Using up Xmas stuff...especially smoked salmon & posh cheese...

8 replies

sharkjump · 26/12/2006 23:04

This year's Xmas has been distinguished by a particularly virulent flu/gastric bug which has taken the legs out from under me, dh, MIL & SIL. Both kids are also mildly under the weather & off their food, but thankfully without the more dramatic projectile vomitting & snot-streaming demonstrated by their elders...

Any suggestions as to (preferably freezer friendly) things I can do with smoked salmon &/or lots of different cheeses? I'm relatively lurgy free now so think I should be OK to handle food by tomorrow. It's all sealed & within date - it's just no-one's been able to face it.

OP posts:

hulababy · 26/12/2006 23:05

I also have lots of cheese to use up. Will watch thread with interest...

VeniVidiVickiQV · 26/12/2006 23:09

Well, AFAIK - you can freeze smoked salmon so you can bung in freezer as is, until you have a suitable recipe for it. Perhaps, if its a large packet - open the packet and divide into smaller, more suitable amounts you can wrap in foil and freeze separately so you only need thaw as and when.

The cheeses - you can make Cheese sauces which can be frozen - to go with pasta, steamed veg, as a sauce for chicken, fish or veg pie?

Carmenere · 26/12/2006 23:09

Hard cheese freezes quite well, and smoked salmon can be frozen but wil lose its texture when defrosted but can still be used for pasta sauces, fishcakes ect.

marymillington · 26/12/2006 23:13

what sort of cheeses...?

broccolli and stilton soup freezes well, so do cheese and herby things in filo pastry.

i think smoked salmon gets kind of "cooked" by freezing, so its only really nice to cook with afterwards

Original poster

sharkjump · 26/12/2006 23:21

Well, stilton mostly,a couple of supermarket selection packs (so not particularly posh but cheese sauce would be a last resort).

I think the smoked salmon would be better in a recipe THEN frozen - I've frozen packs of the stuff before & it's not great defrosted.

It's looking like mega batches of pasta sauce! Annoying though - dh is strictly veggie, so it'll take forever to get through the salmon - I bought it for me, SIL & MIL as a Xmas Day breakfast treat

OP posts:

yoyo · 26/12/2006 23:32

Smoked salmon - cook enough tagliatelle for two people and keep warm. Chop a shallott v. finely. Grate the zest of half a lemon. Heat a good dollop of butter in frying pan and fry shallot and zest until soft and smells yum. Add half a glass or so of white wine to frying pan and bubble until reduced by half(ish). Add half a pot (100ml or so) of creme fraiche. Stir and warm through. Stir in strips of smoked salmon (however much you fancy) and a handful of chopped chives. Give it a couple of mins then add to the tagliatelle. Serve in warm bowls with lemon wedges. Good couple of glasses of white and you have had a supper worthy of a last meal. Fantastic.

slug · 27/12/2006 08:07

If you have mince, make burgers and incorporate lots of grated strong cheeses Blue cheese works extremly well here as does smoked cheeses.

For soft cheeses like brie or camerbert, crumb and fry them and serve with a fruit sauce (cranberry perhaps?)

All that stilton goes well in pasta sauces. Try wrapping chicken breasts in bacon, putting in an oven dish with a glass of white wine and as much blue cheese as you feel like, covering and cooking in the oven until done.

I crumble a bit of cheese into soup (nice for the just recovering from the lurgy) It gives it a rich unami flavour.

oxocube · 29/12/2006 08:45

smoked salmon fishcakes? rice/kedgeree type thing.

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