Salmon Mousse with Watercress Sauce
Submitted by crlk
Salmon mousse with brandy-flambeed mushrooms and shallots, set with gelatin and folded with whipped cream, served sliced with a fresh watercress-mayonnaise sauce.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
10 minCOOK
20 minREADY
30 minThis is a proper French-technique salmon mousse. Fresh salmon poached briefly in fish stock (kept pink inside), puréed smooth, enriched with a brandy-mushroom reduction, set with gelatin, and lightened with whipped cream. Chilled overnight in a loaf pan, unmolded, and served in elegant slices with a vibrant green watercress sauce.
The brandy gets flambéed with the mushrooms and shallots, burning off the alcohol and leaving behind a concentrated, smoky sweetness that becomes the flavor backbone of the mousse. Reducing the stock by half after the flambé concentrates every bit of fish and mushroom flavor.
Keeping the salmon pink inside during the initial poach is critical. The mousse gets no further cooking, so overcooked salmon at this stage produces a dry, chalky result.
Cool the puréed mixture to room temperature before folding in the whipped cream. Warm purée melts the cream and you lose all the airiness.
Chef Tips
- Soften the gelatin in cold water before dissolving in hot stock. Skipping the bloom leaves undissolved granules.
- Cool the salmon mixture in the refrigerator but watch it carefully. You want it cool, not set. Set gelatin can’t be folded smoothly with cream.
- Whip the cream to stiff peaks. Soft peaks collapse under the weight of the salmon mixture.
- Chill for a minimum of 6 hours. This mousse needs time to set firmly enough to slice cleanly.
Variations
- Dill sauce: Replace watercress with fresh dill and lemon juice for a Scandinavian-style accompaniment.
- Smoked salmon version: Use half fresh and half smoked salmon for a more intense, smoky mousse.
Ingredients
Directions
------------ FOR THE SAUCE:--------- HEAT THE OVEN TO 350℉ (180℃).
Cut salmon into ½-inch cubes, and place in a single layer in a medium oven-proof skillet.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper and set aside. Sprinkle the gelatin on the cold water to soften, and set aside.
Bring the fish stock to a boil.
Pour the boiling stock over the salmon in the pan and cook over medium-high heat until the stock returns to a boil.
Transfer to the oven and bake, covered with a sheet of buttered parchment or waxed paper, for 1 to 2 minutes.
The salmon should remain pink inside. Strain the mixture, reserving the salmon and stock in separate bowls.
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat.
Cook the mushrooms and shallots until tender, about 2 minutes.
Pour in the brandy, turn the heat to high and light the alcohol with a match.
Cook over high heat until the liquid in the pan is reduced by half.
Add the reserved stock and reduce again by half.
Remove from heat, and stir in the gelatin.
Combine the reserved salmon, strained liquid, and Tabasco in a food processor and purée until smooth.
Cool refrigerated until room temperature, but do not allow it to set.
Whip the cream until stiff peaks form, and fold into the salmon mixture.
Pour into a 9-by-5-by-3-inch glass loaf pan, cover with plastic wrap and chill a minimum of 6 hours or as long as 2 days to set the mousse.
To make the sauce: Place all ingredients except mayonnaise in a blender and purée until smooth.
Transfer to a mixing bowl and stir in mayonnaise. To serve: Run a knife along the inside of the pan.
Dip the pan’s bottom into hot water for a few seconds.
Turn over onto a serving platter. Cut into ½- inch slices, and serve with the watercress sauce.
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