Salmon Mousse Appetizers

For this New Year's dinner, I unfortunately didn't get the chance to make any of the deserts I was planning to and looked for something rather quick.

My parents always buy smoked salmon but I prefer it on a bagel with cream cheese and believe it or not, I found this recipe on Annie's Eats where you make a mousse using cream cheese. You can use it as a spread or make it look a bit fancier by piping it onto crackers (I used rosemary ones). Next time I think I'll pipe it onto sliced cucumbers instead!

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Salmon Mousse
Adapted from Annie's Eats
Makes about 25-30 appetizers

8 oz. smoked salmon, flaked with a fork
8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 tsp fresh dill, finely chopped

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 clove garlic, finely minced

Splash of lemon juice
25-30 crackers

Combine all the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse repeatedly until all the ingredients are blended and the mixture is smooth. Taste and add more cream cheese, fresh dill or lemon juice if you like, depending on your taste. Pipe or spread onto crackers and garnish with fresh dill.

FFwD : Spicy Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup

I made it! I was really debating if I should skip this week's FFwD since it's midterm time and all I've been doing is finance and accounting for the past week and a half... but no! It does feel good to take a break and cook up this delicious vietnamese soup! It reminded me very much of the one my boyfriend and I love having in Chinatown (except I don't think that one has any coconut milk).

I read some reviews this morning on the Dorie's group site and a couple had written that it wasn't very flavorful or spicy. I found it was a bit spicy, so I just added a bit of Sriracha (love that stuff!) and lots of lime juice and it was great! It wasn't very hard to make either... I think it took me longer to look for all the ingredients!

FFwD: Gerard's Mustard Tart

When I was younger, I hated mustard! I was more of a ketchup fan. I would put ketchup on everything and anything! But as time is passing, my taste in food is changing and I now find myself eating things like Gerard's Mustard Tart!

The filling was easy to make: whip the eggs with the cream, add the mustards, whip and season with salt and pepper. It was the crust that I found a bit challenging.

The first time I made the pâte brisée by hand, the dough was very crumbly, I could hardly form a disk with it! It was impossible for me to roll it out, so I decided to remake it. The second time, I used the food processor method, that took me at most 5 minutes. The dough turned out soft and workable... Success!

This tart is something I would never had tried on my own, but I'm glad I gave it a try! It smells delicious out of the oven and I had to hold myself from cutting a slice right away. If you like mustard, you're sure to love this!

Mini madeleines au sésame - Mini Sesame Madeleines

I was drawn to these cute petits fours ever since I was old enough to bake on my own. I usually make lemon or chocolate but decided to try savory this time.


When I usually bake something, anything, I taste the dough (who doesn't!?). I came to the following conclusion: a good tasting dough will yield a good tasting result! It isn't the case for savory madeleines though... When I tasted the mixture before putting it in the fridge, it tasted so salty that I wondered if it was even worth baking! Surely 2 tbsp of grated parmesan couldn't make the dough that salty?!


I still decided to keep following the recipe and the madeleines didn't turn out salty at all! I guess my dough-tasting theory doesn't apply to savory things...






I found the madeleines tasted rather plain and didn't really enjoy the smell of sesame oil. I would suggest 1 tbsp oil instead of 2 and would maybe add more toasted sesame seeds to the batter.

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Mini madeleines au sésame - Mini Sesame Madeleines

Adapted from Mini madeleines: sucrées ou salées by Marabout

Makes 28-30 mini madeleines

100 g all-purpose flour

2 eggs

3 tsp baking powder

A pinch of salt and black pepper

2 tbsp sesame oil

20 g unsalted butter, melted

2 tbsp grated parmesan

4 tbsp milk

2 tbsp white sesame seeds

Toast the sesame seeds in a small pan on low heat.

Mix all the ingredients (except the sesame seeds) in a bowl until smooth. Fold in the browned sesame seeds and refrigerate the mixture for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 220 degrees C (425 degrees F). Spoon about a small teaspoon of batter into the well-buttered molds and bake for 3 to 4 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F) and continue baking for another 5 to 6 minutes. If the madeleines brown too fast, lower the oven temperature.