Smoked Salmon w/ Pasta & Cream Cheese Sauce

Karen Weideman — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 16:11:41 +0000

Recently, I had the privilege of interviewing Chef Michael Smith, host of Food Network’s Chef at Home and Chef Abroad. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing a few of Chef Michael’s recipes with you. These are inspired by Prince Edward Island. Today I’ll be sharing his recipe for Prince Edward Island Smoked Salmon with Pasta and Simple Dill Cream Cheese Sauce.

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Prince Edward Island Smoked Salmon with Pasta and Simple Dill Cream Cheese Sauce
Chef Michael Smith

This is one of the most popular dishes on my table. Our friends love its bright, familiar flavours and we love how easy it is to make. You can toss steaming, wet, just cooked pasta with melting cream cheese to form an incredibly smooth luxurious sauce. The smoked salmon adds extravagance balanced by other familiar flavours: dill, lemon, onion, mustard, and capers. A five star dish for sharing!

Serves four

1 lb penne or your favourite shaped pasta like bowties, long pastas like spaghetti don’t work as well
1 cup room temperature cream cheese
1 bunch of fresh dill, chopped
4 green onions, sliced
1 lemon, juiced and zested
1 heaping spoonful of Dijon mustard
1/4 cup capers
8 ounces smoked salmon, or more
sprinkled sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Season it liberally with salt until tastes like a day at the beach on Prince Edward Island. As the pasta cooks it will absorb the salted water and become properly seasoned. Cook al dente, until the pasta is cooked through but still pleasantly chewy.

Scoop out some of the starchy cooking water. Drain the pasta but not quite all the way. Leave it a bit wet. Toss the pasta back into the pot along with a splash or two of the reserved water, perhaps a half-cup or so in total then immediately add the rest of the ingredients. While the pasta is still steaming hot it will easily melt the cream cheese and form a rich creamy sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Post from: Keeping the Castle

An Interview with Chef Michael Smith

Karen Weideman — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:18:47 +0000

Chef Michael Smith was a 1991 honors graduate from the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in New York. He has been cooking professionally for over twenty years. His career has included stints in a Michelin three-star restaurant in London, some of Manhattan’s finest kitchens, South America, the Caribbean and throughout North America. Michael is known for support of young Canadian chefs and the growing Canadian Cuisine movement. He has devoted his career to helping Canadian families create simple, practical nutritious food.

Host of Chef Abroad, Chef at Home, Chef at Large and The Inn Chef, Chef Michael Smith can be seen in more than 65 countries. He is an award winning cookbook author, newspaper columnist, roving Canadian cuisine ambassador, and home cook.

Last week, I had the privilege of interviewing Chef Michael Smith. He shared some of his tips and favorite dishes that he prepares from locally grown food in Prince Edward Island. You can watch the video interview below.

Post from: Keeping the Castle

Keeping the Castle » prince edward island

Smoked Salmon w/ Pasta & Cream Cheese Sauce

An Interview with Chef Michael Smith