3/4 cup clam juice or fish stock
2 envelopes gelatin
2 (7oz) cans sock-eye salmon (or 1 15oz can)
6 flat anchovy fillets
2 tbl capers
2 green onions chopped
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tbl chopped dill
8 drops Tabasco
1-3/4 cups sour cream
parsley or dill for garnish

Warm clam juice with gelatin, put remaining ingredients except sour cream in food processor, add gelatin mixture.
Process till smooth, add sour cream and blend until mixed. Chill overnight.

Serve with crackers. A mousse of this kind is really hit or miss depending on the crowd you’re serving.  You can also serve this as part of a brunch buffet, with bagels, sliced tomato, and onions, along with a side of lox, if you’d like. (A classic New York brunch)  You’ll note the title is Salmon Mousse I, yes, there’s a II that we’ll make in next few weeks, in case you’d like a variation on this theme.

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written by admin \\ tags: appetizer, mousse, salmon, salmon-mousse

There are times that we are served something in a restaurant or friend’s house and it looks tough to make, but once you do it, you have to laugh at its simplicity. This is one of those dishes.

This is a 15oz piece of brie, right out of the package, trust us, don’t peel off the rind. Place it on a pre-made pie crust and top with 3 TBL jam. We used strawberry.

Fold over the crust, you may need to cut a bit to fit the very center of the top, the sides should have enough overlap to do this. Just press a bit to seal it shut. Pour 1/4 cup of maple syrup on top, then sprinkle with a few TBL brown sugar.

Put into a 350F oven and bake until it’s golden brown. Ovens vary quite a bit, in ours it took about 50 minutes. Serve with your favorite crackers or French Bread. Some people like to served sliced apples with this as well. Also, a search for Baked Brie recipes showed some that used puff pastry, a bit lighter than this, or crescent rolls. Sorry, that didn’t appeal to us.

Have you ever made baked brie? How does your recipe differ? What do you serve it with? We liked this dish as it took minutes to prep, in the time it took to heat the oven, this was ready to go in. Enjoy!

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written by admin \\ tags: appetizer, baked brie, brie, recipe

Today, we’d like to share a special recipe we’ve made for years, more than 20, in fact. It’s for shrimp dumplings, the kind that you might find in a Chinese restaurant as an appetizer or part of a Dim Sum buffet.

1 pkg won-ton wrappers
1 pound raw shrimp
2 tbs pork fat (rendered from bacon)
1 tablespoon scallion (white only)
2 tablespoons water chestnuts
1 egg white
1 teaspoon tapioca starch
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine

Shell and clean shrimp, chop finely. Add finely chopped water chestnuts, chopped scallion and bacon fat. Mix in remaining ingredients and chill for about an 1 hour. (Note: most cities have an Asian grocer where you can find these items. The tapioca starch is the tough to find one. You can substitute corn starch if you can’t find the tapioca.)

Put a bit more than 1/2 teaspoon of the filling in each wrapper, dip your finger in water, and moisten the edges of the wrappers.

Bring both corners together and press a bit.

Next, bring in the other two corners, so now all four edges meet. It’s a bit tedious, but after a few, you’ll get the knack. So long as all the edges are sealed, they’ll taste great.

Steam for 15 minutes (note: the shrimp are not cooked first, the steaming will cook it thoroughly). Makes about 25. This is a bamboo Chinese steamer, but you can use a metal one that goes into a pot or make your own by putting a plate on a ring of twisted foil in a large pot. It’s easy to steam.

A real crowd pleaser, these dumplings aren’t tough to make at all, just a bit of preparation you can do earlier in the day or the day before. The mix can sit in the fridge until you are ready to fill the wrappers.

If you are a dumpling fan, and have a recipe you’ve been making, We’d love to hear from you and maybe share your recipe with our readers. Thanks for visiting.

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written by admin \\ tags: appetizer, chinese food, dim sum, har gau, shrimp dumpling

Hummus is a middle eastern dish commonly used as a dip for veggies or pieces of pita bread. You’ll find it in the grocery store in small containers, 8oz or so.

This supermarket hummus was $2.99.

See this can of Chick Peas? 110oz (almost 7 lbs!) from Costco. $2.75. Crazy.

Basic Hummus Recipe
32oz Chick Peas (volume not weight)
5 oz of the liquid from can
2 tbl minced garlic
2 tbl tahini
4 tbl lemon juice

All ingredients are put into a food processor and blended until smooth. That huge can will make about 4 recipes worth, great for a big party. Of course you can buy smaller cans in the supermarket and make one recipe. We use chick peas on top of salads or to add to soup, so they don’t go to waste. If you are not familiar with tahini, it’s a paste made from ground sesame seeds and available in the ethnic section of most supermarkets. If you can’t find it, almond butter can substitute. This recipe lends itself to adjustments depending on your taste. More garlic? More lemon juice? Why not? Start with the amounts above and add to suit your taste. Enjoy.

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written by admin \\ tags: appetizer, chick peas, hummus, middle eastern cooking