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Prep Time: 30 Minutes Cook Time: 450 Minutes |
Ready In: 480 Minutes Servings: 20 |
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From the Smokin cookbook. Elegant sounding but absolute simplicity to pull off, this is a surefire party hit. Serve with whole wheat crackers, thin slices of seven-grain bread cut into triangles, or Pumpernickel Melba Toasts. Leftovers freeze beautifully. Makes an 8-inch round, about 20 appetizer servings. Ingredients:
16 ounces smoked salmon, fillets |
10 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/4 sticks) |
2 medium leeks, trimmed and cleaned, and cut into 1/2-inch slices (about 2 1/2 cups) |
kosher salt |
fresh ground black pepper |
1/2 cup fresh dill, finely chopped |
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice |
Directions:
1. Smoke salmon fillets using alder, cherry or maple wood chips over medium heat with your stove top smoker (see related recipe).
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter in a medium skillet over medium-low heat.
3. Stir in the leeks, season them lightly with salt & pepper, cover the skillet, and cook until tender, about 10 minutes.
4. Check the leeks from time to time, stir and lower the heat if any of the leeks start to brown.
5. Scrape the leeks into a bowl and cool to room temperature.
6. While the leeks are cooling, lightly oil a 4-cup souffle dish or loaf pan.
7. Flake the smoked salmon, checking for and discarding bones, skin, and the grayish fatty layer next to the skin as you go.
8. Add the flaked fish to the leeks in the bowl.
9. Toss the leeks and salmon together with the dill and lemon juice.
10. Scrape the salmon mixture into the bowl of a food processor.
11. Cut the remaining 8 tablespoons of butter into small pieces and add to the salmon mixture.
12. Process, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl a few times, until the salmon mixture is smooth with flecks of leek and dill running through it.
13. Taste and add salt & pepper if necessary.
14. Scrape the mixture into a prepared dish.
15. Tamp it lightly to make sure there are no air pockets, then smooth the top into an even layer.
16. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours, or up to 2 days.
17. Bring to room temperature one hour before serving.
18. If you like, unmold the pate onto a serving plate by immersing the pate dish up to its edge in a large bowl of hot water for about 3 minutes.
19. The time it takes to loosen the pate from its mold depends on the material the mold is made of and the temperature of the water.
20. Run a thin-bladed knife along the inside edges of the container to free the sides.
21. Invert the pate on to the plate.
22. If it doesn't slip out in a few seconds, re-immerse the container and try again. Serve immediately.
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