Amarante
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 Tue, Dec 22 2020, 11:02 am
I am not going to lie - these are a bit of a potchke but they were delicious and very impressive and not difficult to execute especially since you can do the prep in stages and they can be made ahead or even frozen until ready to cook.
I had Coulibiac many years ago when I stayed at the home of a real cooking person. She even had a professional chocolate tempering machine - she was an accountant and had gotten the machine from a client in lieu of some fees. 
Coulibiac is traditionally made with the whole large salmon so it was always in the category of something I would never have dreamed of tackling but having individual versions made it realistic for me to handle.
Because these are individual portions, it would be very easy to increase the recipe to serve more people.
Coulibiac
Excerpt From: Emily Kydd - Posh Rice
These individual servings of this classic Russian fish pie can be made ahead and chilled, or frozen, until ready to cook.
MAKES 4 pies
TAKES about 1 hour, plus chilling
25g/1oz butter, plus an extra knob
1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
100g/3½oz chestnut (cremini) mushrooms, finely chopped
2 salmon fillets (about 140g/5oz each)
85g/½ cup mixed basmati and wild rice
2 eggs, plus 1 beaten egg
½ small bunch dill, finely chopped
zest 1 lemon and juice ½ lemon
500g/1lb 2oz block all-butter puff pastry
plain (all-purpose) flour, for dusting
salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the sauce
200g/7oz crème fraîche (I used a simple recipe to make with cream and sour cream as I didn't want to track down kosher crème fraîche although it does exist
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
1 heaped tsp chopped dill
Heat the 25g/1oz butter in a frying pan and soften the onion for 8 minutes. Add the garlic and mushrooms, turn up the heat and cook until golden and any liquid has evaporated. Tip into a bowl. Return the pan to the heat. Add the knob of butter, then cook the salmon, skin-side down, for 5 minutes. Flip over and remove the pan from the heat. Set aside for 3 minutes, then remove the salmon and leave to cool – it shouldn’t be cooked through. Flake the fish and discard the skin.
Return the pan to the heat, add the rice and some salt, then pour over enough boiling water so that the rice is just covered. Bring to the boil, turn down the heat, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and steam for 10 minutes. Drain, then spread the rice out on a tray and leave to cool.
Bring a small pan of water to the boil and cook the whole eggs for 8 minutes, then drain and run under cold water. Once cool, peel and slice them.
To make the sauce, warm the crème fraîche in a small saucepan and stir through the mustard, dill and a little seasoning.
Tip the rice into the mushroom and onion bowl and stir through the dill, lemon zest and juice and a little seasoning.
Line a tray with parchment paper. Roll out half the pastry on a lightly floured surface to a 28cm/11in square. Cut into four equal squares and place on the prepared tray. Spoon 4 tbsp of the rice mixture onto each square, leaving a border around the edges, then top with the salmon, eggs, remaining rice and 2 tsp of the sauce. Roll out the remaining pastry to a 30cm/12in square and cut into four equal squares. Brush the borders of the filled squares with the beaten egg and top with the pastry lids. Seal the edges, trim to neaten and crimp the edges with the tines of a fork. Use a sharp knife to poke a few air holes in the tops of the pies, brush with a little more beaten egg and chill for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6. Bake the pies for 30–35 minutes and rewarm the sauce to serve alongside the pies.
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