You might want to serve this with my Chicken Liver Pate. A different kind of surf and turf!

Start by completely draining a cup-size tin of red sockeye west coast salmon (not pink east coast salmon); push out all the liquid. Mash using a fork in a generous glass mixing bowl. Don’t be concerned about any tiny bones or dark skin bits. They disappear in the mashing.

From your marinated Celebrity goat cream cheese pucks marinating jar, using a slotted spoon, retrieve a whole log amount of creamy goat cheese pucks.

Mash the marinated goat cream cheese into the mashed salmon. You could use your machine paddle.

If you happened to have made chopped wilted spinach, add a tablespoon of minced chopped spinach that is well-drained, that you had cross-cut chopped while still very hot with a compound butter coin from your frozen coin reserve. Use a citrus coin or a herb coin. You might want to experiment using a jerk butter coin, or even a pineapple compound butter coin from your collection.

I love cross-cut chopped spinach so much I often just eat it alone, fresh from the chopping board sprinkled with just a drop of lemon and a few grains of nutmeg, salt and pepper and unsalted butter.

Sometimes for spinach as a side dish I mix in minced sautéed onion, homemade small bacon bits and a little of the bacon fat. Toss with my special frozen leftover Christmas cake crunchy croutons.

But if you intend on making a red salmon pate, reserve a tablespoon of chopped freshly cooked spinach that has cooled. You can freeze cooked spinach but when it unfreezes it releases water. You must squeeze out any excess moisture created during freezing. Fresh spinach is best – ideally don’t use store-bought packaged frozen spinach. However it is prepared, the texture is just not terrific. I avoid it.

Add a generous amount of your favourite herbs for the salmon pate: I use minced fresh chives, mint and dill. LiteHouse fresh freeze-dried works also. Mash in just a smidgeon of your golden oven-roasted garlic purée from your refrigerated sterilized glass jar.

The garlic keeps safely for months in an airtight small glass sterilized jar. If you save (white) bacon fat in a glass refrigerated jar, you might want to add a tiny dab.

Using plastic wrap, form the mixed mash into a ball shape. Spritz the ball with just a tiny spray of White Black Tower or Winzertanz.

Pair with either of these wines or serve a red wine such as South African Obikwa Shiraz.  You could even serve Royal Offley Ruby Port. But I wouldn’t spritz the salmon pate with the red wines.

However, the port does make a terrific reduced sauce for drizzling or see my Shiraz Spicy Sauce.

Any of the paired spirits cut any fat residue in the salmon, acting as a palate cleanser.

You could use fresh whole salmon (maybe my special Painted Salmon).

Note: Try making this pate mashing thawed smoked steelhead Norwegian salmon napkins or use the smoked salmon napkins as a topper rose twist when serving.

If you happen to have fresh cold lox, twist a paper-thin napkin into a lox rose and place on a pate-laden cracker topped with a generous dab of full fat very cold sour cream. Grind fresh black pepper corns on top or scatter pink peppercorns.

Refrigerate, tented, until ready to serve.

Place each pate ball on a serving plate surrounded by various cracker choices, including tuilles (don’t forget my crispy plantain crackers). Lay a sheet of cling wrap over a buffet serving until ready to eat.

It’s an ideal addition to a seafood charcuterie; those indulging can take as little or as much pate as they prefer.

Alternate prep: Shape each of the pate mixtures into a log shape about an inch in diameter. Roll the log in plastic wrap and twist the log ends the way you prepare compound butter coins for your frozen coin reserve.

Freeze until solid but not rock hard. Using a wet serrated knife, slice the log into half-inch coins, starting by cutting the log in half and cut each half in half again, cutting through the wrap and again covering the initial log in fresh plastic wrap and this time freeze hard.

When you are ready to serve, the coins pry off easily. Prepare a presentation for serving.

Check out this old link for some extra delicious reading.

Either of these pate mixtures is nicely served in a mini Parmesan tuile basket nest cup.

Either of these pate whole logs makes a nice filling for fresh thin crepes. Drizzle with my Special Creamy Caramel Sauce when serving.

Flambé the filled crepes with Asbach Uralt brandy.

You might enjoy salmon pate-stuffed calamari large tubes using the salmon pate log pucks. Brush the whole outside of the pate-filled octopus with ghee and grill quickly on the barbecue, medium heat. Drizzle with my date syrup. Serve immediately.

Alternate: Use either puff pastry or buttered layers of filo dough and wrap either or both of the surf and turf logs; pinch ends closed. Bake in preheated 400 F oven on middle rack on a sheet pan just until pastry puffs or the filo is crispy. Be careful not to over bake. Cut like you would sausage rolls.

Sauces for salmon

Add warm honey to garlic purée. Stir using a fork. Paint the salmon. Grill on a medium heat barbecue, skin side down. Be careful not to overcook the fresh fish. Sprinkle fresh ground pink peppercorns.

When cooked, drizzle the salmon steaks with my medjool date syrup or my special caramel sauce while still hot but just before serving.

A side dish of chimichurri condiment salad is perfect. Or you might consider gremolata: simply chopped parsley, lemon or lime zest and your homemade oven-roasted golden garlic purée from your sterilized refrigerated glass jar.

Sometimes I add a little of my special medjool date syrup, drizzled over top when ready to serve.

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© Lady Ralston’s Canadian Contessa Kitchen gets Saucy ~ Sauces, Aolies, Dressings, Drizzles, Drops, and Puddles 

© Taste the Sea ~ Seafood from Lady Ralston’s Canadian Contessa Kitchen: Crustaceans, Fish ~ lobster, shrimp, crab, mussels, clams, oysters, scallops, salmon, sea salt and more… Fruits de Mer: Jewels of the Sea  

© Spirits in My Kitchen: Lady Ralston – Canadian Cooking with Bouquets and Aromas – Good Food Made Better Adding Spirits