Salmon Spread for Easy Summer Entertaining

My mother was one of those women who always had too much food in the house. Just in case.

Just in case company came. You can't just let them sit there and not eat.

Just in case you needed a little something extra for supper. Or as a snack over the weekend.

Just in case you had some leftovers and you didn't want to throw them out.

If you ever took a look in my freezer, my fridge and my kitchen cabinets you would know, like mother, like daughter.

I have a ton of food things.

Just in case.

This past weekend when my cousins came for a sleepover, I discussed this with my cousin Leslie, whose mother was my Mom's sister. She was bemoaning her overstuffed freezer, refrig, pantry. With all the "just-in-case" stuff. 

We are who we are, products of our upbringing, including our need for just-in-case food.

But I did point out to her that with the leftover salmon I made the other day, the dill, lemons, celery and cream cheese I always have on hand, I made this spread. Which is a perfectly easy-to-make, quick-as-a-wink to make hors d'oeuvre to be served with chips or crudites. And I served it over the weekend.

Easy. 

You can do it too. And if you don't have leftover salmon, you can used canned salmon, tuna or sardines. It's also delicious with leftover cooked bluefish.

 

Salmon Spread

• 8 ounces cooked salmon, crumbled
• 2 scallions, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 4 ounces cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

Place the salmon, scallions, celery, cream cheese, lemon juice, dill and Dijon mustard in the workbowl of a food processor and process until thoroughly blended. 

Makes about 1-1/2 cups

Salmon Spread

Need a quickie hors d’oeuvre you can make for New Year’s in just a few minutes?

Try this one: Salmon Spread.

I just did and it took under 10 minutes.

I usually fuss a lot for New Year’s when our cousins Leslie and Neil come for a few days. I like to experiment with hors d’oeuvres and usually wind up making 2-3 in addition to the standby favorites.

But this year I’ve had a lingering cold and I haven’t been up to the usual food prep. So I bought some frozen and take-out stuff but managed to do the Salmon Spread because it’s so easy.

Also, I didn’t have to do any extra shopping for it. I always have cream cheese, lemons, white horseradish and a shallot in the house. And because I had made myself some chicken soup the other day, there was a bit of fresh dill left over too.

There was also some leftover salmon from yesterday’s dinner, so I used that, but canned salmon (always a good item to keep on the shelf, for just-in-case moments) would have been just fine too.

I like this spread with Stacy’s pita chips, but crackers or crudites are perfectly fine too.

Salmon Spread

8 ounces cooked salmon (canned, drained red salmon is fine)

4 ounces cream cheese, cut into chunks

1 small shallot, cut into chunks

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

2 teaspoon prepared white horseradish

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Crumble the salmon into a food processor. Add the cream cheese, shallot, lemon juice, dill and horseradish and process until well combined and blended. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Makes about 1-1/2 cups

Salmon Spread

What do you do with leftover salmon?

I usually mash it up and make it into salad. Most of the time there’s just enough for one person, one sandwich, so it works out perfectly for lunch.

My mother used to make salmon croquettes. She’d mash the salmon with egg and bread crumbs, shape the stuff into patties and fry them. Those were really good, especially hot, sandwiched with tomato slices and mayo on two pieces of hearty white bread (but of course I like most anything plus tomatoes and mayo on good white bread).

But yesterday I had some extra salmon and decided to make a quick hors d’oeuvre spread with it. It was de-lish, so I’ll make a batch Sunday to bring to my brother’s house to watch the Super Bowl. 

Here’s the recipe in case you need a quick, easy and versatile hors d’oeuvre. You can spread this on crackers or use it for crudites. The recipe is flexible. Taste it and add some sour cream to make it fluffier or lemon juice to make it more tangy or more fresh dill if you want more of a springlike, refreshing taste.

Salmon Spread

1 to 1-1/2 cups leftover cooked salmon

4 ounces cream cheese

2 medium scallions, chopped, including green part

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon salt 

freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

Place all the ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. Scrape down sides of bowl once or twice to be sure to incorporate all ingredients. Makes about 1-1/2 cups