Smoked Salmon Spoons

We recently hosted Walt's cousin and his husband - special people require special treats. These fit the bill perfectly cool, rich and decadent.

Ingredients

2 small Yukon gold potatoes

1 cup crème fraiche

2 tbsp butter

½ cup finely chopped chives

3 oz cold smoked salmon, sliced very thin and roughly cut into 1 ½ inch squares

½ oz jar of caviar (choose one that fits your budget – I use California farmed)

Chives

Salt

Peel potatoes and cut into three equal size rounds.  Rinse with cold water, place in a saucepan and cover with water one inch over the top and cover.  Bring potatoes to a boil, then reduce to simmer until softened, about 18 minutes.  Drain water and return to stove on low heat, tossing occasionally, until the excess liquid is evaporated and they are light and fluffy, but not burned.  Press potato pieces through a ricer into a mixing bowl and add about ¾ of the crème fraiche and the butter.  Stir thoroughly until butter is completely melted and crème fraiche is completely mixed in.  Add chives and stir again, add salt to taste, then cover and place in fridge.  The mixture should be smooth and loose but will firm up in the fridge.

While the potato mixture is cooling, make a small piping bag with a sandwich size ziplock bag bu snippin off a small piece of the bottom corner.  Add remaining crème fraiche to bag.

Once potato mixture is cool, place a dollop onto a spoon and make a small depression in the center with your finger.  Spoon in a small amount of caviar, about ½ teaspoon, then lay a piece of salmon over the top.  Squeeze a small amount of crème fraiche out of piping bag on top of salmon to garnish along with a few pieces of chive.

Keep serving them and making them until the caviar is all gone, all the while keeping the champagne topped up!

Should be enough for about 18-20 spoons and you will have leftover salmon.