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Mackerel rillettes

This recipe for mackerel rillettes (or potted mackerel) starts with poaching the fish. The flesh is then taken off the bones and forked into a seasoned mixture of butter, mustard, cream and lemon juice.

In France this is traditionally eaten as an aperitif snack, served on small slices of toast.

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Last modified on: June 19^th 2019

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For 900 g, you will need:

1 6 mackerel
2 3 tablespoons coarse salt
3 217 ml butter
4 6 tablespoons cream
5 3 tablespoons Mustard
6 6 tablespoons lemon juice
7 parsley
8 salt
9 pepper
10 chive flowers (optional)

Change these quantities to make: 100 g 150 g 300 g 600 g 900 g

Change measures: Metric

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How long will it take?

Time required for this recipe:

Preparation	Cooking	Start to finish
40 min.	20 min.	1 hour

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Step by step recipe

Stage 1

Ask your fishmonger to prepare 6 mackerel for you: cleaned and the head cut off.

Stage 2 - 3 min.

Rinse thoroughly under cold running water, then put in a large pan of cold water with 3 tablespoons coarse salt.

Stage 3 - 20 min.

Put on low heat and poach gently at a simmer for about 10 minutes.

Ideally, check the temperature of the fish flesh with an electronic thermometer. It will be cooked once the centre of the thickest part reaches 122°F (50°C).

Stage 4 - 30 min.

Remove the mackerel from the poaching water and leave to cool, then take all the flesh off the bones and discard the rest (skin, bones, etc.).

Unfortunately, there's no getting away from it: this is a long and tedious job.

Put all the boned flesh into a bowl.

Stage 5 - 5 min.

Add 217 ml butter, 6 tablespoons cream, 3 tablespoons Mustard, 6 tablespoons lemon juice, the finely chopped parsley, salt and pepper to the fish.

Stage 6 - 2 min.

Mix well with a fork.

Check the seasoning. Transfer into jars and leave overnight, at least, in the fridge.

Stage 7

When you want to serve your rilletes, toast some slices of bread (rounds of French baguette here).

Stage 8

Spread the rillettes generously on the toast and decorate, if you like, with a few chive flowers. Then enjoy!

Remarks

Do feel free to vary either the ingredients or the amounts in this recipe. The general spirit of it is: poached mackerel flesh, a little butter and/or cream, herbs and spices of your choice, plus a hint of acidity (normally lemon juice, but vingar or white wine will also work).

For a tastier version, poach the mackerel in a fish stock, rather than salted water.

Keeping

A few days in the fridge, in a sealed jar.

Source

Home made.

Nutritional information

Whole recipe
Energetic value	Proteins	Carbohydrates	Fats
5,638 Kcal or 23,605 Kj	470 gr	25 gr	405 gr
282 %	181 %	2 %	61 %

Per 100 g
Energetic value	Proteins	Carbohydrates	Fats
219 Kcal or 917 Kj	18 gr	1 gr	16 gr
11 %	7 %	<1 %	2 %

% are calculated relative to a Recommended Dietary Intake or RDI of 2000 k-calories or 8400 k-joules by day for a woman (change to a man).

Possible allergens in this recipe: Fish, Milk, Mustard

How much will it cost?

For 900 g : 8.86 €

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Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.

This recipe uses (among others)

	Butter: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Salmon rillettes, Surprise bread, Fried cheese toasties with avocado, Potato gratin, Sandwich bread, ... All
	Cream: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Individual creamy endive gratins, Cream sauce with Vin Jaune, Thin summer tart "à la grecque", Creamy rice with spinach, Courgette tart with mint, ... All
	Mackerel: You can check-out other recipes which use it, like for example: Mackerel Fillets in White Wine, ... All
	Lemon juice: You can check-out other recipes which use it, like for example: Strawberry, kiwi and mascarpone verrines, Julia salad, Brussels sprouts salad with smoked trout and Comté cheese, Beetroot and cream cheese verrines, Fillets of sole meunière, ... All