Roasted and Smoked Salmon Mousse

(serves 12)

600g/10.5 ounces fresh salmon fillet

2 tsps olive oil

pinch sea salt and fresh black pepper

200g/7 ounces cream cheese

300g/10.5 ounces creme fraiche

handful chives

handful fresh tarragon leaves

handful fresh cilantro/coriander leaves

zest and juice of 1 lemon

sea salt and fresh black pepper to taste

300g/10.5 ounces smoked salmon

Place the salmon in a foil-lined ovenproof dish and drizzle with olive oil.  Season and roast at 425F/220C for 25 minutes.

In a food processor, combine the roasted salmon, the cream cheese, creme fraiche, herbs, lemon zest and juice and seasonings.  Pulse until well combined but not a mush.  Taste for seasonings and add salt if needed.

At this point, you may decide if you’d like to serve this dish as a sit-down starter or as a finger food.  If as a starter, choose a platter on which you’d like to serve the terrine and place a piece of plastic wrap twice as big as the platter in the center of it.  In as close as you can come to a rectangle that’s about half the size of a piece of typing paper, place a layer of smoked salmon slices on the plastic.  Spread a layer of the poached salmon mixture on top.  Cover with another layer of smoked salmon, another layer of mousse, and finish with a top layer of smoked salmon.  Cover with the extra plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least four hours, or overnight. Then unwrap the terrine and lay it on a cutting board.  Carefully, with a serrated knife, saw the terrine into perfect strips about an inch wide.  This recipe should yield about 8 strips.  Arrange on the serving platter.  Sprinkle the reserved herbs over and drizzle with dressing.

If on the other hand you’d like to serve the dish as a finger food, simply spoon a bit of the mousse on a baguette slice, top with a bit of smoked salmon and a sprinkle of herbs, and drizzle dressing over each portion.