When it comes to lox or smoked salmon I'm a pretty traditional girl. I'm not talking about the Northwest style smoked fish which I never experienced until I moved to the west coast (fabulous but very different). I've always eaten my lox on a bagel with cream cheese or in scrambled eggs. But now I have a new way to eat lox/smoked salmon. And it not only makes for a great breakfast, it makes for a a great appetizer with a martini or prosecco! And all you need besides the salmon is bread, butter and a few herbs.. As we all know, a good bagel is hard to find, especially outside of NYC.
The recipe below is for a LOT of butter. I made apps for a party and still had butter leftover for breakfasts. And I recently discovered that along with a cocktail it makes an excellent dinner all by itself.
SMOKED SALMON ON DILL & CHIVE BUTTER TOASTS
10 oz best smoked salmon in med-thin slices
2 sticks of butter, room temp
1 tablespoon lemon zest
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice or to taste
1/2 cup finely chopped chives
1 tablespoon (or + to taste) fresh dill, finely chopped
1 1/2 T dijon mustard
1/2 tsp salt (adjust depending on how salty your salmon is)
1/2 tsp fresh black pepper
baguette, rye or other bread--very flexible!
Mix butter, lemon juice and zest, chives, mustard, dill, salt and pepper in a bowl until blended.
Cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before using. Toast bread lightly and let cool
just a bit. Spread on a layer of butter mix and place a slice of smoked salmon on top of each
toast. Place on a platter and serve.
Notes: This saves well in the fridge for a couple of weeks. I used the toaster. It doesn’t seem
to be a problem if the bread cools a bit, especially if serving as apps. If serving a crowd it is
easiest to toast the bread in the broiler, but watch not to over-toast. You can use a semi-sour
batard or a rye bread or probably any of numerous breads.
When I have it for breakfast I don't worry about softening the butter. I spread it on hot toast
just the way I would for any buttered toast.
