Individual Smoked-Salmon And Avocado Mousses For Any Occasion - cooking recipe

Ingredients

8 ounces cold-smoked salmon (the kind that comes very thinly sliced)
9 -10 ounces avocados, ripe (flesh only when weighed)
8 tablespoons cream cheese (salmon-flavoured preferred. I used 2/3 of a 230 g container, if you're metric)
1 teaspoon salt, preferably flaky sea salt
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce (or any hot sauce, to taste)
3 tablespoons freshly-squeezed lemon juice (or 3 tablespoons lime juice)
1 1/2 tablespoons gelatin

Preparation

*** I use smoked-salmon flavoured cream cheese.
Grease 6 small individual molds, or 1 larger one, and line with plastic wrap. Make sure the wrap sticks out at the top, to have \"handles\" to get the finished mousses out in one piece.
Line the molds with the smoked salmon slices, overlapping where necessary, or patching, so that there are no \"holes\" in your lining! Don't cut off any bits -- they will be folded over the filling.
Mash the avocado in a bowl, add the cream cheese, salt and hot sauce, and mix well.
Squeeze the lemon juice, measure into a small pot, sprinkle over the gelatine, and over medium heat stir this with the back of a spoon.
Stir all the time until the gelatine granules dissolve and you have an almost gluey mixture. Do not cook!
Stir this into the avo and cream cheese mixture, and make sure you mix the gelatine in very well.
Taste your mixture at this stage, and adjust seasoning to your taste.
Fill each lined mold with the mixture, pressing in very lightly.
Then use a knife blade and smooth the tops (which will be the bottom) from the centres outwards so they're even and flat, and the molds are filled edge-to-edge. Fold any salmon \"flaps\" over the filling.
Put on a tin or platter, cover with plastic, and leave in fridge to firm for 4 hours or overnight.
Have a serving plate ready: To unmold, tug gently on the plastic overhang all around each mousse. Can be served on shredded lettuce, or garnished with a whole large shrimp, parsley, or with a swirl of watercress sauce.