Sportfishing was nearly as popular as hunting with the upper classes, as we see in the final episode of Season 3, when almost the entire Crawley family goes to Duneagle castle in the river-rich Scottish Highlands to visit Susan, the niece of the Dowager Countess; her husband, Shrimpie MacClare; and their free-spirited daughter, Lady Rose.
Salmon was particularly abundant in Scottish rivers in the Downton era, and it was used in a variety of celebration-worthy dishes, from whole fish elaborately decorated or in aspic to these festive rissoles.
Downton's Rissoles of Salmon
This recipe comes from the Official Downton Abbey Christmas Cookbook.A popular first course, rissoles were made in various ways: as round puff-pastry packets, as in this recipe; as cannelons, or stuffed pastry rolls; and as croquettes. The filling could range from rice to ground or pounded meat, chicken, or fish. In her highly regarded best-seller Modern Cookery, first published in 1845, Eliza Acton gives several options, including Potato Rissoles (French) and Very Savoury English Rissoles. She instructs the cook to apply an egg wash and then add a layer of bread crumbs or finely broken vermicelli; the first is a particularly nice addition.
Servings 4 servings
Ingredients
- 18 oz puff pastry all butter
- 1 skinless salmon fillet 9 oz (250 g) and no more than 3⁄4 inch (2 cm) thick
- 2 sprigs fresh dill finely chopped
- 4 teaspoons unsalted butter
- 1 large egg yolk beaten
- 1 tbsp. dried bread crumbs
Instructions
- Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the puff pastry a scant 1⁄4 inch (6 mm) thick. Using a 41⁄2-inch (11.5-cm) round pastry cutter, cut out 8 rounds. Lift away the extra pastry.
- Cut the salmon into 4 equal pieces, making sure each piece will ft in the center of a pastry round surrounded by a 1-inch (2.5-cm) border. Top 4 of the pastry rounds with a piece of salmon. Sprinkle the dill over the salmon pieces, dividing it evenly, then top each piece with 1 teaspoon of the butter.
- Brush the edge of each salmon-topped pastry round with a little of the egg yolk and top with the remaining pastry rounds. Seal the edges together well, crimping them with a thumb and index finger. Brush the tops of the pastry packets with the egg yolk, then divide the bread crumbs evenly among the packets, sprinkling them onto the center. Carefully transfer the pastries to the prepared pan, spacing them well apart.
- Bake the rissoles until the pastry is puffed, golden, and crisp, 20– 25 minutes. Serve warm.
Notes
You can omit the bread crumb topping and instead decorate the packets with the pastry scraps left over from cutting out the rounds. Cut the scraps into decorative shapes—leaves were traditional, but stars or any other shape will do—and place the cutouts on the tops of the packets, pressing them gently to the egg yolk–brushed surface to adhere. Bake as directed.