For this months IMBB no. 15 (hosted by Elise at Simple Recipes) we had something rather savory in mind. This was supposed to be in contrast to our original SHF no.8 idea, which unfortunately didn't exactly turn out the way we had planned it.

Inspired by the memories of a wonderful smoked salmon mousse we had on our last years vacation, we already had planted the seed for this IMBB entry. Good for us that one part of Nicky's family lives in the countryside, so we sometimes get highly treasured food presents like smoked ham ("Geräuchertes") or smoked trout. There are no better presents, are there? While deciding for the smoked trout but in lack of any recent presents, we had to consult a good fishmonger near Viktualienmarkt. The filets tasted great and we couldn't resist stealing bits and pieces right after unwrapping them at home.

Another good source for high-quality/tasty smoked fish are the various lakes around Munich (Starnberger See, Ammersee, to name a few). Whenever you happen to be close to any of these lakes - perhaps on a nice little summer trip - keep your eyes open for signs saying "freshly smoked fish" taped to their houses. A must try! Whenever the opportunity permits, we make sure to never leave without some fish wrapped up in paper.

To find a suitable recipe, I turned again to Epicurious, after my cookbooks didn't come up with anything striking (I think I need more cookbooks ;)

The following recipe is adapted to our liking:

Puree trout with cream, butter and lemon juice in a food processor. Add salt to taste.

Soak the sheets of gelatin in a bowl of cold water (about 5 minutes), then transfer the wet sheets to a pot. You may need to add another tablespoon of water. Heat up the pot until the gelatin dissolves, but be careful not to let it boil. Remove and thoroughly combine the melted gelatin with the trout puree in a small bowl.

Beat remaining cream (120ml) and fold into trout puree and salt to taste. Start with the roe (fill about one to two spoons into the molds) and then add the mousse, that's the way we chose to do it. Chill mousse for at least 8 hours or over night.

For the sauce, I started out with 4 tbsp of freshly grated horse-radish and then added the lightly whipped cream, until I thought it tasted right and had the proper texture. Seasoned it with salt & sugar and for an alternative option, add a pinch of cayenne to a second cup of this sauce.

To unmold, run a thin knife around the edge of the mold and hold its bottom into hot water for a couple of seconds. Then turn mold up-side own on a plate and arrange with sauce. I additionally tried mousse rings for the first time, which delivered a nice result and were pretty easy to handle.

The smoked trout mousse was delicious in taste, texture and pretty fast to make. Perfect as an elegant appetizer, which can be prepared already one day in advance. Concerning the roe: I'm not very experienced with roe, but this one definitely added to the taste of the mousse. I'd think eating the mousse without it - just on toasted bread e.g - is fine as well. The horse-radish goes perfectly well with smoked trout, in my family nobody eats smoked trout without it, so for me it's just sort of natural to use it for a sauce/dip.