I first discovered Salmon Rillettes via an interview with Eric Ripert. (Rillettes are like a looser and more textured version of Pâté). Ripert's recipe requires poaching the salmon in white wine, which is great, but I cannot be bothered. I've found that using salmon leftovers either from takeout or home made works just as well, and since my kids really like roasted salmon, I just roast extra salmon and use the cooled leftovers the next day for salmon rillettes. It's fantastic gussied up as an appetizer for your next party, or heaped on a bagel for brunch.

Note about Cooking Salmon

The easiest way to make this is to use leftover salmon. If you're cooking your own salmon just for this, then I highly recommend using whatever method you're most comfortable with to cook your fish. That said, the goal is to avoid those hard/dry edges that you often get with improperly cooked fish. I'm talking about that hard and dry garbage that restaurants dump on top of a salad. To me, roasting your salmon is the easiest option. Simply oil the bottom of a cast iron pan and preheat it in the oven to 420 degrees. Once the oven and pan have come to temperature, remove the pan from the oven and carefully place the salmon, skin side down, on the pan. Drizzle a a few teaspoons of oil over the salmon, and then sprinkle about 1/4 teaspoon of corse salt and a few grinds of pepper over top. Cook your salmon to preferred doneness (this depends on the quality of your salmon but I prefer medium rare about 120-125 degrees). Once salmon is cooked, carefully remove the cast iron pan from oven and immeidately remove salmon from pan so that it does not continue cooking. Place salmon in the fridge to cool.

Note about Smoked Salmon

I prefer Nova smoked salmon for this recipe. I wouldn't use a smoked salmon with a strong wood-smoked flavor as I suspect that the smoke would dominate everything else.

Note about Quantity

This recipe makes a lot of salmon rillettes, but it halves easily. If you have a quarter or half pound of salmon in the fridge, just adjust the other ingredients proportionally.

Salmon Rillettes

Adapted from SEAFOOD SIMPLE (2023) by Eric Ripert

Serves 8-10 as an appetizer. Takes 10 minutes to make.

Ingredients

about 14oz or 2 cups cooked salmon (skin and any bones removed). That's about 1 pound when raw)

1-2 tablespoon minced shallot

3 oz smoked salmon

2 tablespoons chopped chives plus 1-2 teaspoons reserved for topping.

1/2 half of a lemon juiced (plus 1/2 lemon in reserve)

1/2 cup mayo (or a combination of 1/4 cup mayo and 1/4 cup creme fresh)

fine sea salt

1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper or black pepper

hearty crackers, baguette, or bagels for serving

STEP ONE

Mince 1-2 tablespoons shallot and place in a small bowl. Add juice of 1/2 lemon and a pinch of salt and set aside.

STEP TWO

Place cooked salmon in a medium bowl. Use a fork to break up the salmon into bite sized pieces. Set salmon aside. Chop smoked salmon into small bite sized pieces. Then add smoked salmon pieces to the bowl with the cooked salmon. Add your 1/2 cup mayo, shallots and lemon juice, and ground pepper. Stir to combine, then taste and adjust seasoning and maybe add another squeeze of lemon or dollop of mayo.

STEP THREE

If you're going to serve right away, gently fold in your chopped chives and then garnish with your reserved chives. If you're going to serve the salmon rillettes more than an hour or two later, wait to add the chives. Instead, refrigerate the salmon mixture until you're about to serve it and then add it chives. This will keep the chives from looking bruised and sad, and will keep the chive flavor from taking over the whole dish.

Enjoy with crackers, sliced baguette, or bagels. Or be like my kids and just eat it with a spoon. Keeps covered in the fridge for 2-3 days.