Salmon Coulibiak

Ingredients

160 gr puff pastry
300 gr cohoe salmon
80 gr mushrooms
60 gr onion
26 gr butter
5 ml lemon juice
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
350 gr long rice
240 ml bechamel sauce
3 slices eggs
1/2 rice
1/2 mushroom-onion mixture
3/8 sauce
3/8 slices sauce

Instructions

mushroom-onion blend; rest of white sauce; and rest of rice. (Note: The rice absorbs cooking juices and keeps pastry from being soggy.) Season top. Fold dough over filling, folding and turning up ends. Cut off any excess dough. Seal pastry edges on top and at each end with egg yolk glaze (one egg yolk mixed with a little milk or water). I like to shape the dough into a fish shape, head and tail at either end. Brush pastry with glaze. Carefully lift ends of pastry cloth and roll coulibiak over onto greased cookie sheet so seam is on the bottom. Decorate top with cutouts of leftover dough (make eyes, fins and scales if desired). Be sure to put several slits into the pastry to allow steam to escape. Assembled coulibiak can be refrigerated up to several hours before baking if necessary. Bake in a preheated 200ºC . oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until crust is golden and juices start to appear. Watch crust carefully. If browning too quickly, turn heat down to 190ºC . and cook 10 minutes longer. Allow to stand 10 minutes at room temperature. To serve, loosen bottom of coulibiak with 2 spatulas and slide onto a heated platter or serving tray. Slice into crosswise pieces to serve. Good served with a crisp tossed salad. Yield: 6 to 8 servings. Enright writes: "Former cooking school instructor Stephanie Woroshyl taught me how to prepare this elegant Russian dish...Most of the steps can be done a day or two in advance, making it ideal for impressive entertaining." From _Nancy Enright's Canadian Herb Cookbook_ by Nancy Enright. Toronto: James Lorimer & Company, 1985. Pp. 38-39. ISBN 0-88862-788-2. Electronic format by Cathy Harned.