Salmon Pastries

We’re on the road quite a lot, and when travelling, I prefer taking a packed lunch with us instead of always ending up eating fries, or Pommes as they call them here in Germany. These small salmon pastries my Mom used to bake when I was a kid are ideal for that purpose! I don’t feel good about eating fish, so I bake these quite rarely these days, make sure I buy organic stuff with a WWF label on it - and keep telling me it’s still a better option than buying our kids some Schnitzels that they’d insist on having with their Pommes anyway. Later I’ll post a vegetarian version with potato filling which I love just as much but that the kids unfortunately won’t eat...

Here’s what you need for some 20+ pastries:

Dough:

• 250g butter


• 250g quark


• 260g wheat flour


• 2 tsp baking powder


• ½-1 tsp salt (depending if you’re using unsalted or salted butter)

Filling:

• 200g smoked salmon


• 2 boiled eggs


• 1 raw egg


• 2 Tbsp chopped dill


• salt (and pepper, if you like) to taste

In a baking bowl, combine butter with flour, baking powder and salt, working them with your fingers until crumbly. Then add quark, mix thoroughly and put the dough into the fridge for the time you prepare the filling - which won’t take long, if you’ve boiled the eggs already. Just peel the boiled eggs, chop them together with salmon, then mix all the ingredients of the filling together. Note: if the salmon is very salty, you don’t necessarily need any extra salt.

Now, take your dough out of the fridge, roll it out and take out circles with a round mold - ideal diameter is 10 cm. On each, set about 2 teaspoons of filling in the middle (don’t worry, you’ll quickly learn how much is the ideal amount.) Wet the edges slightly with water (use your fingers or a small brush). Then fold the pastries to enclose the filling, and finally seal the edges with a fork (see the photo for an idea of how to do this.) Brush with egg or milk and bake in a preheated oven in 225 degrees for some 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Let them cool on a rack.

And then it’s time to pack everything else together and head for an adventure! Have a nice Sunday everyone! The picture below is from our latest adventure in the mountains.