Smoked Salmon Tartines with Red Onion-Caper Relish: A Savory Breakfast or Snack from Curtis Stone

When it comes to breakfast I most often lean to the savory side of things. Although I do have a smoothie or smoothie bowl a few days a week, the other days I usually eat leftovers from the night before like fish, soup, veggie 'noodle' pasta, or other less-traditional breakfast choices. What can I say? I'm a little bit mixed up. ;-)

We are cooking breakfast/brunch-recipes from Curtis Stone this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs but I bypassed the In the Morning section in Good Food, Good Life and found my dish in the Snacks section instead. Since I have cut out most of the wheat/gluten and dairy in my diet to work on easing my allergies and asthma, I have been missing my weekly bagel and lox from my local coffee shop and Curtis's Smoked Salmon Tartines with Red Onion-Caper Relish was calling my name. 

I was going to go the gluten free route and serve my salmon and relish on top of eggs or potato cakes but I found some good Danish-style pumpernickel and couldn't resist. ;-) I did make a few changes to the recipe--mainly halving it, but keeping the full amount of capers (extra capers always make me happy) and subbing out the dairy for tofu cream cheese and tofu sour cream. I also made my toasts more light meal-sized versus snack/appetizer-sized.

Smoked Salmon Tartines with Red Onion-Caper Relish
Adapted Slightly from Good Food, Good Life by Curtis Stone
(Serves 8 as an Appetizer/4 as an Entree)

Relish:
1/2 cup finely diced red onion
1/4 cup drained capers
1 1/2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp chopped fresh dill
1 tsp yellow mustard seeds
kosher or sea salt

Tartines:
8 oz cream cheese, softened (I used vegan tofu cream cheese)
1/3 cup crème fraîche or sour cream (I used tofu/non-dairy sour cream)
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
kosher or sea salt 
8 thin slices Danish-style pumpernickel bread, toasted
16 thin slices French baguette, toasted (I omitted)
1 lb thinly sliced smoked salmon
1 lemon

To make relish: In a small bowl, stir the red onion, capers, lemon juice, dill, and mustard seeds. Season to taste with salt. Set aside or refrigerate, covered, until ready to use (up to 4 hours ahead).

To make the tartines: In another small bowl mix the cream cheese, crème fraîche/sour cream, and chives. Season to taste with salt. 

Spread the cream cheese mixture on the toasted bread. Cut each pumpernickel slice into halves or quarters depending on size desired. Top bread with smoked salmon and garnish with a generous spoonful of relish.

Transfer tartines to a serving plate and using a microplane grater, finely grate the zest of the lemon over them and serve immediately.

Notes/Results: These tartines really hit the spot. If you are a fan of bagels and lox, you will love these. The relish is bright and tangy and the cream cheese mixture has good flavor from the chives and both partner well with the smoky salmon and the lemon zest. The mix of the tofu cream cheese and tofu sour cream was nice--thick and creamy. I spread a layer on the bread, layered on the smoked salmon, then put another small dollop of the cream cheese mixture on top on the salmon to "hold" the relish in place and keep all my capers from rolling off. These were easily handheld and not too messy to eat--good for breakfast on the go. I liked everything about them and would happily make them again for breakfast, snack or pupus at a party. 
 

This post is being linked up to Sunny Side Up at IHCC, Curtis Stone recipes for breakfast or brunch. You can see what everyone made by checking out the picture links on the post.

I am also linking these breakfast sandwiches up to my own weekly event--Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays. If you have a soup, salad or sandwich to share you can join in by linking your post up. Here's this week's picture linkup--details are on the post.

 
Are you a sweet or savory breakfast fan?