Gourmet cooking for real estate professionals
At some point in our discussions awhile ago we got on to the topic of eggs. If you know you should eat fish a couple of times each week (and some nutritionists recommend eating salmon or tuna, even from a tin, twice each week) but you just can’t bring yourself to eat fresh fish, try this for a little something different.
Make egg salad with nothing in it other than a little salt, pepper and mayo. Personally, I prefer finely mashed egg salad, rather than the course chunky variety.
Mash drained tinned tuna or red salmon and add a quarter cup to your egg salad. You can use fresh cooked or tinned fish. Smoked salmon works well, too.
This mix makes a great appetizer treat, served on your favourite crackers (maybe sprinkle a little paprika on top), or on a slice of cucumber as the base (sprinkle a little, fresh only, dill on top). It works in cucumber “boats” too.
If you want to get creative, serve the fishy egg salad on a washed, crispy endive leaf. The mixture is even good as everyday lunchbox sandwiches (wrapped in plastic wrap or tightly covered travel box).
You will come back to this easy-fix time and time again. It makes another of those quick and easy, grab and run, real food items you can pack for a lunch or a picnic also. As a real estate professional on the run, keep this handy, good-for-you food at the ready. You will find many uses for this yummy treat, even in the holiday season or as an after the game treat.
The egg-fish mixture will keep, covered, in the fridge for a couple of days. Teens will actually eat it and the little people will ask for more. Slice regular white bread sandwiches for little ones in strips for a treat; maybe even remove the crusts. Introduce an olive or a chunk of pineapple, maybe even a piece of avocado spritzed with lemon strategically positioned with a fancy colour toothpick.
If you recall the days of high tea, this is a perfect opportunity to use open-face sandwiches or tiered ones, cut in small, crustless strips. If you feel really creative, use a star or serrated edge cookie cutter to make fancy sandwiches.
Decorate the serving plate with sprigs of fresh watercress. The English even make wonderful watercress sandwiches. Add thinly sliced cucumber to your sandwich list. Everything old is new again, all year ‘round.
The working title for Carolyne’s Gourmet Recipes cookbook is From Lady Ralston’s Kitchen: A Canadian Contessa Cooks. This kitchen-friendly doyenne has been honoured and referred to as the grande dame of executive real estate in her market area during her 35-year career. She taught gourmet cooking in the mid-70s and wrote a weekly newspaper cooking column, long before gourmet was popular as it is today. Her ebook, Gourmet Cooking – at Home with Carolyne is available here for $5.99 US. Email Carolyne. Scroll down to the comments at each recipe column. Carolyne often adds complimentary “From Lady Ralston’s Kitchen” additional recipes in the Recipes for Realtors Comments section at REM.
