Salmon Kulebyaka

Welcome to Russian week, a cuisine I know absolutely nothing about. I opted to go with my 'when in doubt make seafood' strategy, and arrived at the Russian version of fish pie. This recipe is adapted from: http://whattocooktoday.com/salmon-kulebyaka.html

Ingredients:

1 lb salmon filet

Smoked salmon

½ cup rice

1 cup chicken stock (heated in microwave/stovetop)

1 leek , diced (white and light green parts only)

Dill, chopped

3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped

Puff pastry (1 sheet)
Salt
Lemon Juice

For the rice: sauté leeks in butter for about 2-3 minutes, add the rice until it turns opaque, about 2 minutes more. Add in the stock and simmer for about 15 minutes, until tender. Let cool.

Assembly: roll out the puff pastry. Place a layer of smoked salmon on the bottom, followed by a layer of rice, then the hard-boiled eggs (I completely forgot to add these - don't make the same mistake!). Lay the salmon on top, and season with salt and lemon juice. Close up the puff pastry, trim any excess, and brush egg whites on the pastry. Cook at 400°F for 40 minutes – you may need to cover with foil after about 30 minutes to prevent too much browning on the pastry. Serve with a mayonnaise based condiment, like this aioli:

Lemon-caper aioli:

3 garlic cloves

1.5 Tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

2 egg yolks (save the whites for brushing on the kulebyaka)

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

½ cup canola oil

Salt

pepper

Capers

Lemonzest

Dill

Combine garlic, lemon juice, mustard, salt, pepper, and egg yolks in a blender. Blend until frothy and garlic is chopped. With the blender running, sloooowly pour in the oil. Stir in capers, lemon zest, and chopped dill.