"Sardine Rillettes" or "les rillettes de sardine" is a popular appetizer in France. Dorie Greenspan's recipe calls for canned sardines (packed in olive oil), cream cheese, herbs, lemon/lime juice and "piment d'espelette" (ground peppers from the town of Esplette in the French Basque region). French recipes often call for soft goat cheese (chèvre) and tarragon vinegar. The French also serve this appetizer or spread with soft-boiled eggs or tomatoes, crackers or baguette...there seem to be endless variations on this recipe.
My first task was to get good quality sardines packed in olive oil. My favorite Italian store carries only one kind, namely, "Aurora Sardines". They come in large and beautifully designed cans. Although I decided to double the recipe, I still have lots of sardines left. Since the rillettes were such a success at our house, maybe I will prepare some more on the weekend.
In her notes to her recipe, Dorie Greenspan mentiones that in Paris, the sardine rillettes sometimes are served with a scoop of cornichon sorbet and that capers would also be a good addition. Well, I searched the internet high and low for a cornichon sorbet recipe but to no avail. Might have been interesting to try to make some. So while shopping for the sardines, I decided to pick up some cornichons. And a jar of pickled caper berries and some salt packed capers. I use them a lot in my cooking.Once you assemble all the ingredients, it takes only a few minutes to prepare the rillettes. They can easily be prepared in advance and even improve in taste after a few hours in the fridge. After a first taste test, I decided to add a few chopped capers to the rillettes. Great taste.
As herbs, I chose chives and parsley. They grow in abundance in my garden and they go very nicely with the rillettes.
So when I served them to my family as an appetizer (entrée) to our lunch, I served cornichons and caper berries alongside. I also toasted baguette rounds. Baguette always makes for a nice presentation and my family does not really like crackers all that much.
Everyone enjoyed the sardine rillettes and they liked the toasted baguette slices, cornichons and caper berries on the side.
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Those sardine cans are so pretty, Andrea! I especially like your terrine mold. Glad to hear this was a success. I wish I could grab that bite from the last picture.
ReplyDeleteAdriana, yes, you are right, the serving dish is actually a terrine mold but it did seem just right for those Sardine Rillettes...Thank you for your nice comment! I am already looking forward to all the posts on the Coconut Friands.
DeleteI love the toasted baguette rounds instead of crackers! :) I'm also jealous that you can grow herbs... apparently I can grow tomatoes but herbs dont make it past two weeks... ugh. lol! :)
ReplyDeleteAlice, I just got lucky with the herbs - usually I do not really have a green thumb...I like serving baguette slices, toasted or grilled, alongside a number of different dishes, family and guests always enjoy them.
DeleteThe photos are gorgeous, the composition is terrific and I am coveting the container you have the rillettes in! And the great edge around your photos....I was also interested in cornichon sorbet and was curious what that might taste like.
ReplyDeleteChristy, thanks so much for your nice comment on the serving dish and the photos. I will try to prepare some cornichon sorbet some day soon. Cher has sent me a "sorbet option" that she found. It is certainly worth a try and if you are interested, I will gladly let you know how it turns out.
DeleteMy goodness, I owe you a belated welcome to the group! I have been so busy the past few weeks that I didn't even notice that a blogger from my neighborhood had joined.
ReplyDeleteYour presentation this week is gorgeous, I really like your pot for the rillettes. Did you get that in Alsace? I recall seeing similar crockery when we were there.
Schönes Wochenende!
Rose, thank you for your kind comments and the warm welcome to the FFwD group! And yes, the serving dish is from Alsace - I took a photo of the dish this afternoon, or rather of the inscription on the dish but alas, I could not figure out a way to post the photo in this reply section, just would not work, but it does say "Alsace". Schöne Grüsse aus Bonn!
DeleteThat looks so lovely and delicious, I love the toasted rounds of baguette. Hubby and I both enjoyed this recipe and since
ReplyDeletehe loves sardines I will definitely be making this again. I would like to say welcome to FFWD, Tricia and I have been enjoying
this fun cooking group for about 1-1/2 years, and I think you will too.
Nana - the toasted baguette slices go very well with this dish. And I will also be making the Sardine Rillettes again because they were a big hit at our house. Thank you for the welcome to the FFwD group!
DeleteLovely pictures & I really liked your rillettes crock :-)
ReplyDeleteI am very intrigued by the cornichon sorbet recipe - maybe there is a pickle sorbet recipe that could be adapted. My wheels are churning...
Here is one sorbet option I found on the internet "...pureed a handful of cornichons with a dash of vodka (to impair hard freezing). This was weird. I added a little salt and pepper, hoping for improvement. Still tasted weird, but I froze it anyway. After it became sorbet, it tasted fine, and was a great accompaniment to the rillettes."
Cher, thank you so much for sending me the sorbet option, I certainly could not find anything anywhere. One day soon, I will give the cornichon sorbet a try and will let you know how it turns out - sounds just too tempting.
DeleteI meant to serve this with cornichons, but I forgot. I love your serving container. And your photos are awesome.
ReplyDeleteBetsy, thanks for your nice comment on the photos and the serving dish. Cornichons are very popular at our house and they seem to go very well with the Sardine Rillettes.
DeleteWhat an absolutely beautiful spread! I think if I had added some cornichons I just might have liked this because that is how I like my tuna fish. Beautiful job!
ReplyDeleteNice comment, Elaine, thanks. And you should try those cornichons with the Sardine Rillettes or other Rillettes/Spread. Guests alyways like that combination and we (husband and kids) do too.
DeleteWow! This looks beautiful! My attempt was not so successful but I'm glad everyone enjoyed yours!
ReplyDeleteThank you, I have made the experience that if you put sardines in a dish, no matter how nice you present it, it will always cause some interesting reactions...but your cupcakes looked delicious!
DeleteYour pictures are just beautiful! With a spread like that, I would try just about anything! Luckily, I liked the sardines, but not sure how often they will appear. Love your serving dish!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Erin. I am looking forward to Friday, I love baking and cannot wait to try out the recipe for the Coconut Friands.
DeleteAndrea, Welcome. I love your terrine. It's gorgeous. I couldn't go with the sardines, choose to make Rillettes de Thon, but if I had be the proud owner of that gorgeous piece of pottery, I KNOW I could have successfully made Sardine Rillettes. Wish I'd thrown capers into my tuna paté. I love the intensity of flavor that capers bring to a recipe. Your Post was terrific and very informative. Mary
ReplyDeleteMary, thank you for the nice comment and the warm welcome to the group!
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