Smoked Salmon Pâté

From the book The Basic Gourmet Entertains by Diane Morgan, Dan Taggart, and Kathleen Taggart

Serves

Ingredients

	12	oz. fresh salmon fillet or steaks (see Cook’s Notes)
	4	oz. firm smoked salmon
	1	Tbsp. vegetable oil
	1	large yellow onion (about 8 ounces), peeled and coarsely chopped
	8	oz. cream cheese
	½	tsp. salt
	~	Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
	½	tsp. hot-pepper sauce
	½	cup minced fresh parsley
	2	Tbsp. capers, drained
	1	long, thin loaf crusty bread (baguette) or 1 box crackers of your choice

Steps

Fill a 3-quart sauté pan or a 10-inch frying pan with enough water to cover piece(s) of fresh salmon. Bring water to a boil, slide in the fresh salmon skin side up (if fillet), and simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes for each inch of thickness. For example, if fish is 1 inch thick, simmer for about 10 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted in center of fish should register 140°F or more. With a slotted spatula, remove fish from water and slide onto a paper towel-covered plate. Cool for 5 minutes, then peel off skin and discard. Refrigerate salmon for 2 hours or more.
When ready to make pâté, remove any skin and obvious bones from smoked salmon. Cut into thumbnail-size pieces and set aside. Heat oil in a 3-quart saucepan or a 10-inch frying pan over medium-low heat. Add onion and cook until soft but not browned, about 5 minutes. Remove onion to a plate and spread out to cool for 5 minutes.
Remove any obvious bones from cooled poached salmon, break into several pieces, and place in a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Add cooked onion, cream cheese, salt, a few grinds of black pepper, and hot-pepper sauce. Process until ingredients are well blended, scraping down workbowl once or twice. Add smoked salmon, parsley, and capers. Pulse a few times to break smoked salmon into small bits and blend ingredients (do not run machine constantly to avoid pureeing smoked salmon and capers). Scrape pate into a medium mixing bowl, give it a few turns with a rubber spatula to blend ingredients, taste for seasoning, and adjust if desired. Place in a serving bowl, cover, and refrigerate. Remove from refrigerator about 1 hour before serving.
If using bread, slice very thinly. Arrange bread slices or crackers on a plate or in a small basket and place next to pâté on serving table.

Notes

Suggested Wine: Pinot Gris or Chardonnay
Salmon fillets from the tail are thinner and cook more quickly than center-cut fillets and have no bones, making them a good choice for this pâté.

This content is from the book The Basic Gourmet Entertains by Diane Morgan, Dan Taggart, and Kathleen Taggart.