Sardine Rillette

When we were in Spain, we went to a cafe called Cafe Emma. It was, of course, a French restaurant. They started off with a wonderful sardine rillette. We could not replicate the recipe although we tried but we did stumble upon a, may I say, improved version of that. Here is the recipe:

2   3/4oz cans of sardines packed in oil, boned, and drained
2 1/2 ounces of cream cheese, or neufchâtel
2 shallots, minced
1-2 scallions, white and light green parts on;y, thinly sliced
Juice of 2 limes, or 1 lemon, or to taste
2 tablespoons of fresh herbs, such as chives, parsley, and/ or dill
A pinch of cayenne
Salt and pepper, to taste
Chive flowers, for decoration

Remove the bones from the sardines with a paring knife, to split the fish lengthwise in half, by going down the belly of the fish. Split the fish on two fillets and remove the bone up the middle.

Put the cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl, and mix with the spatula until smooth. Add everything except the sardines, holding back some of the lime, or lemon juice until after the rillettes are blended. Mix with a spatula. Add the sardines to the bowl, and mash and stir the sardines into the bowl using a fork. Taste for seasoning, adding more juice, salt, pepper if you like. Put the rillettes into a nice serving platter. Cover with plastic wrap, and chill for at least two hours, or overnight.

I recommend serving this with bread, or crackers, top with chive flowers.