Smoked Salmon Rillettes

A nice little recipe for entertaining friends....or entertain yourself into a nice little food coma. You will need:

8 oz. Fresh Salmon
3 cups Water
8 oz. Smoked Salmon
4 Chopped Shallots
3 tbsp. Dijon Mustard
2 tbsp. Vodka
2 tbsp Lemon Zest
3 tbsp. Lemon Juice (fresh is preferred)
4 tbsp. Cubed Unsalted Butter (room temp)
1/3 cup Chopped Parsley
Ground Black Pepper to Taste

Bring the water to a boil in a pan, lower to a simmer and add fresh salmon. Cook 3-4 minutes on each side, or until cooked through.



Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, add the other ingredients and mix. Don't worry too much about uniformity of the pieces of smoked salmon, butter and shallots because all of this going to be blended.

Once the cooked salmon is cooled, flake into pieces and add to the bowl. Toss all of this into the food processor and pulse until blended. Try not to over blend, as you'll want a bit of texture. Too smooth and you will have yourself a salmon mousse....which wouldn't be terrible, but it's not what we set out for. Make certain the butter is fully incorporated, as you don't want huge chunks of butter in some bites. When finished, taste to make sure everything is balanced, cover and refrigerate. Let it set for at least 3-4 hours before serving, but it would be fine to make the day before.



Serve with dark bread (pumpernickel or the like) and enjoy!