FOS Part 2

Cured Salmon “Lasagna” with Avocado Mousse

    The idea of this recipe is adapted from the pages of “East of the Danube” – it remains one of the more difficult cookbooks out there, in so far as the actual execution of the recipes require multiple processes over multiple days of preparation. We’re going to cheat a little here but still achieve the same textural wow-factor. Which, to me, is what it's often all about
   
    In this preparation, the thinly sliced cured salmon (referred to technically as “escalopes”) provides the faux pasta in betwixt which sits a simple avocado mousse, on top of which sits a mustard-dill cream. The original recipe calls for a basil gelee to be laid down as the base for this "pasta-esque" dish, however, it's cut out here for the sake of simplicity - that said, one might also leave out the dill cream without missing out on anything to die for; the party is in the marriage of the salmon and the avocado. The original recipe also calls for a ravioli to be crafted out of the salmon escalopes, however, culling slices large enough to pull this off is not possible for this class. Thus, we’ll steal/assume artistic license and morph this puppy into an open-faced lasagna…

Cured Salmon
For all intents and purposes, no one is expecting you to make cured salmon at home! Let’s be honest. If you really want to, email me for the recipe. Basically, you could do this with a pre-sliced smoked salmon package from the store or simply slice your own pieces from a raw fillet of salmon, as broad and as thin as your knife skills allow, and give them a quick curing/seasoning at the very outset of this whole enterprise. By the time you’re finished organizing the ingredients for the mousses/mixtures, they’ll be ready for you to slather and devour. The quick cure simply requires  a bit of high quality salt, some lemon zest, 2 parts lemon juice and 1 part olive oil. Lay them out and let them sit with the marinade; just make sure they don’t sit too long or you could end up with “stiffs”. Ugh.

The Dill Cream:
2.5 tbsp of Dijon mustard
2 tbsp chopped fresh dill
2 tbsp of sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1tsp extra virgin olive oil
2/3 cup heavy cream
fine sea salt to taste, fresh ground black pepper

Combine the lemon juice, dill, mustard, and sugar in a bowl whisking until the sugar is dissolved. Continue whisking and slowly add the olive oil until a smooth emulsification forms. Whisk up the heavy cream separately until you achieve stiff peaks and set aside 1/4 cup of the whipped product. Fold the remaining whipped cream into the mustard emulsion, season with salt and pepper and set aside. Do a little dance.

Avocado Mousse
2 ripe avocados
juice of 2 fresh limes
pinch of cayenne pepper
2 tbsp small diced shallots
2 tbsp small diced red bell pepper

Scoop the avocado flesh out of it’s skin and push through a fine meshed sieve (or just smash with a fork/spoon if you’re too lazy). Add to it the lime juice and cayenne pepper first, achieving a consistent mixture, then proceed to add the shallots and red pepper. Fold in the remaining whipped cream. Smile.

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Now - lay it out: one slice of cured salmon escalope, a spoonful of avocado mousse, one slice of salmon, and an expertly crafted quenelle of dill cream to top it off. Review your newly acquired vocabulary and dig in.

Forks are highly over-rated.