Smoked Salmon Mousse
This is a perfect party recipe – very elegant, yet simple to make with a food processor. Smoked Salmon Mousse can be served as a spread for crackers or toast rounds, or, using a pastry bag with a decorative tip, you can pipe the mixture onto cucumber rounds, celery sticks, little choux paste puffs or wherever your imagination takes you. Garnish with a tiny dollop of sour cream topped with a caper or a small sprig of dill. This mousse never fails to draw raves and goes particularly well with sparkling wine, pinot gris or riesling.
Serves 12 to 16 as hors d’oeuvres
12 ounces hot-smoked salmon (not lox)
One tablespoon plus two teaspoons strained lemon juice
Two tablespoons chopped shallot or the white part of a scallion
Two teaspoons fresh dill weed or one teaspoon dried dill weed
3/4 cup melted butter, cooled
3/4 cup to one cup sour cream
Break up the smoked salmon pieces with your hands to feel for any bones and to remove the skin. Weigh out 12 ounces of flaked smoked salmon and put in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Add the shallots, dill and lemon juice and process until smooth. With the machine running, slowly pour in the cooled melted butter until it is incorporated. With a rubber spatula, transfer the smoked salmon mixture to a medium-sized bowl. Gently fold in sour cream until completely incorporated and the mixture is light and mousse-like.
If serving as a spread, transfer to a serving bowl immediately and refrigerate, covered, until just before you are ready to serve. If you are going to pipe the mixture with a pastry bag, it is best to let the mixture set by refrigerating it for an hour. The mousse can be made up to three days ahead; store covered in the refrigerator.
– Provided by Stephanie Pearl Kimmel, owner of Marche
Pepperkarkar
It looks plain, perhaps a bit like fruitcake, but the Swedish spice cake, Pepperkarkar, has been a delicious mainstay in my family’s holiday recipe selection for generations. Pepperkarkar is a simple dessert, offering a great alternative to the abundance of frosting-smothered cakes and buttery cookies that saturate the season’s sweets. While baking, Pepperkarkar smells heavenly, permeating a sweet, cinnamon aroma throughout your kitchen. Pepperkarkar is easy to make and goes well with any dish (it tastes particularly delicious with a glass of apple cider). If you are from Sweden, making Pepperkarkar and sharing the sweet with company brings both great pride and joy.
Pepperkarkar
Swedish Spice Cake
One cup brown sugar
One cup white sugar
Two cups flour
One teaspoon cloves
One teaspoon cinnamon
One teaspoon Cardamom
One teaspoon baking soda
One to two teaspoons Allspice
Two eggs
One cup sour milk (one cup fresh milk plus one teaspoon cider vinegar)
1/2 cup butter, melted
One teaspoon lemon rind (optional)
Sift all dry ingredients three separate times. Add eggs and milk. Fold in 1/2 cup melted butter. Bake for one hour at 350 degrees. Enjoy!
– Lisa Anderson, Freelance Reporter
Easy Vegan Cookies
These vegan cookies are great for a last-minute dessert, and they only dirty about five dishes in the process. They can be made with real eggs or with egg substitute for a vegan sweet.
Easy Vegan Cookies from Cake Mix
Egg substitute for two eggs (or two eggs)
1/2 cup oil
One package of cake mix (any flavor)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix ingredients together and drop cookie batter by rounded tablespoon onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until cooked entirely through. Be careful if you use a chocolate cake mix as you will not be able to tell if the cookies are burning.
– Holly Schnackenberg, Freelance Reporter
Peanut Butter Popcorn
Around the holidays, food becomes extremely important. Most college students expect that when they arrive home for winter break, it is time to eat like never before. In my family, one of the foods that signify that the holidays are just around the corner is Peanut Butter Popcorn.
Peanut Butter Popcorn combines two amazing snacks: popcorn and peanut butter. My mom found the recipe years ago by Nancy Strope in The Oregonian’s food section. Ever since, it has become a family tradition. This food actually makes me giddy with delight.
Peanut Butter Popcorn
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
Five tablespoons butter
One teaspoon vanilla extract
One cup peanut butter
Two to three cups popcorn
Pop two to three cups of popcorn. Do not salt or butter. Mix the brown and white sugars, corn syrup and butter in a heavy skillet. Stir until all ingredients melt and bring to boil for one minute. Remove from the heat and add vanilla extract and peanut butter. Stir well and pour over the popcorn, making sure to evenly coat. Start eating immediately.
– Tiffany Kimmel, Freelance Reporter