Rob and I went out to one of the newer eating places in Ludlow, Kin Kitchen, a few weeks ago for lunch. If you're visiting the area, it's great place for coffee, breakfast, lunch and sometimes evening meals.

I don't like eating too much at lunch, so I opted for their fish platter, which I'd already spotted on their Instagram page.

It was very similar to the smoked salmon & prawn platter I used to serve for my B&B guests, with the exception of the smoked mackerel pate - I used to use Smoked Salmon pate from the Ludlow Farm Shop. We used to eat smoked mackerel pate a lot and I'd forgotten how much we enjoyed it and how easy it is to make.

Guest platters are a great added extra for guests, who don't want to travel out again in the evening, or are arriving late. Especially as we are moving towards the autumn in the northern hemisphere and the nights are drawing in.

If you want to read more about the whys of serving  a guest platter and how to put them together - I wrote a whole blog post about them here >> How to create a memorable supper platter for your B&B guests

In this post, I'm going to share with you my favourite smoked fish platter "recipe".

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What should you include in a luxury smoked fish platter?

When I put platters together, I was always thinking about the combination of flavours and texture, which is why I'd include quick pickled cucumber, celeriac remoulade and a soft cheese or fish pate.

As platters are relatively simple, it's important to use the best quality ingredients possible.

The following combination of ingredients, which evolved over several years, was my favourite fish platter for 2 . And it was very popular with my guests.

• 100g ( 4oz) good quality smoked salmon
• 125g small peeled prawns with a good quality mayonnaise
• 140g smoked fish pate
• A small pot of quick pickled cucumbers
• A small pot of celeriac remoulade
• Rocket leaves ( arugula to our US friends )
• Wedges of lemon
• Capers
• A whole loaf of homemade granary bread sliced ( or you could use sourdough crackers or Ryvita )
• Butter
• Salt & pepper

I've included the recipes for those parts of the platter that need it below.

Here's my ancient version of the Delia Complete Cookery Course - I had to get it out as she's got all posh on her website and has subbed the cottage cheese for ricotta. She'll have to change it back again as cottage cheese is a making a big comeback. I've even started using it in my morning smoothie >> High protein raspberry shake

Notes on the recipes & ingredients

You could substitute hot smoked salmon in the pate if you or your guests are not fans of mackerel. 

If you do use smoked mackerel, you may find you have too much in a packet. But the mackerel fillets do freeze well.

A lot of the smoked mackerel pate recipes on the internet use cream cheese. But the recipe I use - thank you Delia - uses cottage cheese and soured cream or Greek yoghurt.

In this recipe I swapped half of the sour cream for kefir as I'm always trying to sneak it into Rob's diet without him noticing

One of my favourite mini gadgets - my Kenwood mini chopper - was just the right size to make this amount of pate.

I am a chronic over seasoner of food - I put so much pepper in the parsley soup I made at lunchtime, it tasted like it had chillies in it - but because the mackerel is peppered and the fish is quite salty, I decided didn't need any seasoning.

My oat and honey bread goes so well with this platter - you can find the recipe here >> Honey oat bread recipe or you could serve it with ryvita or sourdough crackers.

Each of the recipes below will give you enough for about 2 platters for 2, depending on how generous you're feeling!

Smoked Mackerel Pate

Ingredients

• 150g peppered smoked mackerel
• 50g cottage cheese
• 75g sour cream or greek yoghurt or a mix of both
• juice of half a lemon

Method

Skin the mackerel and chop into rough chunks, then put into the mini chopper or food processor with the rest of the ingredients. 

Switch on the chopper/processor and then pulse it till you get the consistency you want.

Delia blitzes hers till completely smooth, but I prefer mine with some texture.

Put into ramekins and chill.

Taste for seasoning and salt and pepper if you think it needs.

Quick Pickled Cucumber

I absolutely love this pickled cucumber and the sweet and sour taste works wonderfully to cut through the creaminess of the pate. It'll last a couple of days in the fridge.

Ingredients

• 1/2 large cucumber - thinly sliced
• 1 tsp maldon sea salt
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Method

Put the cucumber in a sieve and mix with the sea salt.

Leave for 20 minutes in the sink or over a bowl.

Put the sugar and apple cider vinegar in a bowl or lidded jar and stir / shake to dissolve.

Add the cucumber to the vinegar mix and it's ready!

Celeriac Remoulade

Another of my all time favourite recipes, that works wonderfully with smoked fish.

I don't make it often enough as I don't like peeling and grating the celeriac - I am the laziest of cooks -  and I always have too much celeriac leftover. But it does help give this dish a more luxury feel. And it's our go to Christmas day lunch served with hot smoked salmon.

Ingredients

• 1/2 small celeriac - about 350g
• 4 tbsp good quality mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp lemon juice - you may need more. This recipe really needs tasting and adjusting.
• salt and pepper to taste

Method

Grate the celeriac coarsely into a bowl. Add the lemon juice quickly and stir the celeriac around to prevent it browning.

Mix together the mayonnaise and mustard and then stir into the celeriac and lemon mix, with a good grind of black pepper.

Check the season and add salt, more pepper and lemon juice if it needs it.