Smoked Fish and Egg Salad Tartine on Roasted Potato

I have this strange attraction to egg mayonnaise. Everytime I order the make-your-own sandwich at Central Chitlom Food Court, I inevitably tick egg mayonnaise on top of the roasted vegetables. Maybe I'm just a cheapskate trying to stuff as many fillings into the bread as possible at THB149.
I made quite a bit of adaptation to the Smoked Salmon and Egg Salad Tartine recipe. Firstly, I used smoked snow fish. Secondly, instead of using bread, I used roasted potato as the base. I also added sour cream and Kew Pie mayonnaise just for fun. Besides dill, I suspect tarragon and chive would work well in the egg salad, too.
Now that I have made my own egg mayonnaise, I shall never look at the deli sandwich in the same light ever.

Ingredients:
(makes 2 servings)
1 Large potato
sea salt and olive oil
sprinkle of chopped thyme leaves

3 large eggs
2 tablespoon real mayonnaise
swirl of Kew Pie (Japanese mayonnaise)
1 tablespoon sour cream (lemon juice + cream)
1 teaspoon Dijon wholegrain mustard
salt and pepper to taste
chopped dill

2 slices smoked snow fish

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Halve the potato lengthwise, brush it with olive oil and sprinkle with generous amount of sea salt. Sprinkle some chopped thyme over the cut side. Put to the oven and let roast until just tender.
2. Fill saucepan with enough water to cover the eggs by 1 inch. Bring the water to a boil and turn off the heat. Let sit for exactly 11 minutes. Transfer the eggs to ice cold water to stop cooking. Peel and mash roughly.
3. In a bowl, mix together mayonnaise, Kew Pie, sour cream, mustard, and dill. Stir in mashed eggs. Taste and adjust with seasoning
4. When the potatoes are ready, remove from the oven and top it with a slice of smoked fish. Spoon egg salad over the smoked fish and garnish with a sprig of dill.
   

Cauliflower and Quinoa Sushi Roll

This was the recipe that inspired me to cook Japanese. It's the quinoa, really. Quinoa is not only high in amino acids and nutritious but also tastety. I love the subtly nutty flavor of this seeds (NOT a grain). Cooked quinoa is creamy, fluffy and crunchy all at the same time. I once saw red quinoa in a health store in Kuala Lumpur. I should have bought it then. The only type they have here is yellow. According to my Encyclopedia of Healing Foods, quinoa has all the essential amino acids - excellent protein choice for vegan.

I found the recipe uses way too much boiling water for the amount of quinoa it requires. I should have just followed the cooking instruction on the package. Instead of using smoked salmon, I thought I'd try smoked snow fish for a change. I bought a small tin of wasabi powder and somehow figured my way of understanding the Japanese instruction based on the few Chinese characters on the label. It's actually better than most Japanese restaurants.

Makes 4 large rolls

Ingredients

• 250g Cauliflower Florets
  
• 75g Quinoa
  
• 225ml Boiling Salted Water
• 15ml Agave Nectar
• 15ml Rice Wine Vinegar
• 60ml Water
• 2 Tbsp Rice Mirin
• 4 Sheets of Nori
• 6 Spears of Asparagus, cooked
• 120g Smoked Salmon

To serve: pickled ginger, soy sauce and wasabi paste

To make the filling

· Blitz the cauliflower in a food processor until it forms small grains, resembling cooked couscous. (I was lazy to wash the blender and hence used only knife)

· Tip the quinoa into a pan containing the boiling water and cook on a moderate heat for 10 minutes.

· Meanwhile, mix together the agave nectar, rice wine vinegar and water.

· Add the cauliflower and vinegar mixture to the quinoa.

· Continue to cook until the cauliflower is just tender and the quinoa is cooked, adding a little more water if the mixture looks too dry.

· Add the rice mirin and mix well.

· Cover and remove from the heat.

· Leave to cool - the cauliflower and quinoa mixture can be made in advance and left in the fridge until needed.

To assemble the sushi

· Place a nori sheet shiny side down on a sushi rolling mat. You want the shorter side facing you.

· Spread a quarter of the filling onto the half of the nori sheet nearest to you, leaving about 1cm gap from the edge.

· Lay strips of smoked salmon horizontally across the centre of the filling.

· Lay a single row of asparagus horizontally on top of the salmon.

· Moisten the far edge of the nori sheet with a little water.

· Using the sushi mat and your fingers carefully roll the nori sheet up and over the filling.

· Roll up as tight as possible.

· Repeat with the other 3 rolls.

To serve

· Wet a sharp serrated knife and cut each roll into 6-8 portions.

· Serve with Japanese pickled ginger, soy sauce and wasabi paste.