M. Parret showed me something interesting about butter; I had just bought a new batch of butter but had a small piece of leftover butter from the last batch still in the butter dish. He pointed out that because of the cows’ diet, winter butter is paler than summer butter when the cows are eating a lot of greenery. Huh. I wonder if that’s true in other places…. Anyway.
Jamie has an interesting recipe for smoked mackerel pate on his web magazine. The ‘monger didn’t have any smoke mackerel, so I took some of his always excellent saumon fume a la ficelle (salmon smoked on a string) to make the pate.
Doesn’t this look like a picnic table in France? Because it is 😀
This pate is very easy to make and the cress salad was tasty and refreshing.
Smoked Salmon Pate
1lb of smoked salmon, cut into cubes
Leaves from 1 small bunch of parsley
1 tsp grated lemon zest
Juice from 1 lemon
1 cup cream cheese
2 cups cress
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced plus leaves
In a food processor, chop the salmon, then add half of the parsley leaves, zest, lemon juice, cream cheese and continue to process until smooth.
Toss together the cress, the other half of the parsley leaves, the celery and it’s leaves. Dress with your favorite vinaigrette and serve with country bread slices.
That looks like delicious pâté – I’ve had the mackerel version and can imagine how good it tastes with salmon.
M. Parret is absolutely right about butter and in turn the cow’s diet affects the creaminess of milk and cheese. Jeffrey Steingarten (in It Must Have Been Something I Ate) went to great lengths to obtain some Parmesan which contained a high percentage of butterfat, relative to what the cows were eating at the time of year.
It was delicious Mad. I want to make the mackerel version also. It seems I continue to learn something new and that’s good.
You’ll love it with mackerel, I’m sure 😉
Wow, that looks fantastic. Low carbohydrate too 😀
Thank you Gary.
What a delectable spread. I think I need to work with this soon myself. Thanks for the butter tip & then Mad Dog’s info on milk & cheese. However, please pardon my ignorance, I’d like to know what cress is, a green maybe?
Great visual & read. Thanks!
Thank you Gingy. Watercress.
Nice dish. I make mine the same minus the cress but with the addition of fresh dill. And capers and a little finely chopped onion on the side.
Thank you Guerrilla.
i must make this soon! this looks wonderful. thanks for the recipe! i think the butter is much like the difference between fresh eggs and store bought ones. free range chicken eggs always have such darker yolks.
Thank you Jaz. The eggs also taste different, in a good way.
Very nice very good 👍
Thank you food is.
Gorgeous recipe – a perfect summery dish. And clever old M. Parrt. I think I am a little bit in love with him 😉
He’s lovable 🙂
Parret – je m’excuse!
Sounds & looks simply great!
Thank you reg.
What a beautiful looking spread (pardon the pun!) – I have been meaning to try the Jamie version but I must admit, I think yours sounds even better.
Thank you Colette.
Perfect! And pinning it. I’m always surprised at how yellow the butter can be with grass fed cows. Such a difference.
And this is a clue when buying butter you’re unfamiliar with. If it’s pale, you know what the cows have been eating.
Looks delicious!
Thank you Zoe.
In Little House in the Big Woods, Laura Ingalls Wilder describes how her mother would color the butter in winter with carrot juice. I think now we Americans demand uniformly colored butter. Sigh. I love the idea of the butter looking different depending on what the cows were eating. Like honey tasting different depending on where the bees are getting their nectar.
I agree Trish.
I love your photography and this looks absolutely divine. I will be sure to make it.
Thank you wandering. Good luck with the recipe.
I love smoked Salmon and really love the sound of this Paté…. I’m going to pin and share on twitter… and make lol.
We do a lot of fishing, and smoked salmon is a yearly tradition. Pate is hands down one of my favorite ways to use it.
If you’ve never tried it – substitute the lemon juice for pickle juice (I add a little finely chopped pickle as well). You’ll love it!:)
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