Savoury Pastries Always A Comfort Food Winner

Pastry and savoury, in my opinion always make a good combination. I'm not really fussed if it's chicken and mushroom, steak and ale, ham and cheese, pork pie, sausage rolls, or cornish pasties, which ironically is up in the next blog. Pie is GOOD - so this recipe was already going to be a winner in my book. To be honest the technique if that's what you call it, that I took away from this recipe was to brush the inside of the pastry, I assumed (in my opinion) that this was to make sure the sides adhered a little better. I have to say though if I'm wrong and this isn't the reason, I have noticed that when I do this little extra procedure the pastry does stick together better.

I am certain that learning new things, even silly little things like buttering the inside of your pastry to make it stick better, is a good thing, for two reasons, firstly in the future it will avoid that predetermined time spent trying to get those edges to stick together, and getting irratable because there's always that one annoyingly elusive bit that just won't have any of it. Secondly in the unlikely event that you should be discussing pie/pastry and someone says "Ooh but I can never get those pesky sides to stick properly" - you can turn around and say "Have you tried using butter as a kind of glue?" I don't know about you, but there's something about being knowledgeable that makes me feel good and not in a smug way - usually - I think everyone needs an ego boost every now and again, it's nice to know that we are good at something, or to be told we are beautiful, or kind, or good at our job. I'm not very good at accepting compliments. So for me subtle situations like that one are ideal for my ego. A way to impart a little of what I know without demoralising anyone.

Salmon Parcels

4 small salmon tail fillets

4 large sheets of filo pastry

50g butter, melted

4 cups sliced mushrooms

1 large tomato chopped

1 tsp oregano

salt and pepper

120ml sieved tomatoes

New potatoes and green beans to serve

1. Preheat your oven to 190C/375F

2. Put a sheet of filo pastry on a board and brush with a little of the melted butter, fold in half and brush again.

3. Top one half of the pastry with a 1/4 of the mushroom slices and chopped tomato and sprinkle with some of the oregano. Add a portion of the salmon and season well with salt and pepper.

4. Bring the other side of the pastry up and over the salmon, pinching all around the edges to seal the contents. Repeat the process for the remaining pastry sheets and filling. Lightly grease a baking sheet with the leftover butter and put your Salmon parcels on the baking sheet.

5. Bake in the oven for about 15-20 minutes until the pastry is golden brown.

6. Meanwhile, cook the potatoes and beans. Heat the sieved tomatoes in a small saucepan, then spoon onto the plates top with the parcels and serve with potatoes and beans.