Cucumber rolls with smoked salmon, Appetizer recipe

Original and ultra delicious as an aperitif, made with cucumber strips garnished with fresh cheese with smoked salmon or nicely rolled fried cucumber.

Village Semence at the International Agricultural Show

Village Semence is a communication, awareness and information system created by SEMAE, the inter-professional association for seeds and plants. A beautiful concept which allows each year, thanks to a stand at SIA, to install a television set at the agricultural show. Throughout the agricultural show, there will be broadcasts on agricultural, food and environmental subjects.

I made this recipe on the Cook Midi show on the Village Semence stand at the International Agricultural Show, on Friday March 4, 2022. I gave you feedback on this great experience in the article which precedes my recipe for cucumber with cream and dill.

You can see the replay of all the shows that took place on the Village Semence set during the 8 days of SIA on their You Tube channel, I’ll give you the link. They are fascinating. And below is the cook midi show during which I cooked this recipe live. You will learn lots of things about cucumbers and olive oil.

A little focus on the cucumber

Cucumber is very low in calories, 14 kcal per 100g. Choose a firm cucumber with smooth skin. The smaller it is, the fewer seeds it will have. You can keep it for 7 days in the vegetable drawer.

We mostly eat it raw, in salads or as an aperitif, but did you know that cucumbers can be cooked perfectly? In soup or fried like here. I offer you this recipe with raw and cooked cucumber to show you that cucumber can be cooked perfectly.

For the record, we find in France the first official mention of the cucumber in the 9th century, Charlemagne cultivated it on his estates. It seems that Louis 14 was fond of it and it was to be able to offer it as a first to the King that the head gardener of Versailles La Quintinie, developed production in greenhouses. Today 95% of cucumbers are produced in greenhouses. It is produced all year round but the peak season in France is from March to October.

I wanted to work with the cucumber in two ways here. On the one hand, make raw cucumber rolls that are garnished. This makes pretty garnished snails which look great as an aperitif. And rather than offering a garnish with fresh cheese and herbs, I suggest adding a little contrast in texture and taste with small cubes of pan-fried cucumber.

Two other ways to serve these rolled bites: either in a glass, or as a spread with the garnish on a slice of cucumber as a toast or a canape.

The main elements of the recipe

A slightly lemony cream cheese filling

You can use the fresh cheese of your choice: ST Moret, Philadelphia, Caprice des Anges, distributor brand… or even a fresh goat’s cheese. The filling will then have more character. Possibly also a very dense Greek yogurt or skyr.

You add lemon zest and a little lemon juice.

Cucumber strips cut with a vegetable peeler or mandolin

For this recipe, choose a straight cucumber, cut the ends and peel it. Using a peeler or a mandolin, you will make thin strips along the entire length. If you plan a little in advance, the ideal is to place the cucumber strips on absorbent paper to absorb the water from the cucumbers.

Diced pan-fried cucumber

Yes, you read correctly, I garnished my bites with pan-fried cucumber. This for two reasons. The first is to add a little texture and crunch to the smoked salmon cream. Fresh cucumber works very well and to make this recipe quickly just before an aperitif, it works perfectly. But the cucumber can release a lot of moisture and risks making your filling soggy, which will become too liquid. Your bites may then not hold together well.

And besides, we often eat cucumber raw but have you ever tried cooking it? perfect for example in soup instead of zucchini for example. Or pan-fried with a little olive oil and spices. You have an example with this recipe for cucumber samosas. So we can add spices to the oil, heat it a little and let the oil infuse. When you fry your cucumber pieces, it will flavor them as desired while maintaining a nice texture.

Here I used cumin seeds and 5 berries, and quite a bit of garlic, I admit, but you can vary it with the spices and aromatics of your choice. We do not add salt because the taste will be quite salty with the smoked salmon.

Once pan-fried, let cool on absorbent paper to remove excess fat and possibly remove the peppercorns.

Smoked trout or smoked salmon to flavor

Personally I have a weakness for smoked trout which I find a little less fatty than smoked salmon, but it’s all a matter of personal taste, or quite simply what you have or find. You only need one slice here. And since the trout or salmon are mixed with cream cheese and cucumber, in the end you won’t really see the difference.

This is a partner post, sponsored by the SEMAE inter-professional association.