Smoked Salmon Mousse

This beautiful pastel colored mousse is so light and fluffy and it wows  every time it's served.

It can be served elegantly molded or casually in a simple bowl.  Either way the taste will impress.

The recipe is from a book called Party Food, Small and Savory by Barbara Kafka.  Barbara Kafka is a food journalist and has columns in the New York Times and Gourmet magazine.  I bought her book in the early '90's and over the years has come in handy whenever I need a recipe for hors d'oeuvres.

The essential ingredients are heavy cream (divided), smoked salmon, hot sauce, chives, fresh lemon juice, grated onion, salt and pepper.

A note on the salmon...since the salmon is going to be pureed I purchased salmon trim.  This was a little less expensive but did not compromise flavor in any way.  The trims are probably not as nice looking so as to decoratively display them on a serving tray; but they taste just as good.


Assemble all your ingredients.  Measure out and prep everything you can.






Process the salmon and the 1/2 cup of cream.



Transfer the mixture to a blender and puree.



Place the water and gelatin in a small saucepan and allow the gelatin to absorb the water.



Once absorbed slowly heat the gelatin until it is totally dissolved. Set aside and allow to cool. 


The remainder of the cream is whipped with the cooled gelatin and the flavorings added to it.  Then you'll lighten up the salmon mixture with some of the whipped cream.

The rest of the cream is gently folded into the salmon mixture.



Pour out the ice water in your mold but don't dry the mold.  Spoon the mousse into the mold, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1-1/2 hours or longer.

When ready to serve, unmold and serve with crackers or bread.  I like to serve mine with these canape breads.


Smoked Salmon Mousse
Recipe adapted from Party Food, Small and Savory by Barbara Kafka
Makes 40 hors d'oeuvres servings

Ingredients:
6-1/2 ounces smoked salmon
3 cups heavy cream, divided
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2-1/2 tsp. grated onion
3 Tbsp. water
1 envelope unflavored gelatin (1/4 ounce)
1 tsp. kosher salt
Freshly ground white pepper, to taste
10 drops hot red pepper sauce
1/4 cup thin-sliced chives (see note)

If you are going to use a mold, prepare a 5 cup or larger mold by filling with ice water.  Set aside.

Divide cream into 1/2 cup and 2-1/2 cup portions.  Juice lemons.  Grate onion.  Thinly slice the chives.  (NOTE: if chives are unavailable use scallion greens, slicing lengthwise and then across).  Give the salmon a rough chop.

Place the 1/2 cup of cream and the salmon in the bowl of a food processor.  Pulse until smooth.  Transfer mixture to a blender and purée.  Set aside.

Place water in a small pan.  Add the gelatin and let it sit until absorbed.  Over low heat slowly heat the softened gelatin mixture until it is dissolved.  Remove the pan from heat and allow it to completely cool.

 Whip the 2-1/2 cups of cream until slightly soft peaks form.  Beat in the cooled gelatin mixture.  Stir in the lemon juice, onion, salt, pepper, red pepper sauce and chives.

Remove about 1/2 cup of the seasoned whipped cream and stir into the puréed salmon mixture to lighten it up.  Fold the rest of the whipped cream into the salmon mixture.

Empty the ice water from the mold but do not dry.  Spoon the salmon mousse into the mold.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-1/2 hours or until set.

When ready to serve, unmold by removing the plastic wrap and run a thin, flexible spatula around the edge of the mold (may not be necessary if the mousse has slightly separated from the edge of the mold).  Fill a mixing bowl, that is one size larger than the mold, with very hot water.  Carefully holding the mold by the rim, dip into the bowl of hot water and hold for  5 seconds to loosen.

Place the serving dish on top of the mold and invert the mold.  Tuck curly leaf parsley around the outer edges of the mousse on the platter.  Sprinkle mousse with chopped chives.

Baked Salmon Croquettes

Lovey and I have been long time fans of salmon croquettes (cakes, patties - whatever you grew up calling them).

I used to use canned salmon but I thought it might be fun to try them with fresh salmon.  And am I glad I did!

 
I started with making some poaching liquid of water, white wine, celery leaves, Italian parsley and black peppercorns



Once the poaching liquid comes to a boil it's lowered it to a simmer and the salmon is added. I prefer wild caught salmon. Poaching time is about 12 minutes; possibly shorter if you slice the salmon into smaller filets.

When the salmon has cooled enough to work with it it gets gently shredded; by hand or with a fork

Seasoned dried bread crumbs are tossed with the salmon.  I used crumbs from a stale French baguette.

The mayonnaise mixture is what will give these croquettes a creamy moist inside. I find it easier to use an 8 ounce jar of Hellmann's rather than measuring it out; I tend to use too much mayo if I measure it myself.

It will be evident that this is a wet mixture. I usually put the mixture in the refrigerator for awhile and let it firm up a little.



Just before you put them in the oven, form the croquettes and coat them in Panko crumbs. You can also form the patties and let them rest, on waxed paper, in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake (don't dredge in the Panko crumbs until you are ready to put in oven - the crumbs will get soggy if you do).




