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!

Recipe: Fried Beer Battered Mussels w/2 Sauces

For sauces
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 3 tablespoons coarse-grained mustard
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
- 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
- 1/2 teaspoon curry powder

For fried mussels
- 8 oz (1 cup) beer (not dark)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 qt vegetable oil for frying
- 2 lb mussels, cleaned & steamed, then shucked.

Accompaniment: lemon wedges
Special equipment: a deep-fat thermometer

Make sauces:
Put 1/2 cup mayonnaise into each of 2 small serving bowls and whisk mustard into 1 bowl. Whisk cilantro, lime juice, and curry powder into other bowl. Season dipping sauces with salt and pepper and keep chilled, covered.

Make batter and fry mussels:
Whisk beer into flour in a bowl until combined well.

Heat oil in a 4-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat until thermometer registers 375°F. While oil is heating, pat mussels dry between layers of paper towels, pressing lightly.

Dredge 10 mussels in batter, letting excess drip off, and fry in oil, stirring, until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer mussels as fried with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain, then season with salt. Fry remaining mussels in batches in same manner, returning oil to 375°F between batches.

Serve mussels immediately, with dipping sauces.