• 3/4 pound smoked fish— cod or trout; boneless & skinless
• 1/4 pound butter; softened
• 1/4 pound cream cheese; softened
• 3 tablespoons fresh dill
• 1 tablespoon horseradish
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• Salt to taste
• Fresh ground black pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 cucumbers or 1 cucumber and 1/2 loaf rye bread
• 12 radishes
• dill; for garnish

1. For the pâté, chop scallions.
2. Combine the trout, butter, and cream cheese in the bowl of a food processor and process for a few seconds.
3. Add the scallions, dill, and horseradish and process until just smooth with bits of herbs still visible.
4. Briefly pulse in sour cream.
5. Season with salt, pepper, and 1 tablespoon lemon juice.
6. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
7. Pâté can be made a few days ahead.
8. Slice cucumbers into 3/16-inch-thick rounds.
9. Cut radishes into paper-thin slices.
10. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch star tip with pâté.
11. Pipe generous rosettes on top of each cucumber slice.
12. Garnish with radish slices and dill.

As an alternative, toast bread and cut into ovals with a pastry cutter or into rectangles or squares with a knife.

1. Pipe pâté onto bread and garnish with radishes and fresh dill.
2. Put in jelly roll pans or baking pans, cover well, and refrigerate.
3. Canapés can be made a few hours ahead.

SERVING: Bring back to room temperature, arrange on platters, and serve.

This smoked-fish pâté is so good you'll be tempted to eat it right off your finger. For guests, we suggest either cucumber slices or toast. If you use both, you'll get more variety with almost no more work. Arrange them together on one platter and cut the toast into ovals, rectangles, or squares, rather than rounds.

Serves: 20 to 30