Fresh and Smoked Salmon Rillettes

Note: on a regular basis, another cookbooker member [soupereasy] and I meet to do some kind of cooking project. These rillettes were part of a day of projects for us (others were the spiced beer jelly from Mes Confitures and Mario Batali's chicken pate with fennel and red onion). "My" reviews for these recipes (and other recipes identified as team projects in the future) are really "our" reviews as they reflect both our efforts and our opinions.

If you expecting a traditional rillette, this recipe might disappoint you. It is definitely more like a salmon salad (one of the ingredients is mayonnaise). If you like salmon salad (and we do), this is delicious.Very fresh and light-tasting. I think it is a wonderful spring/summer appetizer. It might be perfect with a sparkling rose wine.

Although I liked the dish as it was, my cohort in cooking thought the salmon could use a bit more lemon juice and a goodly hit of zest and maybe some minced salted capers.

So our rating is a 4 although I might have been tempted to give it a 5. But maybe that's because I am just so happy to be doing spring cooking again after the long long winter.

Note: This cookbook is a collection of chefs' recipes -- this recipe came from Eric Ripert of Le Bernadin.

A more traditional rillette is available in Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table -- I haven't made it yet but have it marked to try as a point of comparison with this recipe.