Rillettes de Thom, tuna paté, an elegant spread that can be served for any special occasion.
“At the avant-garde Parisian bistro Itinéraires,” Dorie Greenspan writes in her recent cookbook, “ sardine rillettes is served in a martini glass topped with a baby scoop of cornichon sorbet.”
Pronounced ree-ett (the ‘s’ is not pronounced), and called the poor man’s paté, Sardine Rillettes is our FFWD recipe choice for the week. Unfortunately, this Iowa farm girl, admittedly unsophisticated, cannot sit at that bistro table.
Not that I didn’t try to find some willing “tasters”. In desperation, my last stop was at our housing community’s security gate to see if any guards liked sardines. They weren’t pleasant in their replies. I didn’t even mention the cornichon sorbet. Admittedly, the last goody I dropped off at the gate was a sheet of warm cinnamon rolls. They’re spoiled rotten.
Instead, I turned to Dorie’s other two rillettes recipes, salmon and tuna, and decided to go with the tuna. Clearly, this is one delicious ree-ett: soft, spreadable, a tad rich and quickly made.
All the ingredients, dumped into my mini-chopper.
Here a pulse, there a pulse, everywhere a pulse, pulse. Voilà. Rillet
I threw two cans of chunk light tuna, a shallot, curry powder, crème fraîche, salt and pepper, into my Ninja Food Chopper and pulsed the ingredients together. After adding a squeeze of lemon joined by one last pulse, the paté needed to be refrigerated. After its flavors intensify (chill at least an hour), Rillettes de Thon is a delightful spread with crackers, bread or toast.
I will use the leftover rillettes, if there is any, as the centerpiece of the Salade Niçoise I plan to make for lunch tomorrow.
Cover the mixture and refrigerate it for at least an hour. For me, overnight.
Salade Niçoise with Tuna Rillettes Tastespotting.com
It’s important to remember that albacore tuna is too firm and dry for this recipe. Otherwise, there’s not much to dislike about this tasty treat.
To see how more adventurous FFWD participants made Sardine Rillettes, link to http://www.frenchfridayswithdorie.com/
*tuna (English); thon (French); atún (Spanish).
I loved the Tuna Rillette – it was delicious! I was wondering about that cornichon sorbet – that definitely was an adverturesome combination.
Your salad looks delicious, I love Nicoise salad. I think that I benefited from location this week, because the europeans seem to be far more accepting of preserved fish in its many forms: canned, pickled, smoked, you name it. So my husband didn’t even bat an eye when I told him what the recipe was. But then, my sardines ended up tasting like tuna fish anyway.
Ooh, I like how you used your Ninja food chopper! So easy!
I too made another recipe, not on purpose though… Still shuddering at the thought of sardines, as well!
That Ninja chopper is too cute. I did like the sardine version, but the tuna rillettes sound interesting too.
Merci for the pronunciation class! I’ve been rolling my rilletes’ “ll” sound in my head incorrectly. I love curried chicken and tuna salads, so your tuna ree-etts sound delicious, especially with the other components of the Salade Niçoise.
Wonderful!!! Must try this new twist on tuna! Still laughing about the security guard comment!
The sardine rillettes I live could without. Cornichon sorbet sounds interesting – that, I would be willing to try 🙂
I too have come to realize that I neither 1) cosmopolitan enough to eat at the bistro table or 2) brave enough to like certain foods… Sigh.
Have a great weekend.
You know, that cornichon sorbet piqued my interest, too- I thought to myself- how would you make that? Your tuna version sounds smashing- I will make that next time willingly!
I could have probably done this with tuna, but I can’t do sardines! Pretty salad and a wonderful way to serve this.
Your tuna rillettes look wonderful, Mary. Now this, I would enjoy!
Whoa, I should say the food sure LOOKS good!
We still do pigs in a blanket, they are so easy to make and go along way, especially with children. I love your Niçoise salad, looks great and so appetizing, and that is a great way to enjoy these
rillettes.
Too funny, your adventures trying to find taste testers for sardines! Much safer to go with the tuna, now there’s lots of testers lined up,lol;-) I definitely want to try the tuna rillettes!
Mary, loved your yery funny post. Those spreads look delicious and I enjoy salade niçoise very much and so does the rest of the family. Great idea to serve the tuna rillettes with that wonderful looking salad.
Sounds like a lovely option! I had to laugh about the response at the security gate…I think they were holding out for more cinnamon buns!
Even guys turned down free food? lol. Thanks for the pronunciation key, I often wonder about that when cooking with Dorie.
Now I have the Tuna Rillettes to look forward too! I hope you were able to enjoy the leftovers in that salad – sounds like it would be very tasty.
The tuna rillettes look delicious. I have to admit that we really enjoyed the sardine version. It didn’t last long!