Piscatory Paté

Several years ago, I visited Charlevoix, Michigan in the company of most of my favorite people on earth, and we ate smoked whitefish paté on crackers. Lake MIchigan still has a population of one of the world's loveliest fishes, the Lake Whitefish, swimming around just waiting to be made into memorable meals. 

I mention this because if you are ever in Charlevoix, Michigan and there is smoked whitefish paté on the menu, you should try it. It has remained in my memory all this time because it was so unexpected and so darn good.

So, with memories like that dancing in my head and saliva pooling in my mouth, I pulled the second half of my smoked trout (a calabash relative to the hallowed Lake Whitefish) out of the fridge thinking to make paté with it.

I consulted with My Beloved over the idea and he suggested trying chicken broth to add a little moisture while I thought that a drizz of olive oil might do the trick. Compromise is the foundation of a good marriage, so I did both.

To my small amount, perhaps 1/4 cup, of flaked trout pieces, I added about  two tablespoons of chicken broth and about 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil and set to work with my immersion blender. 

It worked pretty well. I did have to stop and clear the blender blades once or twice to get a smooth paté, but in about five minutes it was ready to be packed into a little glass container and refrigerated until time for hors-d'oeuvres.

Our doc has been recommending more veggies and less starches, so I sliced raw carrots into ovals and we spread the paté on the carrot "crackers." I expect that rounds of cucumber would have made a yummy substrate, too, or just about anything roughly cracker-sized. 

The chicken broth made it just nicely spreadable without leaving behind any flavor of its own. The olive oil made it a teeny bit richer, but not noticeably so, just sort of greased the skids. We gobbled down the whole thing as I prepped dinner and I had to hustle through the prep in order to get my fair share. My Beloved has discovered that he adores smoked trout paté nearly as much as he loved the whitefish variety.

And I'm thinking about smoked salmon paté for the next time I plank some salmon - these piscatory patés are an unforgettable sensation.