25 Days of Christmas Recipes, Day 6: Scrooge’s Sort-of-a-Jerk Salmon Welly

Day 6 of our Advent Calendar of fun culinary surprises. Did I name this because Scrooge is a jerk throughout Christmas Carol until the end? Did I name this after the Jerk seasoning used to make it? The answer is yes to both. I love a bit of wordplay, especially when it’s Public Domain. As for the ‘Sort-Of’, it’s because it’s ‘Sort of and Sort of Isn’t’. It’s inspired by recipes, including a Jerk Salmon recipe by Sorted Food on their Sidekick App, but it can’t claim to be a proper Jerk Salmon recipe. If it was it’d be far spicier (and less cooked-by-a-British-person)– but I would die eating it as my heat tolerance is not nearly as good as I wish it was. I ate a tiny bit of chilli a couple weeks ago and was incapacitated and drinking milk for the next half hour at least. So, if you want to up the heat, feel free to go ahead. However, even though it’s only Sort-of a Jerk, it’s certainly not only Sort-Of tasty.

Ingredients:

• 3 Red Peppers
• 3 Large Sweet Potatoes
• 2tbsp Siracha or any hot sauce of your choice
• 1/2 Lemon, juiced
• 2 Sheets Puff Pastry
• 4 Salmon Fillets, skinned and de-boned
• 1 Egg, beaten

SORT-OF-A-JERK SALMON SEASONING

• 1tsp Ginger Powder
• 1tsp Cinnamon Powder
• 1tsp Cumin Powder
• 1 tsp Chilli Flakes
• 2tsp Dried Thyme
• 1/2tsp Hot Paprika
• 1tsp Salt
• 1tsp Black Pepper
• 2 tbsp Brown Sugar
• 2 Garlic cloves, grated

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 210 degrees C/Gas Mark 6.
2. Peel and cut your sweet potato into 2cm cubes. Put in a large pan and cover with water.
3. Place on a high heat and boil for 13-15 minutes or until soft. Drain into a colander.
4. Place colander over the pan and cover with a clean tea-towel. Leave to dry for 15 minutes.
5. Mash your sweet potatoes until smooth. Mix your hot sauce and lemon juice, to taste, into your mash and season with salt and pepper.
6. Heat your grill to high.
7. Wash and dry your red peppers. Cut in half lengthways.
8. Put your red peppers on a tray skin side-up and place under the grill. Keep an eye on them and remove when the skin has blackened.
9. Put your peppers into a bowl and cover with cling-film.
10. Leave to cool slightly and then peel off the skin and throw away. Remove the seeds and stalk also.
11. Put your salmon in a bowl with all of your sort-of-a-jerk-seasonings. Mix until completely covered and set aside for ten minutes.
12. Unroll your first sheet of pastry and place onto a flat oven-proof tray. Spread some of your sweet potato mash over your pastry (around 1-2cm thick) leaving a 2cm border at the edges.
13. Top your mash with your spiced salmon fillets. Place your cooked pepper halves in a layer over your salmon.
14. Paint the edge of your pastry with beaten egg and then drape over your other sheet of pastry. Crimp the edges of your pastry with a fork to seal your filling inside.
15. Brush more beaten egg over the outside of your pastry. Place in the oven and allow to cook for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
16. Serve and enjoy.

Tip: To make a smaller welly, use only one sheet of pastry. Cover one half with mash, top with two salmon fillets and half the quantity of peppers. Fold the empty half over the top of the fillings and stick the edges together with beaten egg (same as above). Bake for the same length of time until golden brown and enjoy. Delicious.