Foodie Friday - Smoked Salmon Tarts

SCRUMPTIOUS - no two ways about it!

My wonderful Hubster has this electric smoker that smokes up the most wonderful of things. . . ribs, chicken, pulled pork, and (drum roll please) my absolute favorite - salmon! 

We're fortunate enough to have a grocery store in town that gets periodic salmon filets that are perfect for smoking.  We may not have 'much' here - but we've got that - oh yeah!   Needless to say Hubster and Butcher are on a first name basis. . .

Usually, as I'm an embarassment to my family and don't like BBQ ribs, Hubster will smoke up some salmon or a pork chop for me.  THANK YOU HUBSTER!!

The problem with the salmon is there can be so much of it in one package.  The great thing about it is there can be so much salmon in one package AND I have some wonderful recipes to use up the 'leftovers'.

One of the things I like to make is little Smoked Salmon Tarts.  The original recipe called them 'appetizers', but I think, with my tweakings, they work really well as a side to some fresh vegetables for a light meal.  My favorite pans for these tarts is a super-mini muffin/tart pan that I bought about a year ago and love-love-love it! 

So here we go:

Smoked Salmon Tarts

1 c. flour

1/2 Tbsp baking powder

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1-1/2 tsp dill weed (fresh or dried)
1 tsp. ground tellicherry pepper
1/8 tsp. salt

1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp. Worcestshire sauce
2 eggs, beaten
2 tsp lemon juice

2-3 green onions, thinly sliced
2/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1-1/2 cups chopped smoked salmon

3 oz neufschatel cheese, cut into 1/2" cubes
parsley flakes (fresh or dried)

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray 24 cup mini-muffin pan with vegetable oil.

Combine first 6 ingredients in small bowl.  Set aside.  Blend next 5 ingredients in large bowl - add dry mixture, then onions, cheese and smoked salmon.  Mix well (a fork works best).

Fill each muffin cup to top (be careful to not overflow) and bake 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and press one cube of neufschatel into each tart.  Sprinkle with parsley and return to oven.  Bake an additional 10 minutes or until tarts are golden around edges.

Cool 5 minutes.  Loosen sides of tarts from pan (a butter knife can help with this), and remove to plate.  Refrigerate any leftovers.

Makes 24 appetizers and took a total of 45 minutes to make.

I also fixed some roasted asparagus:  Cut ends off and rinse some fresh asparagus, place on cookie sheet.  Drizzle or spray with olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Put in 350 degree oven for 10 - 12 minutes until asparagus is fork tender.  Serve immediately.

As we were being 'extra' healthy (you should be impressed), I also fixed some marinated tomatoes.  I diced up some fresh tomatoes onto a platter then drizzled with a balsamic vinegarette.  Simple and tasty!

No leftovers last night. . . too tasty to quit eating until it was all gone. Darn it!  Was sooo good - wouldn't have minded a few tarts and asparagus spears for a snack today.

Isn't it funny. . . out of our plentiful stack of dinner plates, the one with the chip ends up being the one photographed.  Sigh. . . shouldn't  be looking at the plate, anyway.  Focus should be on the food, hehe.

Have a tasty kind of day and weekend ~

Robin Z