The cooking time is about 40 minutes because the croquettes are cold when placed into the oven .  Be sure to watch yours so they don't brown too much.  I found that by the time the exterior was browned to a nice golden color the croquettes were nice and hot in the middle.

Perfectly crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside.

Baked Salmon Croquettes

Yields 8 croquettes, serving 4

Adapted from Sheila Lukins' "U.S.A. Cookbook"

Ingredients:

For the Poaching Liquid

4 cups water

1 cup dry white wine

4 sprigs celery leaves

6 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 tsp Kosher salt

6 black peppercorns

1 pound salmon fillet

For the Croquettes

1/4 cup dried bread crumbs

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried mustard

1 cup Hellmann's mayonnaise (an 8 ounce jar is easy)

1/2 cup finely diced yellow onion

1/2 cup finely diced celery

1 Tbsp drained tiny capers, coarsely chopped

1 Tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 egg, lightly beaten

 Salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 cup Panko crumbs

Method:

Prepare the poaching liquid by combining all the ingredients, except the salmon, in a large saucepan.  Gently rub your fingers along the surface of the salmon filet and remove any bones that may have been left. Bring poaching liquid to a boil then reduce to a simmer. 

Add the salmon to the poaching liquid and simmer until it can be easily flaked with a fork, about 12 minutes.  Using a slotted spoon remove salmon from liquid to a dish and set aside to cool.  When the salmon is cooled enough to handle, remove any skin and bones and flake the fish into  large bowl.  Set aside.

In a small mixing bowl combine the 1/4 cups dried bread crumbs, the thyme, oregano, and mustard. Gently combine this with the cooled, shredded salmon.

Measure 1 cup of Hellmann's mayonnaise in a medium mixing bowl.  Finely dice onion and celery; add to mayonnaise.  Coarsely chop the capers and parsley; add to mayonnaise.  Measure the Worcestershire into the mixture and lastly add the lightly beaten egg.  Mix well.  Combine the bread crumb/salmon mixture with the mayonnaise mixture. Salt and pepper to taste

Place the mixture in the refrigerator to firm up a bit. Using a 1/4 cup scoop you should get around 8 patties. You can make smaller hors d'oeuvres - sized patties as well to serve as appetizers

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°.  Pull croquettes mixture out of refrigerator, form patties and gently roll both sides with plain Panko crumbs.  Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for about 40 minutes until the Panko begins turning  a golden brown.

 NOTES: 

These can easily be prepared to the shaping stage and covered with plastic wrap and cooled overnight, putting Panko on prior to putting in oven. 

A nice side salad of iceberg lettuce and marinated pear tomatoes would round out the meal.

Salmon Ceviche with Cilantro, Chili, and Lime

It is "some like it hot - and spicy" week a IHCC.  Since Mr. C., or as I like to call him - Lovey, does not like anything spicy, I knew I'd have to find one of Tessa Kiros' recipes that I could easily half and take to work with me for my lunch.

 I chose this ceviche recipe.  I love ceviche and I love all these ingredients so the selection was an easy one.  The lime, ginger and cilantro flavors with the light, delicate texture and flavor of the Coho Salmon were a perfect pairing.

The recipe halved easily but I could have used the original amount of red chile peppers for a little spicier dish.  Perhaps if I had left the veins there would have been more heat.



 Notice I'm wearing my food gloves that I love to use in the kitchen?  I suggest using these in so many ways when cooking, and especially when working with chiles and peppers since they have oils that can burn your skin and especially your eyes. 

 This was so easy to prepare.  Take care to mix it up in a nonreactive bowl.  Since I made this dish to take to work the next day, I stored it in a Ball jar for easy transporting.

Tessa states that this is even good the next day so I had no problem making it the night before.  She also suggested a lovely way to serve it with some firm green leaves and sliced red onions as a salad or with boiled potatoes.  For myself, I just ate it out of the jar at my desk and it was yummy!

Salmon Ceviche With Cilantro, Chili, and Lime

Adapted from "Falling Cloudberries" by Tessa Kiros

Serves 4 to 6 - Note: this is the full recipe as in the book

Ingredients:

1-1/4 pounds skinned salmon fillet

Juice of 4 limes

2 or 3 red chiles

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 tsp. ground cumin

2 garlic cloves

1-1/2 inch piece of ginger

Mise en Place:

• skin and remove any bones from the salmon
• juice limes
• seed and finely chop the chiles
• chop cilantro
• peel  & finely chop garlic cloves
• peel and grate fresh ginger

Method:

Slice salmon fillet into pieces about 1/2 inch thick and put in a wide, nonreactive bowl.

Pour the lime juice, chile, cilantro, cumin, and garlic over the fish and season with salt and pepper.  Take the grated ginger between your fingers and firmly squeeze the juice over the salmon (discard the pulp that's left).  Mix gently, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.

I'm sharing this recipe at IHCC