smoked salmon for the holidays

Smoked Salmon Tips for the Holidays

Delicious, colorful and versatile, smoked salmon can make it easy to elevate your holiday festivities, which might look shockingly different this year.

Whether it’s your family or a small group of friends, you can feel good about serving sustainable smoked salmon to your guests. Highlight smoked salmon at socially distanced gatherings with these recipes and tips from chef Nora Pouillon, a James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award winner, and her daughter, Blue Circle Foods product director Nina Damato.

Ready, Set, Serve

There’s no need to prep or cook smoked salmon – it’s sliced and ready to eat so you can impress your guests in no time with a colorful smoked salmon platter.

  1. Arrange smoked salmon layers on a decorative platter.
  2. Garnish with your favorite charcuterie sides like olives, capers, pickles and sliced lemon, tomato, cucumber or radish.
  3. Season with dill sprigs, sea salt and fresh cracked pepper.
  4. Serve with an assortment of crackers or buttered triangles of crustless brown bread.

A Seafood Superfood

Smoked salmon is a nutritional powerhouse full of antioxidants, omega-3s and protein. A 2-ounce serving of Blue Circle smoked salmon contains 1,000 mg of health-boosting omega-3s, which meets the daily requirements recommended by the FDA’s 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. To make the most of a healthy choice, look for smoked salmon that does not contain sugar or added preservatives.

A Sustainable Protein

To ensure your smoked salmon is sourced with the environment and your health in mind, purchase products that are free from antibiotics, GMOs, added hormones and synthetic colorants.

A Dietary Chameleon

From traditional tastes to keto, gluten-free or dairy-free canapes, smoked salmon fits the bill. Its clean ingredient profile means it satisfies many common dietary restrictions.

For mouthwatering appetizers, try Pouillon’s Smoked Salmon Cucumber Boats. If you enjoy pairing smoked salmon with traditional flavors like cream cheese and capers, consider her Smoked Salmon Rolls with Cream Cheese and Caper Filling.

To access more recipes and tips, visit bluecirclefoods.com.

Smoked Salmon Rolls with Cream Cheese and Caper Filling
Recipe courtesy of chef Nora Pouillon

Ingredients:

  • 4  ounces Blue Circle Smoked Salmon
  • olive oil
  • 6 ounces cream cheese
  • 2 tablespoons small capers, drained, plus additional for serving, divided (optional)
  • 1/2 medium red onion, finely diced
  • 1 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley
  • salt and pepepr to taste

Instructions:

  1. Layer smoked salmon slices on lightly oiled aluminum foil, overlapping slightly.
  2. Mix cream cheese with capers, onion and parsley. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
  3. Place thick line of cream cheese mixture along long side of salmon.
  4. Roll up salmon carefully with help of aluminum foil, similar to sushi roll.
  5. Chill in refrigerator 2-3 hours or overnight to firm up roll.
  6. To serve, use sharp knife to slice salmon roll into 1/2-inch long pieces.
  7. Place rolls on serving plate and garnish with additional capers, if desired.

About Family Features Editorial Syndicate
A leading source for high-quality food, lifestyle and home and garden content, Family Features provides readers with topically and seasonally relevant tips, takeaways, information, recipes, videos, infographics and more. Find additional articles and information at Culinary.net and eLivingToday.com.

Photo courtesy of Blue Circle Foods.