This recipe is based on an idea for a seafood pâté that we first saw on Jamie Oliver Christmas Cooking programme in 2019. It is a very simple recipe. It can be made from ingredients normally easily available in your local supermarket but we had been raiding the fridge and store cupboard (#RaidtheFridge not the supermarket) which meant that with a little bit of fiddling of ingredients we could get close to the original recipe.   Our twist to that approach is that this was made with cold smoked sea trout which we had cold smoked in the Big Green Egg and large frozen prawns (large shrimps for our American friends) which were first grilled on the Big Green Egg.  The sea trout was cured and smoked in exactly the same way as for cold smoked salmon (see here).

The prawns were defrosted and put on a bamboo skewer for ease of handling.  They were cooked over a direct flame until they just became pink and were slightly singed on their edges then put to oneside to cool.

From this point making the pâté really just becomes a matter of assembly.  All this could be done in a food processor but we wanted a coarse chunky pâté and so all the components were hand chopped with a chef’s knife. The smoked trout was first sliced then added to the shelled prawns and they were both roughly chopped.  The white crab meat was then added together with the zest of half a lemon. (The dish would be fine without the crab – just slightly different.) This was all put in a glass bowl together with the cream cheese, the juice of a lemon and a little black pepper and cayenne pepper.  There was no need to add salt.  This was mixed thoroughly and then spooned into a pâté dish and decorated with some crab claw meat – and the only green that we had to hand – a small basil rosette.

As a variation add 2 tablespoons of cod egg ‘caviar’ to the mix if you have some in the cupboard and you are wondering what to do with it!

NB when initially tasting the pâté it seems slightly dominated by the lemon, but his softens over a few hours when left in the fridge.  VacPacked in the fridge this should keep for 3 days.

…………………………. it is very easy, give it a go!

Smoked Sea Trout and seafood pâté

April 20, 2020

Servings: 12

Prep: 20 min

Cook: 20 min

Total: 40 min

Difficulty: Easy

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A course seafood pâté of home smoked sea trout, prawns and crab

By: Mark

Ingredients

• 150g of large frozen or fresh prawns
• 150g of home smoked sea trout or salmon
• 150g white crab meat
• 250g cream cheese
• Zest of half a lemon
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Pinch of black pepper
• A little cayenne pepper

Directions

• Step 1 Grill 150 g prawns on the BGE in direct mode – allow to cool.
• Step 2 Take around 150 g of home smoked salmon or sea trout and slice.
• Step 3 Roughly chop the sea trout and the prawns, then add the white crab meat and mix with the zest of half a lemon.
• Step 4 Place in a bowl and add the cream cheese, lemon juice and pepper and mix thoroughly
• Step 5 Spoon into pâté dishes, decorate and place in the fridge for at least 3 hours or overnight
• Step 6 Serve with toasted sourdough

This is the first video we have included in our blogs but it seemed the easiest way to show the BGE Wok in action!  We have had the BGE Expander system for some time and have warmed to its versatility.  It certainly brings some further flexibility to cooking opportunities in our large BGE.  One of the possibilities is to (more…)

I know it shouldn’t, but it always comes as a bit of a surprise to see the wealth of available seafood when travelling around mainland Europe.  I suppose a lot of this surprise is because there is so much seafood caught in the UK and then shipped to mainland Europe meaning that we see so little in the UK!  The Octopus is, however, a species more commonly found in warmer waters, and whilst the number found round costal Britain is probably rising due to global warming and the effect on sea temperatures – the octopus is (more…)

Having said that we had only come across grilled octopus once in Tuscany, the very next time we went out to eat – there it was on the menu. (more…)

Grilled Octopus is not something commonly found in the restaurants of Northumberland!  As yet I have only come across it on one occasion in restaurants in Tuscany but perhaps we need to get out more!!  Anyway, octopus has the reputation of being tough and chewy unless it is treated correctly.

Tradition has it that Greek fishermen “thrash” the octopus over the rocks 40 times before cooking it to tenderise it – I have certainly seen them doing that, though I didn’t count the number of times.  I have also read of a women in the United States who “double bagged” an octopus and put it in the tumble dryer to tenderise it – but the less said of that the better!  The most usual way however appears to be to simmer in a pan for an hour – and then get down to the grilling!!

Being on holiday we took the easy route as soon as we found a ready “simmered” Octopus in the supermarket (not something you regularly “fall across” in the Co-op, or Waitrose for that matter, in the UK!!)   So no simmering for us – merely open the pack and prepare for the grill!!

……….delicious!

Update link 2017

Update link 2018