Saturday 31 March 2012

Give them my last rollo? Get pampered!

What a tart.

Smoked salmon tartlets. Sounds very colour supplement doesn't it? Anyway I was asked for another recipe and I've cooked this now a couple of times.

The deluxe mini muffin pan from Pampered Chef is the key ingredient here. Twenty four little metal cups of non-stickiness. Ideal for fairy cakes and tarts, it says in the catalogue. Look, I'm just quoting.

The muffin pan can also be joined by the mini tart shaper, which is basically a piece of wood that looks like a dumbbell for Action Man.  Without going into enormous detail (I can explain later individually if you're interested), you place a round of pastry, small ball about an inch or so across into each of the metal cups,  press down with the tart shaper and hey presto! you have a small pasty case. Top Tip Time. Have a small bowl of flour handy to dip the shaper into to prevent it sticking to the pastry after a while.

No mini muffin pan?  Well, you know who to ask.  Ahem!

Ingredients:

4oz of smoked salmon trimmings (Morrisons have small pack for under a pound)
1 small onion
2 small mushrooms
2 teaspoons of chilli sauce
2 tablespoons of mayo
(slither or two of lemon zest if that's your thing - not essential, but I like it)

Method:

Chopped everything as finely as possible.  Super fine for the mushroom and onion; it's going into a tiny case.  To ease that situation (picks up catalogue, turns to page 9) the Pampered Chef food chopper will do in seconds what you and a knife will spends ages over.  It is a work of genius.  The salmon will also work in the chopper.  It doesn't look possible, but...

Mix all together and scoop into the pastry cases, 180 degrees for about 20/25 mins. Eat.

I've used as party-ish nibbles or as a meal with a few on a plate with salad; makes a change from quiche. Now...as mentioned I've cooked a couple of times and they taste fabulous. This is the official recipe - personally next time I will ease the mayo and crank up the chilli sauce which is hard to detect.  Personal choice and all that.  Variations?  Mini-quiches are a triumph in the mini muffin pan and they will not stick. End of. Put in freezer, or use the pan to make jam tarts with the children.

I did hear yesterday of someone placing an upturned rollo into the cases and cooking for 10 minutes.  While still warm, place a white chocolate button on top.  Reactions varied.  Some people say it works every time, some say it's mind-alteringly sweet, others have been left with what looks like a brown plastic cap in the bottom of the case.  Trial and error, I suspect.

But would I give them my last rollo? They can get pampered.