Potted salmon on thin white toast
Make it once, eat it for three days
plus 1 hour chilling
Keeps three days in the fridge, sealed under its butter, or two days during chemotherapy. Halve it for one and use a smaller ramekin.
Potted salmon is the dish to make for someone who says they cannot face cooking today. Poach the fish once, whip it soft with butter and cream cheese, press it into a ramekin and seal it under a layer of clarified butter, and lunch is sorted for three days without touching a pan again. Lemon juice brightens it. The zest and pith stay out, along with the black pepper a classic recipe would reach for. No dill, no chives, nothing fibrous stirred through at the end, only the fish itself, made rich and spreadable. Cut the toast thin, and let the potted salmon come up from the fridge for a few minutes before you eat, so it softens enough to spread properly.
Ingredients
Contains: Gluten, Milk, Fish, Mustard
- 250 gsalmon fillet, skin removed and pin-boned
- 75 gunsalted butter, softened
- 75 gcream cheese, plain, without chive or garlic pieces
- 1 tbsplemon juice, juice only, no zest or pith
- ½ tspsmooth Dijon mustard — optional
- salt
- 50 gunsalted butter, melted and clarified, for sealing
- 4 slicewhite bread, cut thin and toasted
Method
Put the salmon in a small pan and cover with water. Bring to a bare simmer and poach for 8 to 10 minutes, until it is opaque all the way through and flakes easily with a fork. Lift out and leave to cool for a few minutes.
Flake the salmon into a bowl, checking every flake with your fingers for any stray bones or scraps of skin.
Add the softened butter, cream cheese, lemon juice, salt and the mustard if using. Beat together with a fork, or blitz in a food processor, until smooth and well combined with no large flakes left.
Divide the mixture between two small ramekins and press down firmly with the back of a spoon to remove any air pockets. Smooth the tops flat.
Melt the remaining butter in a small pan over a low heat until it separates. Spoon off the clear golden butter on top, leaving the milky solids behind, and pour it over the salmon to seal each ramekin completely, right to the edges.
Chill for at least 1 hour, until the butter has set solid on top.
Sealed like this, it keeps for three days in the fridge.
Let it stand at room temperature for a few minutes before serving, so it softens enough to spread, and serve alongside the toast.
Watch-points
- Check every flake of poached salmon by hand for bones and skin before you mix it.
- Use plain cream cheese, without chive, garlic or herb pieces through it.
- Lemon juice only, measured from the fruit. No zest, no pith, no whole segments.
- Seal the surface completely under the clarified butter, with no salmon showing, so it keeps safely for three days.
- Chill it within an hour of making and keep it in the fridge. If you are having chemotherapy, eat it within two days rather than three.
Some hospitals allow a pinch of ground pepper in potted salmon. The leaflet this book follows does not. Leave it out if you have been told to.
Make it more nourishing
- Use 100 g of butter in the mix instead of 75 g.
- Beat in a tablespoon of double cream with the cream cheese.
- Spread it thickly, closer to 2 cm deep in the ramekin, rather than levelling it flat.
Swaps
- Instead of poached fresh salmon, use 150 g hot-smoked salmon, skin and any bones removed, flaked
- no poaching needed, ready in minutes
- Instead of thin white toast, use warm white pitta, cut into fingers
- softer than toast if your mouth is sore