Salmon Rillettes/Salmon Spread

Adapted from Cooking At Home on Rue Tatin by Susan Loomis

This has become one of my top go-to recipes. If you don’t live in France, it’s kind of exciting to introduce guests to rillettes and they’ll immediately think you’re very sophisticated (although that strategy hasn’t worked for me around here.) I serve it with toasted slices of baguettes, but it would be tasty with dark rye or heaped on hearty crackers.

Servings servings

8 ounce (250g) piece of salmon, preferably wild, bones removed
salt
5 tablespoons (75g) unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped chives
4 ounces (125g) smoked salmon, cut into thin strips, then cut into ½-inch (2 cm) pieces
1/4 teaspoon chili powder or smoke paprika (I use pimente d'Espelette) or a few turns of freshly-ground white pepper

Season the salmon on both sides lightly with a bit of salt. Steam in a steamer basket until just cooked, about 8 minutes. Once cooked, remove from heat and let cool.
In a medium-sized bowl, mash together with a fork the butter and the olive oil until very smooth. This is important at this point. Otherwise, there’ll be big chunks of butter in the finished rillettes.
Stir in the lemon juice, then the chopped chives and smoked salmon.
Remove the skin from the salmon and flake the cooked salmon over the mixture, then fold the pieces of salmon into the rillette mixture along with the chili powder. Taste, and add more salt if desired.
Scrape into a serving dish, cover, and chill for at least two hours. Let come to room temperature before serving.

Notes

Storage: The rillettes can be made up to two days before and refrigerated. They can also be frozen, well-wrapped, for up to two months.