Roux, Richard Shepherd, Rick Stein, Catherine Parisot… and many more.
In the latest episode he visits Forman’s to talk to Lance about our smoked salmon and his family company’s history. Our world record smoked salmon slicer Darren demonstrates his skills – yet again, we can’t keep a good man down! – and Forman’s Restaurant Chef Mike Smith demonstrates how to produce his tian of Salmon with Orange, Lemon and Keta.
Visit the site for many more excellent films – http://coolcucumber.tv/index.html
Here’s a lovely post from the Eat Hackney following her recent visit to Formans. This is a perfect summary of smoked salmon according to Forman.
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