Platter food for a long lunch
This light and bright line-up of platter fare is perfect for a lazy, grazing lunch, says NZ House & Garden’s Sally Butters.
Waldorf salad platter
The classic American salad, invented at New York’s Waldorf Hotel, gets an update by being served deconstructed and spread attractively across a platter.
1⁄2 lemon, juiced
3 red apples
1 green apple
2 baby cos, leaves separated,
hearts cut into wedges
3 celery stalks, sliced
90g walnut halves, lightly toasted Seeds from 1 pomegranate
(optional)
Dressing
1⁄2 cup good-quality mayonnaise 1⁄4 cup sour cream
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard 1 large lime, zest and juice
Add the lemon juice to a large bowl of cold water. Core apples and cut into thin wedges (leave peel on). To prevent the wedges from discolouring, place them in the lemon water immediately after cutting.
Arrange the cos leaves and wedges, well-drained apple wedges and the celery decoratively on a large plate or platter. Scatter the walnut halves on top, along with pomegranate seeds if available.
Combine all the dressing ingredients and season to taste. Spoon the dressing over the salad or serve separately. Serves 6-8
Smoked salmon with fennel, cucumber, radish & dill
Enjoy this refreshing and juicy salad Scandi-style, piled onto slices of rye bread like open sandwiches.
400g cold-smoked salmon slices 2 fennel bulbs, thinly sliced 4 young radishes, thinly sliced 1⁄4 telegraph cucumber, halved lengthwise, peeled, seeds removed, thinly sliced 1 lemon, juice and zest
2 tbsp olive oil
1⁄4 cup fresh dill Cracked pepper for garnish
Arrange salmon slices on a large plate or platter. Place fennel, radishes and cucumber in a bowl and season with flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add lemon juice and zest and toss together.
Pile the salad on top of the salmon slices, drizzle with the olive oil and scatter with dill and a little cracked pepper. Serve with slices of rye bread. Serves 6-8
Danish raspberry slice
This traditional Danish treat is simply scrumptious: layers of sweet shortcrust pastry are sandwiched with raspberry jam then smothered with thick white icing and scattered with sprinkles.
350g plain flour
200g butter, chilled, cut into cubes 125g icing sugar
Seeds from 1 vanilla pod (or
1 tsp vanilla paste)
1 egg
2-3 tbsp chilled water
1 cup raspberry jam Icing
250g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Hot water Confectionary sprinkles or crushed freeze-dried raspberries for garnish
Place flour, butter and icing sugar in a food processor and mix to crumb stage. Add vanilla seeds and egg. Using the pulse button, mix in cold water until the dough starts to hold together.
Tip dough onto a piece of plastic wrap and form into a brick, enclosing it in plastic. Chill at least 30 minutes.
Cut brick in half and roll out the first piece of dough on a floured surface into a rectangle about 14cm x 32cm. Trim the edges to make them straight. Repeat with the second piece of dough. Place rectangles on a lined oven tray and chill 15 minutes.
Heat oven to 200C. Bake pastry 10-15 minutes or until just golden (do not over-bake as this makes the slice difficult to cut). Take from oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes.
Spread jam evenly over 1 piece of pastry. Top with the second piece of pastry.
Make the icing by combining icing sugar and vanilla with enough hot water to make a thick, spreadable mixture. Spread over the top of the pastry.
Using a sharp knife, cut into bars or wedges and scatter with sprinkles or crushed raspberries.
Slice will keep for several days in an airtight container in a cool spot.
Makes about 16 pieces