Individual Smoked-Salmon and Avocado Mousses for Any Occasion

Submitted by Zurie

"Plural of mousse? Actually meece, of course, LOL! Unless you prefer Mice! It's so easy to make, and the small molds look lovely on a plate. I tried making a watercress sauce but that wasn't enough of a success to publish the recipe! I used small 1/3 cup (100 ml) melamine bowls instead of ramekins, because I wanted the dish small enough for a starter and not too filling. Note that this recipe will only be enough for the the small moulds I used, so adjust ingredients if using larger ramekins. Change seasonings to your taste, if you like, and garnish with more imagination that I did!"

 

• Ready In: 30mins
• Ingredients: 7
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 8 ounces cold-smoked salmon (the kind that comes very thinly sliced)
• 9 -10 ounces avocados, ripe (flesh only when weighed)
• 8 tablespoons cream cheese (salmon-flavoured preferred. I used 2/3 of a 230 g container, if you're metric)
• 1 teaspoon salt, preferably flaky sea salt
• 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce (or any hot sauce, to taste)
• 3 tablespoons freshly-squeezed lemon juice (or 3 tablespoons lime juice)
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons gelatin

directions

1. *** I use smoked-salmon flavoured cream cheese.
2. Grease 6 small individual molds, or 1 larger one, and line with plastic wrap. Make sure the wrap sticks out at the top, to have "handles" to get the finished mousses out in one piece.
3. Line the molds with the smoked salmon slices, overlapping where necessary, or patching, so that there are no "holes" in your lining! Don't cut off any bits -- they will be folded over the filling.
4. Mash the avocado in a bowl, add the cream cheese, salt and hot sauce, and mix well.
5. Squeeze the lemon juice, measure into a small pot, sprinkle over the gelatine, and over medium heat stir this with the back of a spoon.
6. Stir all the time until the gelatine granules dissolve and you have an almost gluey mixture. Do not cook!
7. Stir this into the avo and cream cheese mixture, and make sure you mix the gelatine in very well.
8. Taste your mixture at this stage, and adjust seasoning to your taste.
9. Fill each lined mold with the mixture, pressing in very lightly.
10. Then use a knife blade and smooth the tops (which will be the bottom) from the centres outwards so they're even and flat, and the molds are filled edge-to-edge. Fold any salmon "flaps" over the filling.
11. Put on a tin or platter, cover with plastic, and leave in fridge to firm for 4 hours or overnight.
12. Have a serving plate ready: To unmold, tug gently on the plastic overhang all around each mousse. Can be served on shredded lettuce, or garnished with a whole large shrimp, parsley, or with a swirl of watercress sauce.

Reviews

[AnnieSophie]

I copied this recipe when it was Recipe of the Day, and made it to serve as a starter last night at a dinner for my husband's business partners. One woman asked me whether a hotel had made it for me! They loved it! I carefully (with a calculator!) increased the quantities to serve 8. Great recipe, which worked really well. It is just the right size, small, for a fairly rich starter and can be garnished very nicely. I was very pleased with this recipe and will make it again! Thank you for this one, Zurie!

 

[Iceland]

i had problems understanding the steps. I covered the bowl with salmon after i had covered it with film. I also used normal cream cheese. The taste was nice but it was not as great as i thought. I would like to do a similar thing again but this needs some work.