Rillettes of Mackerel and Beetroot, s'il vous plait.

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I read a recipe yesterday that sounded really nice, of Rillettes of mackerel made with soft goat cheese, so today, knowing that I indeed had smoked mackerel in the fridge I set out to reinvent this. In lieu of soft goat cheese I bodly used beetroot and I am not disappointed, this was enjoyed with toasted spelt sourdough bread but I am sure that boiled potatoes would have been even better, wait, yes, sprinkled with dill as soon as they would be drained—definitely trying this again soon.
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Rillettes of Mackerel and Beetroot (serves 2 as a main, 4 or more as a starter)
160g Mackerel (that’s the size of the packet in the fridge)
one medium (100–150g) cooked beetroot, grated
about 70g of greek yoghurt or crème fraiche (optional : I added this because the mackerel tasted very salty to me but I am not sure you necessarily need that)
a little thyme, quite a bit of flat-leaf parsley, snipped small with scissors.
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If you have the time, it is a good idea to let the mixture sit, covered in the fridge before serving, to allow the flavour of the thyme to develop.
There is actually a dollop left and as I sit here I am wondering if I might not just boil a potato in the morning and serve this for breakfast, we all love leftover dinner for breakfast here. I have shared a (rather more complex but truly delicious) mackerel recipe before, I do love mackerel, and as I gather it is one of the fishes that are ok to eat (although I am aware that we humans have been and are still playing havoc with the sea and its resources and the situation at large is far from rosy, unlike those lovely pink rillettes).
I hope you enjoy this, and the weekend too.
UPDATE There’s only one thing I’m gonna say to you : scrap the toasted sourdough, steam those new potatoes, sprinkle some dill (if you have it), eat with butter if you will, you won’t regret it. And what can I say, this definitely likes to sit in the fridge overnight (happy to be made in advance, we like that) so that the thyme shines through, and, don’t be afraid to ditch the yoghurt/crème fraîche and replace that with its weight in extra beetroot.  This was a lovely breakfast, yes, thanks.

2 comments

    • it’s beetroot time indeed. Such an inspiring colour, colours pink, deep deep purple going on earth-black, so very earthy. Mine were planted late-ish and are not quite ready yet so I used one from a packet of organic ready-cooked French or Spanish ones, convenience food I know, but quite a life-saver. I’d say pickled and smoked would marry well. M-A

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