A twist on my personal Christmas treat - Poached and Smoked Salmon Pâté with Bagel Toasts

 

 

 

My little foodie Christmas present to me is smoked salmon, cream cheese with lashings of black pepper on a toasted bagel. I never eat it at any other time, only Christmas, and as such has retained its special quality because of the infrequency with which I eat it. However, this Christmas out of necessity I put a twist on my plans by making it into a paté to share with family for a Christmas buffet. What's more, I had all the ingredients, save the dill, so I didn't have to spend any more time than really necessary in the supermarket doing the 'Christmas shop' which every year is a real low point; I can think of better things to be doing than fighting with my fellow (wo)man over the last tube of Pringles, etc...

 

This recipe is from the January 2013 issue of Good Food. I very rarely buy any cooking magazines as I know it is a slippery slope to ultimately having a room full of them, but I had a coupon, so I allowed myself this indulgence. Thank goodness for the website which means I can have the recipes without the storage problem!

 

My adaptions for this were few. I decided to cook the salmon not by poaching but by wrapping the fillets loosely in foil with some seasoning and a couple of slices of lemon. In addition, when mixing the cream cheese and salmon together I seasoned, adding plenty of black pepper, as I love it so much with salmon and cream cheese. This is a personal thing. I also squeezed the juice from the lemons that I roasted into the mixture as I like the tang of acidity along with the rich oiliness of the salmon. Yum.

 

Poached and Smoked Salmon Pâté with Bagel Toasts from BBC GoodFood

 

Ingredients (to fill a small (650g) loaf tin):

 

olive oil for greasing and brushing

small bunch dill , chopped, a few fronds left whole

2 x 120g packs smoked salmon trimmings

2 x 170g packs steamed or poached salmon fillets, flaked into chunks

2 x 200g tubs light cream cheese

4 spring onions, finely chopped

salt and freshly ground pepper

1 lemon (see my adaptation above)

pack 10 mini bagels, split

 

Method:

 

 

 

Prepare the salmon fillets by either poaching or steaming them, or else, roast in foil with seasoning and lemon, as I did.

 

 

 

Grease and line a loaf or terrine tin (about 650g) with cling film - if you only have a standard 900g tin it will still be fine, just a bit flatter. Arrange the whole dill fronds and a few nice slivers of the smoked salmon on the bottom (this will be the top of the terrine so you want it to look quite neat).

 

 

 

 

In a food processor, pulse half the cooked salmon fillets, half the remaining smoked salmon trimmings and the cream cheese with some seasoning. Don't overmix as you want it to have a bit of texture.

 

 

 

 Fold in half the dill, all the spring onions and the rest of the poached and smoked salmon so that you have some nice flakes of fish running through the pâté. Scrape into the tin, smooth the surface and chill for at least 2 hrs or up to 2 days in advance. (I made mine the day before I served it).

 

 

To serve, heat oven to 200C/180C fan/ gas 6. Arrange the bagel halves in a single layer on a baking tray and brush each one with some oil. Sprinkle on a little of the dill and some sea salt, then bake for about 10-12 mins, until crisp and light golden. (If the oven is full, these can be done earlier and served at room temp.)

 

 

 

Turn the terrine tin upside down and use the cling film to remove it. Unwrap and serve on a platter with the bagel toasts.