Ingredients
Directions
Couscous and Salmon Russian Kulebyaka
Couscous and Salmon Russian Kulebyaka, the Russian savory pie, goes back in history as one of the traditional dishes of Russian cuisine.
Ingredients:
Dill Crepes:
- 1 egg
- ⅓ cup milk
- 1 Tablespoon butter, melted
- ⅓ cup cornstarch
- pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh dill, minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh parsley, minced
Couscous:
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- ½ cup couscous
- 1 cup chicken broth
Caramelized Onions:
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 1-2 Large onions, sliced
- salt, to taste
- 2-4 Tablespoons water or chicken broth (if needed)
Kulebyaka Filling:
- 1 – 1½ lbs salmon fillet, boneless, skinless, chopped coarsely
- 3 hard boiled eggs, chopped
- salt, pepper
- ½ Tablespoon fresh dill, minced
- ½ Tablespoon fresh parsley, minced
Other:
- Quick puff pastry
- A bit of flour for rolling out the dough
- 1 egg + 1 Tablespoon water (for egg wash)
Instructions:
- Make the puff pastry and hard boil the eggs.
Dill Crepes:
- Combine all the ingredients for the crepes in a blender and mix. You can also mix all the ingredients together with a whisk.
- Heat a nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Swirl a tiny dab of butter on the bottom of the pan. Pour about 2 Tablespoons of batter into the hot skillet and tilt the skillet to distribute the batter evenly over the surface of the skillet.
- Cook for about 30 seconds, flip the crepes over and cook for a few more seconds.
- Place the crepe on a dinner plate and continue with the rest of the batter. You should have 4-5 crepes. Set aside.
Couscous:
- Melt the butter in a small pot. Add the onion, season with salt and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes, until the onion is soft.
- Add the minced garlic and cook for another 30 seconds.
- Add the couscous, and toast for about 2 minutes.
- Add the warm broth and bring to a boil. It should boil right away.
- Take off the heat and let it stand for 15 minutes, covered. Fluff with a fork. Set aside.
Caramelized onions:
- Melt butter in a skillet. Add the sliced onion, season with salt. Cook for 8-10 minutes, until the onions have softened and are golden.
- If the skillet dries and the onions aren’t caramelized yet, add a splash of water or chicken broth. Set aside.
- You can also sliced mushrooms to the caramelized onions and cook them down together. Mushrooms taste really great in kulebyaka.
- The couscous, crepes and caramelized onions need to be completely at room temperature before adding them to the kulebyaka. While I’m waiting for them to cool, I usually chop the salmon, chop the hard-boiled eggs, mince the fresh herbs and prepare the egg wash. Season the salmon with ¾ -1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.
To Assemble:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet (18×13 inches) with parchment paper. You don’t have to use parchment paper, but it will be a big help to take out the salmon kulebyaka in one piece once it’s baked.
- Take out the quick puff pastry. Cut it in 2, with one of the portions being larger than the other.
- Roll out the bigger portion. It should just about cover the baking sheet. Place the rolled out dough in the prepared baking sheet.
- Start layering all the ingredients into the kulebyaka. Place 2 crepes in the bottom and center of the pan.
- Place half of the couscous mixture over the crepes.
- Layer the salmon over the couscous.
- Place the caramelized onions on top of the salmon.
- Sprinkle in the hard boiled eggs, followed by fresh dill and parsley.
- Spread the other half of the couscous on top of the herbs and cover with two or three more crepes.
- Lift the edges of the dough and fold over the filling by about 2 inches. Cut off the excess.
- Roll out the other portion of puff pastry and place it on top of the kulebyaka.
- Cut off the excess dough, letting it overlap the bottom layer slightly.
- Seal the edges of the top and bottom layers of dough by pinching them together.
- Crimp the pinched seams. I used a rope crimping. The idea here is to keep the edges from opening while in the oven.
- Roll out the scraps of dough and cut out designs to place on top of the kulebyaka. I cut out a fish and some seaweed.
- Poke several holes on top of the kulebyaka for the steam to escape while baking.
- Brush it with the egg wash and bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes, until golden brown.
Recipe by Chef : Olga