Mike van de Elzen: Hot smoked mussel pate

Hot smoked mussel pate

Cook time: 10 minutes

Prep time: 10 minutes

Serves 6-8

300-400 gm darker fleshed fillets like Kahawai or Trevally

100 gm seasalt

2 cups large manuka wood chips

10 green lip mussels

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

3 tbsp crème fraiche

Juice of one lemon

1 tbsp honey

Pinch of paprika

Cracked pepper and seasalt

3 tbsp fennel tips & chives, chopped finely

Toasted sour dough

Start by making up a salt brine by combining 100gm of salt with 1 litre of water. Whisk until dissolved.

Submerge the fish fillets into the water and leave for 30 minutes to firm-up and flavour.

Place 2 x cast-iron pans onto the heat with the wood chips inside. Onto the wood chips, ball up some tin-foil and then place the fish fillets and mussels on top.

Keeping them off the wood chips. Place a lid on top of the pan and crank up the heat, causing the wood chips to smoke. Once smoking leave on high for a further minute.

Turn off the heat but leaving the lids on. After 5 minutes, remove the mussel and fillets.

Place half the mussels and fillets into a blender along with the mustard, crème fraiche, lemon juice, farm honey and paprika. Blitz until smooth, taste and season with salt and cracked pepper.

Chop the remaining mussels and fillets and fold through the pate, along with the fennel tips and chives.

Serve with some toasted sourdough.

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