Poached & smoked salmon rillette recipe, with chive crème fraiche, baby capers, radish, watercress and dill mayo. This delicious starter or dinner dish is similar to a pâté, makes an impressive appetizer or light dinner served with salad, made with poached and smoked salmon, cream fraiche and watercress for a kick – served with crackers or toast.
Ingredients:
Serves 4
Salmon Rillette
– 300g of salmon fillet
– 100g smoked salmon
– 125g of unsalted butter
– 125ml of whipping cream
– 20g fresh dill
– 1 lemon juiced
– pink peppercorns, crushed
Poaching ingredients
– 2 tbsp lemon juice
– few black peppercorns
– 1 bay leaf
– 1 shallot
– stems from a small bunch of dill
Watercress oil
– 50g watercress
– 50g pomace olive oil
– Chive crème fraiche
– 100g crème fraiche
– 30g chives
Other ingredients
– 30g baby capers
– 8 radishes
Method:
Salmon rillette
1. Put the salmon and poaching ingredients into a pan and just cover with cold water. Bring to a gentle boil, then turn down and poach for 4 minutes, set aside for 5 mins to carry on cooking.
2. Lift out the salmon and break into large flakes with a fork. Allow to cool. Meanwhile finely dice smoked salmon.
3. Bring cream to the boil then add butter and transfer to the bowl. Add smoked and poached salmon, lemon juice, pink peppercorn, chopped dill and carefully mix all together, season to taste.
4. Chill for at least 2 hrs and up to 3 days ahead.
5. When the rillette is fully set, roll it into a large cylinder and cover tightly with cling film.
6. Keep in the fridge until required.
Chive crème fraiche
1. Finely chop chives then mix with crème fraiche. Transfer to a squeezy bottle or small piping bag.
Watercress oil
1. Blanch the watercress in boiling water for 20 seconds and then refresh in ice cold water. Squeeze all of the water out of the watercress.
2. Blend with the olive oil until very smooth and then strain through a fine sieve.
3. Transfer to a squeezy bottle and set aside.
Assembling
1. Cut a thick piece of salmon rillette and put it on the plate.
2. Squeeze some chive crème fraiche around the salmon.
3. Drizzle with watercress oil then scatter over some baby capers.
4. Decorate the rillettes with a spiral of some thin radish slices and sprigs of micro watercress.
5. Serve immediately.
Igor Cikarev is the executive head chef at The Gibson Hotel. A Russian native from Riga, Igor got his start in the Latvian capital and has continued to grow his experience over the years.
Chef Igor also cooks for many of Ireland’s romance seekers on RTÉ’s popular TV show, First Dates, which is filmed at The Gibson Hotel in Dublin.
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