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Smoked Fish Rillette; 2 Ways
Smoked Fish Rillette; 2 Ways
Rillettes are apart of French charcuterie; pork, duck, or fish cooked in its own fat, pressed in a jar or ramekin, used as a spread for crackers, breads, or toast. They’re kinda like a cross between confit and a pate. Since the fish rillettes aren’t cooked in its own fat, a dairy-based fat is stirred in; that fat being crème fraiche, mayo, cream cheese, or sour cream. In these two particular cases, I’ve used smoked salmon and cream cheese with dill, shallots, and dijon; smoked sable and crème fraiche with chives, shallots, and pine nuts.
Ingredients
Smoked Salmon Rillette
- 1 cup hot smoked salmon flaked
- 1/4 cup cold smoked salmon finely chopped
- 1/4 cup Tillamook cream cheese
- 2 tbsp shallots finely chopped
- 2 tbsp dill finely chopped
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp cracked black pepper
Smoked Sable Rillette
- 1 cup smoked sable
- 1/4 cup crème fraiche
- 3 tbsp chives finely chopped
- 2 tbsp shallots finely chopped
- 2 tbsp pine nuts toasted
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
Instructions
Smoked Salmon Rillette
- Mix together the cream cheese, shallots, dill, dijon, and pepper.

- Stir in the hot and cold smoked salmon.

Smoked Sable Rillette
- Mix together the crème fraiche, chives, shallots, pine nuts, lemon juice, and pepper.

- Stir in the smoked sable.



Forbidden Rice Chicken Soup
Forbidden Rice Chicken Soup
Let’s get a few things straight…This soup by any means isn’t authentic Thai whatsoever. It uses some Thai ingredients, but its origin is very American. Forbidden rice is Chinese in its origin, but is eaten as a dessert with sweetened coconut milk in Thai cuisine; never in soup. With all that said, this soup is nothing short of tasty.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs bone in chicken breast and thighs
- 3 stalks lemongrass peeled and bruised
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup shallots finely chopped
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 1 small red bell pepper small dice
- 6 Thai chili finely chopped
- 4 green onions chopped
- 1 tbsp red or green curry paste
- 2 cups coconut milk
- 2 cups tomatoes chopped
- 2 tbsp palm sugar
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 cups forbidden black rice cooked
For Serving
- lime wedges
- cilantro chopped
- peanuts chopped
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add in the chicken and lemongrass. Simmer for 30 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken and let cool enough to pull the meat off the bones. Add the bones back into the pot and simmer until you yield 4 cups of stock. Remove the bones and lemongrass. Save the stock.

- In a medium size stock pot, heat up cooking oil over medium heat. Sauté the shallots, garlic, bell pepper, Thai chilies, and green onion for 5 minutes.

- Add in the tomatoes, curry paste, coconut milk, and palm sugar. Simmer for 5 minutes.

- Pour in the chicken stock and fish sauce. Simmer for 5 more minutes.

- Add the black rice and the chicken into the soup. Simmer for 5 more minutes.

- Ladle the soup into bowls. Serve with chopped cilantro, crushed peanuts, and lime wedges.


Salmon Head Soup (Ukha)
Salmon Head Soup (Ukha)
I know what you’re thinking. Why would anyone want to eat fish head soup? Well, let me tell you something. There is a ton of meat within that fish head; creating some of the most flavorful fish stock known to man. You are also utilizing a part that gets thrown away by people who don’t contain the knowledge of its greatness. Sure, it takes a little effort to pick the meat off the head. But it’s well worth it.
Servings: 2
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 1 large salmon head
- 2 medium potatoes cut into 1” cubes
- 5 dill stalks
- 2 bay leaves
- water
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- cracked black pepper to taste
- salt to taste
- 2 tbsp dill finely chopped
Instructions
- In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Sauté the onions for 5 minutes.

- Add in the potatoes, dill stalks, bay leaves, and salmon head. Fill with enough water to cover the salmon head. Simmer for 20 minutes.

- Remove the head, dill stalks, and bay leaves from the pot. Let cool. Pick apart the head meat, cheeks, eyes, and cartilage from the head and return to the pot.

- Pour in the heavy cream. Season with salt, pepper, and the chopped dill. Simmer for 5 more minutes.











