Rillette of Smoked, Poached and Hot Smoked Salmon Recipe
Ingredients
For the rillette
245g fresh salmon, to poach
175g hot smoked salmon, flaked
100g smoked salmon, finely shredded
1 banana shallot, finely chopped
Quarter cucumber, deseeded and finely diced
2 tsp fresh dill, chopped
a little creme fraiche
a little Hellmanns mayonnaise
zest of 1 lemon
black pepper
For the dressing
1 tsp dill, finely chopped
1 tsp miniature salted capers, thoroughly rinsed
1 tsp gherkins, finely chopped
100ml olive oil
black pepper
lemon juice to taste
For the thyme crostini
stale white bread
sprig of thyme
olive oil
salt and black pepper
salad cress and available herbs to garnish
Method
Step 1 : The dressing
First, make the dressing. Mix all the dressing ingredients together in a small jug and taste, then leave to infuse.
Step 2 : The crostini
Next make the thyme crostini. You could use shop bought Melba toast for these, or simply sprinkle olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme onto some thinly sliced stale white bread and bake in a 170C/325F/gas mark 3 oven until crisp. Keep aside until serving.
Step 3 : The salmon
To poach the fresh salmon, bring a pan of water to the boil with a pinch of salt and a squeeze of lemon. There should be enough water to just cover your fish. When it’s boiling, gently drop in the salmon, with skin on, and leave for 2 minutes.
Remove from the heat and leave until cooled. The fish should be opaque but not overcooked. Remove, peel off the skin, scrape off the brown muscle and flake into largish pieces.
Step 4 : The rillette
For the rillette, place all the ingredients except for the crème fraîche and mayonnaise into a bowl and gently mix. Do not over mix, you want to keep the fish in as large pieces as possible.
Next, add just enough crème fraîche and mayonnaise to bind and hold together the fish. Remember you can always add more to bind, but it’s very hard to remove and if it’s too sloppy your rillette will be difficult to mould and won’t hold its shape.
Place your small metal rings on to cold plates and spoon your mix into the rings. Leave for a minute to settle then remove the moulds. Pour dressing round and sprinkle your greens around the plate. We’ve used Sakura Mix Micro Greens, but cress and any available herbs, such as chives and dill, would work well.