Good Party Food.com

* 450 gram salt

* 300 gram salt

* 3-4 bunches dill (you really need a lot of dill -  the bunches should be so big to fit your hand just about - the amount of chopped dill should be at least twice as big as a size of dry ingredients)

* Allspice (45 berries), black peppercorns (45), juniper (45 berries) giving it wonderful aroma of resin.

* Grind all the berries carefully to let the aroma release; add salt so that the flavor doesn’t disappear.

Off we go! When you already have a beautiful piece of salmon fillet weighing approximately 3 pounds, you gotta prepare a marinate, which is a sprinkle actually.

Mix all the ingredients together. The salmon will be put into a deep dish. Pop half of the sprinkle on the bottom of the dish then place the salmon skin downwards and then cover the fish fillet with the rest of the sprinkle.  The dish I mentioned must be large enough for the salmon to lie flat and wasn’t rolled up and tight enough for the sprinkle to cover it nicely. Cover tightly with foil and refrigerate, it gotta stay in marinate for 24-50 hours. After taking the fish out of the fridge you will see that there is no more water at all and only a small amount of dried marinate was left. When the fish is much harder remove it from the dish, pat dry and scrap off the spices.  Try not to soak it, so it must be done with no water. Now, slice the fish finely, and arrange large amounts of it on the plates. A piece weighing 3 pounds should be enough for 6 people as a dinner.

Serve the salmon with slices of fresh bread, ideally white, cottage or brown - arranged loosely in wicker baskets. Along with the salmon serve few lemons cut into eights and at least 3 sauces, the recipes for which I will give as well.

* fresh, full leeks

* 2 pints milk

* garlic

* vinegar

* oil

* herbs

Cut the leeks across into 4 inch pieces. Soak in milk for few hours to get rid of the sharpness and the smell of sulphur. Usually after two hours the milk will go off, yet it’s not an issue. Take out the leeks, rinse them off under cold water and leave in the pot for about 15 minutes. Pre-boil the veggie in salted water. The leeks don’t have to be soaked but then they must be boiled slightly longer on a low heat. Drain the leeks and leave to cool. The boiling time depends on how thick the leeks are; the thicker the longer they are to be boiled. Leave the leeks to cool and then, if necessary, cut them along so that they are thinner. And this is the best moment. We make a marinate of oil and seasoning. I use garlic, plum vinegar (which may be replaced by balsamic or rice vinegars if we don’t want the leeks go reddish), pepper, salt, crushed garlic and as preferred herbs de Provence. Pour the leeks with the marinate and leave alone for 24 h. Then just tuck it quickly into. Sometimes I make much bigger portion, cause I put whatever is left, if any, into a container or a square jar, cover them all with oil and refrigerate. They store well even for few months. They are a perfect side dish or a light supper with some wine, crispy roll and good company.

Additional info: I use a plum vinegar with a strong purple color which is waste left after candying the plums - of course I give this recipe as well.

* arugula

* flakes of Parmesan cheese

* dried tomatoes

* balsamic vinegar

* oil

Prepare the arugula, rinse it, dry and place in a bowl. Grate thin flakes of Parmesan Cheese with a veggie or cheese grater. Get out few dried tomatoes, cut into small pieces, add to the salad and stir, pour some oil from the jar of tomatoes.  This oil will give the salad extra strong taste and more noticeable dried tomatoes flavor.

