Ingredients
| 250g smoked eel | |
| juice of 2 lemons | |
| 2 tablespoons sour cream | |
| sea salt and freshly ground black pepper | |
| TO SERVE | |
| Little Gem lettuce leaves | |
| radicchio leaves | |
| your best extra-virgin olive oil | |
| crudités |
Who doesn’t like a big smoky fish (or eel, in this case) dip? My Aunty Joce makes one with kahawai, a South Pacific marine fish, so I got this idea from her and gave it my own twist. Eels are endangered in Ireland, apart from the conservation stocks at Lough Neagh, and those are a bit pricey, so to make it affordable, I whip them up into a delicious dip and serve it with crudités or house-made crisps dusted with paprika and fine sea salt like a sandstorm in the Sahara.
View the recipe collection here
Instructions
| 1. | Put your smoked eel, lemon juice and sour cream in a food processor and blend until you have a smooth, creamy consistency. |
| 2. | Add salt and pepper to taste. |
| 3. | Arrange your Little Gem and radicchio leaves on a serving plate. |
| 4. | Spoon the whipped smoked eel into the middle, then drizzle with a little of your best extra-virgin olive oil and add your crudités. |
| 5. | Dip and sip on your favourite tipple. A glass of bubbly is actually a classic pairing for crisps if you’re going that route instead of crudités, so who am I to disagree? |
This is an edited extract
from The Kai Cookbook
by Jess Murphy (Nine
Bean Rows).
Photography:Nathalie Marquez Courtney
See also In Season Chocolate where
Jess shares her favourite chocolatey creations.