Smoked Salmon Pâté

in Appetizers, Cream cheese, Fish/Seafood, Horseradish, Lemons, Pecans, Salmon, Super Bowl on Monday, October 3, 2011

Salmon in a Clear Stream

Michael S. Quinton

Pâtés are snacks up-graded a notch. I love pâté as an appetizer or as a snack at a party. Bill loves liver pâté, especially the duck liver pâté made by our local butcher. I go more for the pâtés including salmon, vegetables, smoked fish and cheese.

Pâté is a mixture of ground meat and fat minced into a spreadable paste. There are many additions, such as: wine, herbs, vegetables and spices. The French and Belgian cooks bake pâté in a crust as a loaf or pie. And then, there is pâté de foie gras, which started back in the days of the Pharaohs of Egypt and the Romans. These people realized that geese and ducks tended to overfeed themselves in order to prepare for their long migratory journeys, resulting in a fattened liver. Once this was discovered, the liver was in demand with the ancient Egyptians taking advantage of this natural process by developing it in a farm-like manner. Pâté de foie gras became an obsession with many and has been under scrutiny for many years.

This Smoked Salmon Pâté recipe is out of a cookbook that I picked up in Springfield, KY on a recent visit. Not only does it contain a lot of wonderful recipes, it also is filled with interesting history about Washington County, KY; going back to the days of Abraham Lincoln.

Smoked Salmon Pâté is a delicious savory appetizer! It improves with setting so it can be made a day ahead of time easily. It is mouthwatering on crackers; however, it also makes an excellent luncheon spread for a sandwich. It’s delicious!

Smoked Salmon Pâté

Ingredients:

1 pound can salmon

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

2 tablespoons grated or finely chopped onion

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon lemon juice

¼ teaspoon pepper or dash of Tabasco

1 tablespoon prepared horseradish

Chopped pecans

Parsley

Paprika

Method:

Drain salmon and remove skin and bones. Flake and combine with next 7 ingredients. Chill several hours. Garnish with chopped nuts and parsley or paprika. Serve with crackers.

A great pâté for your Super Bowl party!

This entry was posted on Monday, October 3, 2011 at 5:33 AM and is filed under Appetizers, Cream cheese, Fish/Seafood, Horseradish, Lemons, Pecans, Salmon, Super Bowl. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response.

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