Smoked salmon mousse (can be made with bacon too!)

Finally... To top it off, although I have no picture of this, here's what was part of the appetiser course of our birthday dinner for X: a smoked salmon mousse. I found the recipe online, but it originally was published by well-known Québec foodie Daniel Pinard, and then by Josée di Stasio.

For a cup of mousse (well, I used a bit more salmon, because I had a larger package; so I adapted the other ingredients accordingly:

150 g (5 oz) smoked salmon
5 ml (1 tsp) horseradish
5 ml (1 tsp) finely-grated lemon rind
15 ml (1 tbsp) fresh lemon juice
75 ml (¼ cup) heavy cream (35%)
15 ml (1 tbsp) finely chopped chives [I substituted green onions for lack of fresh chives]
Freshly ground pepper

In a food processor, pulse together salmon, horseradish, lemon juice and rind. Add cream progressively, pulsing until it becomes a spread. Add chives and peper; mix in a bowl. Can be served with a few capers and fresh chives.

Spread on croutons, in an endive leaf or on a thick cucumber slice slightly hollowed out with a spoon or on bagels.

Divine.

As I do not own a food processor, I adapted the recipe for my blender: it only required chopping the salmon down with a knife on the cutting board and adding the cream directly to the mix before starting the blender so that it would work. If memory serves, I also added about a quarter-brick's worth of cream cheese to the mix... just 'cause I had it on hand. I served with freshly-made croutons (slather a bit of extra virgin olive oil on baguette slices and grill).

And yes, it can be made (and probably improved, if that were possible!) with bacon bits. But that would be for the next feast!