* a packet of smoked salmon, cut into slices

* a small bunch of dill

* two pounds potatoes

* 3-4 eggs

* 1.06 pints homogeneous cream (best is 18%)

* salt

* freshly ground pepper

Peel the potatoes, pre-boil them for few minutes in salted water.  When they get softer but still aren’t done get them out of water and leave to rest for a minute. Then cut into slices. Mix 3 eggs, cream, and salt’n’pepper. Open the packet of salmon, chop the dill finely. In a baking tin, ideally square or rectangular, arrange the products into layers.  Cover the bottom of the tin with potatoes tightly, then, put the slices of salmon on top of the potato layer and sprinkle with a lot of dill. Next, put the potatoes, salmon and dill, finishing with a layer of potatoes only. Leave about an inch from the top of the dish as the lax will rise thanks to the sauce. Pour the cream mixed with the eggs on top of the dish. Don’t stir as the sauce will find it’s way anyway. Put the lax into the oven at 320 F (160 C) and bake on the bottom shelf for roughly 1.5 h. The bake should rise and the crust should be full but browned a little. Such lax is ready to serve. You may cover it with an aluminum foil and heat it up shortly before the expected guests come. Serve cut into pieces with green salad and light dressing.

* a sheet puff pastry

* 2-3 red onions

* 2 spoonfuls balsamic rice or plum vinegar

* 1 spoonful of brown sugar

* 1 egg

* 1 spoonful oil

* a pinch of salt

* two cloves of garlic, crushed

* thyme leaves

We peel the onions, cut into eights at least, put into a bowl. Add the vinegar, season with thyme, garlic, sugar and salt. Stir the onion occasionally; however, leave it to marinate for at least 30 minutes. In this way it’ll lose its sharpness and absorb the sweetness and flavor of the additives.

Just cut circles out of the ready made puff pastry, ideally using a cutter but if you don’t have one it may be easily done with a glass as well.  Brush the circles with a stirred egg. Pierce finely with a fork the middle of the circle where the onion will be placed so that the pastry didn’t rise too much. Place the onion in the middle of the pastry so that the edges aren’t covered.  Put in the hot oven at 392 F (200 C) for 15 minutes. Keep an eye on the timing, as sometimes the pastry rises quicker sometimes slower, depending on the pastry and the oven:) Place the ‘little onion rolls’ on the plate, here they can patiently wait for the guests, provided they are not eaten by the household before the guests come.

* fresh mint leaves

* burgul

* few ripe tomatoes

* beautiful small mushrooms

* olive oil

* salt

* juice of half a lemon

* a bit of ground pepper

I just cut the mint finely together with the stems if you get these in the store. I halve the tomatoes, hollow out seeds which got too much water for our recipe. I chop the tomatoes; mix it with the mint and earlier prepared burgul. I season it all with some oil, salt and lemon juice to taste. I clean the mushrooms, small are the best, remove the stems and arrange in the oven caps upside down.  Grill at 428, 00F (220 C) for 10-15 minutes. I pour out the liquid from the insides and stuff the salad into the mushrooms with a heap Oh, it’s so yummy and it looks so good as well. As its fabulous both cold and warm, it makes a flexible recipe which is very convenient for parties.

* mint or  rise

* burgul

* few ripe tomatoes

* chicory or mini-romaine lettuce

* olive oil

* salt

* juice of half a lemon

I cut the mint finely together with the stems. Then I halve the tomatoes, hollow out the seeds as they got too much water for our recipe. I chop the tomato into pieces, mix with mint and prepared in advance burgul. I season it all with some oil, salt and lemon juice to taste. Then I arrange this mixture on mini-romaine lettuce leaves and serve it this way. This dish may be easily made in a morning, stored at room temperature covered with damp cloth or in a fridge. It looks great and got an extremely refreshing taste!

* 1 cup of water

* 2 medium size onions

* fresh basil

* 1- 2 spoonfuls of brown sugar

* 1/2 celery

* 1 spoonful of butter

* 50 ml thick cream - alternatively

* Salt and pepper

* 1 hot red pepper

* 2 seed onions

* 1 egg

* 2 heaped spoonfuls of flour

* Salt according to taste

* A spoonful of brown sugar

* Alternatively you may add some garden peas; however, this is not necessary

* 3-4 large potatoes

* grated zest of 2 washed lemons

* juice of 1 lemon

* few spoonfuls of chopped peppermint leaves

* some salt and pepper