Salmon Ballotines

Preparation time: 40

minutes Cooking time: 20 minutes

For the ballotines:

• 8 slices of salmon or smoked trout
• 250 g salmon fillet (0.5 LB)
• 80 g cream cheese (0.17 LB)
• 1 bunch of chives
• 1 egg white
• Salt and Timut pepper

For the purées:

• 5 orange carrots
• 5 yellow carrots
• 2 knobs of butter (about 2 Tbsp)
• About 80 ml of milk (2 ¾ oz)
• Salt and pepper

For the stuffed carrots:

• One vegetable stock cube
• 4 carrots with green tops

For the sauce:

• Vegetable stock reduction
• 100 ml of cream (3 ¼ oz)
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• Salt and pepper

For Comté cheese crisps:

• 50 g grated Comté cheese (0.10 LB)

Make them ahead! These items that can be prepared a day early:

Stuffed carrots, purées, sauce, the stuffing and shaping of the ballotines.

The day of: cook the ballotines at the last minute (8 minutes) along with the Comté cheese crisps

• Stuffed carrots:

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Peel the carrots and keep the green tops; place them in a small gratin dish. Pour vegetable stock over carrots. Cover with parchment paper (poke a few fork holes to ventilate).  Bake for about 25 minutes or until carrots are soft.

Once cooked, save the vegetable stock for the sauce. Next, use a spoon handle to lightly carve out the centre of each carrot. Set aside.

• Purées:

Peel the orange and yellow carrots, then cut them into sections. Steam them separately until tender. (They can be lightly boiled instead, with care, to avoid the carrots becoming waterlogged).

Once cooked, mash each colour batch of carrots separately, with 2 Tbsp of butter, a little bit of milk (as appropriate for the required consistency) and salt and pepper. Set aside in the refrigerator.

• Sauce:

Use the vegetable stock that the carrots with green tops were cooked in. In a saucepan over medium heat, reduce it to half the volume.

When the stock is reduced, add cream, turmeric, salt and pepper. Simmer on low heat for a few minutes, then remove from heat. Set aside.

• Ballotines:

Remove the skin and bones from the salmon fillet. Chop the salmon coarsely and place the pieces in a blender with the cream cheese, chopped chives, egg white, salt and pepper. Blend until the salmon is reduced to small pieces, like rillettes.

Heat water in a large pot.

Lay a sheet of cling wrap on the work surface. Place 2 slices of salmon (or smoked trout) on this sheet to form a rectangle.

Cover the salmon slices with cling wrap and tap on the fish (not too hard) with a rolling pin to seal the piece together properly. There should be no space left between the two slices.

Take the top wrap off the slices (not the bottom sheet). Spread the salmon mixture over the fish slices like you would making maki.

Roll up tight into a bundle shape using the bottom cling wrap. Tie a knot at each end. Ballotines can now be cooked!

Plunge the ballotines into simmering water for 8 minutes. Once cooked, remove from cling wrap and let drain for a few minutes. Slice into one-inch pieces; about 2 cm.

• Comté cheese crisps:

Preheat the oven to 320°F (160°C). Grate Comté cheese and spread on a baking mat. Bake in the oven for about 4-5 minutes, watching closely, until just golden.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

• Serving:

Transfer the purées into two piping bags, and the sauce into a refillable pastry pen (optional).

Place 3 or 4 ballotines on each plate.

Pipe a small amount of each purée into the stuffed carrots as well as onto the plates.

Add a few dots of the turmeric sauce, some pieces of Comté cheese crisps and carrot top leaves for added greenery.

All you need to do now is enjoy your meal! Happy Holidays!