This is an elegant starter to any meal and a favorite in Ireland. My smoked Irish salmon and chive pancakes is easy to make. Simply made with just a couple of quality ingredients is the ticket. This dish comes down to the smoked salmon and if you can buy authentic Wild Irish Salmon, even better. Here is a link to purchasing a well known and delicious brand on line https://smokehouse.ie/ Connemara Smokehouse is know for their wild Atlantic Seafood and would be a great treat if recreating a traditional Irish meal. If you can’t find Irish smoked salmon, pick a good quality salmon easily found here in the states. Alaska produces great products and is more easily found in supermarkets and online.
When it comes to the side salad, use what every is your favorite. On this day, I had some butter lettuce and iceberg lettuce in the fridge. An organic mixed lettuce would also work, as would romaine hearts.
To get started, add your ingredients for the pancakes to a large bowl. Whisk the flour, eggs, milk, chives, salt and pepper in the bowl. The consistency will be thin. That is perfect for making thin, crepe-like pancakes.
Let the batter rest for a couple of minutes while you make the dressing for the salad.
In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk the olive oil and whole grain mustard until emulsified. Add the lemon juice, salt and pepper and whisk well until completely incorporated.
You are now ready to make you pancakes. In a large, non-stick skillet sprayed with cooking spray, add about 1/3 cup of the batter and swirl the pan so it creates a thin, wide circle. Let cook about for about a minute until the edges are set. Gently, flip the pancake over and cook for another 30 seconds. Remove from the pan and place on a plate. Continue the process until all the batter is gone and you have a nice stack of the chive pancakes.
You are ready to plat the dish. Put some of the assorted lettuce on the plate. Next to it, place 1 or 2 pancakes, folded in half and then folded again into a quarter. Add the salmon next to the pancakes. Top the dish with a slice of lemon and some chopped chives. Drizzle the entire dish with the salad dressing. Enjoy.
If you are looking to put together a traditional St. Patty’s Day feast, be sure to check out my other Irish recipes and menu ideas.
Traditional Irish Barmbrack Bread
St. Patty’s Day menus can be found here (Yes, there is more than one.) And don’t forget to finish your celebration with an Irish Coffee or a Bailey’s Irish Parfait.
Smoked Irish Salmon with Chive Pancakes
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 Cups Mixed lettuce leaves
- 6 Oz. Smoked salmon (see my notes)
- 1 Lemon, cut in half – one half thinly sliced
- 1 Tbsp. Wholegrain mustard
- 3 Tbsp. Olive oil
- Kosher Salt and Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 Tbsp. Fresh chives, chopped for garnish
FOR THE PANCAKES
- 2 Eggs, beaten
- 1/2 Cup Wondra flour
- 1/2 Cup 2% milk
- 1 Tbsp. Chives, chopped
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- Cooking spray
Instructions
- Make the dressing by whisking the olive oil into the wholegrain mustard in a measuring cup until emulsified. Add the juice of half the lemon and season with salt and pepper to taste and then set aside.
- To make the pancake batter, mix together the eggs, flour, milk and chopped chives until smooth. Season with pepper and salt and put to the side.
- Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium high heat. Spray the pan with cooking spray. Pour about 1/3 cup of the pancake batter into the pan and swirl to cover the bottom of the skillet. This is a very thin pancake so tilt the pan to cover the bottom. Cook for about 1 min, then flip and cook for thirty more seconds until done. Place on a on a plate until you’ve made all the pancakes. You will get two – four pancakes out of the batter. One pancake is a perfect serving but no one ever complains about two!!!
- You are now ready to assemble your appetizer. Arrange the lettuce leaves on one side of the plate. Fold each pancake into quarters and place one or two pancakes next to the lettuce. Top the pancakes with some of the cut chives and a slice of the lemon. Then top that with the smoked salmon. Drizzle the mustard dressing over the salmon, pancakes and lettuce leaves and serve.
