Smoked Salmon Mousse

In honor of our first visit to the Monterey Bay Sanctuary Exploration Center I am posting this very simple spread: smoked salmon mousse.

We have been getting beautiful local caught salmon directly from a fisherman at the harbor. Since we buy the whole fish there are lots of parts to the fish that we would normally not use except for fish stock. Having made enough fish stock to last for a year from our last couple of fish we decided to try smoking all those extra bits.

What a great idea that was !!

With all that great smoked salmon, how could I resist making the mousse for a birthday party we were attending ?

Smoked Salmon Mousse

Ingredients

8 ounce cream cheese at room temperature
1/2 smoked salmon pieces

1) To make this recipe very simple the cream cheese does need to be at room temperature. That way it is soft enough to blend in the food processor without adding extra liquid.

 There are two ways around this: used whipped cream cheese or add a tablespoon of milk.

2) Blend the cream cheese until soft and creamy.

3) If you are using your own smoked salmon be sure to remove all the bones and shred into small pieces to make 1/2 cup.

You can also use commercial smoked salmon or  lox (which is salmon that has been cold smoked).

4) Add the shredded salmon to the cream cheese and blend thoroughly.

5) Scrap the sides of the food processor and blend again. You want there to be no lumps,
just a smooth, creamy texture.

5) You can serve it immediately or allow to chill for an hour or more. Serve with crackers or sliced French bread.

For a fancy party appetizer used a icing bag and pipe onto cucumber rounds !!

To make a vegetarian version use 1 teaspoon of liquid smoke , 1 teaspoon paprika and 1 teaspoon salt.