The Smoked Salmon Secret

I'm a huge fan of smoked salmon, so the other day when Steve, my longtime seafood supplier showed up at my door with some beautiful apple wood smoked salmon, I couldn't wait to make a spread. Steve supplies me with the heartier, oily, skin-on type, which is what I prefer over the silky lox type.
     Always in the mood for hors d' oeuvres, tapas, appetizers or any type of first course finger food, I made a smoked salmon pate to take to some friends house that night.

This pate strays a wee bit from the traditional cream cheese, caper, and dill routine, and because my chives are up and blooming like crazy I decided to use some of them. That, and the truth is I don't have any dill in my herb garden.

I removed the skin and any dark meat and mashed up the salmon with a fork; added a small dollop of sour cream, red onion, chives, lemon zest and lemon juice.  Mixed it all up, then added what is the "Secret Ingredient"...are you ready for it?  Melted butter!  Yep, about 2 tablespoons worth.  

Here's how I know this...I once made an Ahi tuna pate that called for melted butter and it tasted silky and decadent when it first all came together. I then chilled it for a few hours before serving and that's when I noticed that something had definitely been lost in the cooling process. The "WOW" factor to be exact.
     Taste tests since then have revealed that you should NOT chill the spread AFTER you add the melted butter. If you want your pate served on the cool side, chill your fish BEFORE you make it or make the pate and then chill it. Right before you get ready to serve it stir in the melted butter. I swear it makes a difference! 
     Now YOU are in the know!

Serve with toasted baguette slices.  Go to the "Appetizers" tab at the top of this page to get the recipe.