Six small ramekins hold Delia Smith’s salmon mousse, a cool, light starter that sets in the fridge. It is a smoked salmon mousse built from her Arbroath Smokie Mousse, with smoked salmon in place of the smokies. You make it in about 30 minutes, then it chills for several hours before you turn it out.
Her mousse is in Delia’s Happy Christmas, as a starter for 6. It is held by a little gelatine in a thick white sauce, then lightened with mayonnaise and whipped cream.
Every amount here is hers, apart from the fish. The 250g of smoked salmon is our amount, which is about the flesh that a pair of smokies gives.
For a warm starter, her salmon quiche also serves 6.
Smoked Salmon Mousse, Delia Smith-Style
Course: StarterCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Medium6
servings30
minutes12
minutes330
kcalA set mousse of smoked salmon, chopped egg, capers and parsley in a light mayonnaise sauce. It is turned out of ramekins and served with watercress.
Ingredients
- For the mousse:
250g smoked salmon trimmings
2 eggs
7g leaf gelatine (4 sheets of about 11 x 7.5cm)
10g butter
200ml milk
10g sauce flour
125g mayonnaise
a good pinch of cayenne pepper
3 tablespoons fine capers
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
50ml double cream, lightly whipped
salt and freshly milled black pepper
- To serve:
30g watercress
2 tablespoons fine capers
cayenne pepper
Directions
- Eggs: Put the eggs in cold water and bring them to a fast boil, then time them for 7 minutes. Cool them under a cold running tap and peel them.
- Chop: Chop the smoked salmon into small pieces, and chop the eggs in the same way.
- Gelatine: Soak the gelatine leaves in a bowl of cold water.
- Sauce: Put the butter, milk and sauce flour in a medium saucepan. Whisk all the time over a medium heat, until the sauce thickens and comes to a simmer.
- Simmer: Leave it on the barest simmer for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring often.
- Dissolve: Take the pan off the heat. Squeeze the water out of the gelatine and whisk it into the hot sauce until it dissolves.
- Cool: Pour the sauce into a bowl and let it cool for about 10 minutes. Stir in the mayonnaise and the cayenne, then season with pepper and taste before you add salt.
- Mix: Stir in the salmon, eggs, capers and parsley. Fold in the whipped cream last.
- Chill: Divide the mixture between 6 lightly oiled ramekins with a 7.5cm base. Cover them with cling film and chill them for several hours.
- Turn out: Take the ramekins out of the fridge 30 minutes before serving. Slide a small palette knife round the edge of each one and turn it out onto a plate.
- Serve: Dust each mousse with cayenne, sprinkle a few capers on top and garnish with watercress.
Notes
- Smoked salmon is already quite salty, as Delia says in her smoked salmon tart. So taste the mixture before any salt goes in.
- Fold the cream in gently, because the air in it is what keeps the mousse light.
FAQs
Where does this salmon mousse come from?
From Delia’s Arbroath Smokie Mousse, in her Happy Christmas book. The sauce, the gelatine, the mayonnaise, the capers and the cream are all her amounts and her steps.
Smoked salmon takes the place of the smokies here. Delia swaps the fish herself, because she says smoked haddock is equally good in it.
Can I make the mousse with Arbroath smokies or smoked haddock?
Yes, and then it is her recipe exactly as printed. Use a pair of Arbroath smokies of about 400g, take off the skin and bones, and flake the flesh into small pieces.
She calls the dish unashamedly retro. In the 1960s it was very popular, and it was made with smoked haddock then.
What is Delia’s nearest dish to a salmon terrine?
Her Smoked Fish Creams, in her Complete Cookery Course. They are little baked creams of smoked haddock, eggs and double cream, in ramekins lined with sliced smoked salmon.
She serves them for 8 as a first course, with plenty of watercress and hollandaise sauce. To give this mousse the shape of a terrine, set it in a small loaf tin lined with cling film, my own tip.
How far ahead can I make salmon mousse?
It needs several hours in the fridge to set, so the morning of the meal works well. Keep the ramekins covered with cling film, as she does.
Take them out 30 minutes before you serve them. That is her timing, and it lets the mousse lose its fridge chill.
What does Delia serve with the mousse?
Watercress, a few more capers and a dusting of cayenne. All three are on her plate for the Arbroath Smokie Mousse.
Thin brown toast is my own addition, because the mousse is soft and needs something crisp. For a firmer spread on toast, see her smoked salmon pâté.
