January 22, 2019
SMOKED MACKEREL PATÉ
This has to be one of the least inspiring photos I have ever posted in the blog but don’t let it put you off……..
At a couple of events in France last summer bowls of this stuff appeared on the table with the other nibbles. When I said how delicious it was the ladies who produced it told me how easy it was to make. I next encountered it when we went to a restaurant for a pre-Christmas meal with family where it was served as a starter and I thought it was time to have a go myself.
Dead easy it really is and tasty in measures well beyond the level of competence required to make it.
The first time I made it I blitzed it in my food processor and it turned out really smooth. The next time roughed up the fish with a fork then processed it only a little so that it turned out more rustic in appearance. I preferred it this way, although it did leave the odd tiny bone.
You can make it look much fancier by adding herbs or salad. I liked serving mine in my ancient lidded dish made by Pearsons of Chesterfield, the maker of rustic cookware now sadly long gone. I could just pop on the lid and leave it in the fridge where it kept well for several days allowing us to dig in as and when we wanted.
Ingredients
A twin pack of smoked mackerel fillets
1 tblsp crème fraîche
1 tblsp full fat cream cheese
1 tsp French mustard
1 tsp horseradish sauce or creamed horseradish
a few drops of lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
Method
Remove the skin from the fish and place in a small bowl. Mash it with a fork to break it up then transfer to the bowl of a food processor. Blitz briefly for rustic looking paté or for longer for a smoother paté.
Stir in the other ingredients and mix until well combined.
Serve chilled to spread on toast, bread or crackers, or as a filling for a jacket potato. You can dress it up with herbs or by serving with salad and a lemon wedge on the side.
Serves 6 with an apéro, 4 as a starter, just 1 or 2 as a jacket potato filling.
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I haven't made this for ages, but it is good.
ReplyDeleteSusan, it's one of those retro things that I wonder why I haven't been making it for years.
DeleteIt would be nice with some chilli in it... Aldi do a very nice hot and spicy smoked mackerel fish.
ReplyDeleteColin, sounds interesting......
DeleteSmoked mackerel is very underrated and this paté is an excellent way to celebrate it. Smoked eel paté is also lovely but hardly anyone I know will even consider eating eel for some reason.
ReplyDeletePhil, we went to a huge market somewhere with Colin and Elizabeth where they were selling live eels and also smoking them on site. They were quite popular but I have never tried them. Maybe eels are just too much like snakes.
DeleteSounds easy to do, and I love smoked mackerel.
ReplyDeleteSnowy, it works with smoked salmon, too, apparently.
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