Amuse-Bouches

For little appetizers on Christmas Day, I made these little roll-ups that I saw someone make on Cuisine TV. I thought they looked good and that they would taste just as nice.

The first ones are made with cream cheese, smoked salmon, and cucumber. The second with pâté de foie de canard (duck liver pâté) and cornichons (gherkins).

Smoked salmon and cucumber roll-ups sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds.

First, you take a slice of whole wheat sandwich bread and cut off the crusts. Then you flatten the bread with a rolling pin. Spread cream cheese on the bread, add a layer of smoked salmon, and a stick of cucumber (the cuke is peeled, seeded, then cut into sticks the length of the bread slice).

The whole thing is then rolled up like a sushi roll - in fact, I used a sushi mat to do the rolling. A little cream cheese seals the seam, which is then covered with toasted sesame seeds to hide it. Each roll is cut into four pieces and stood on end. I also sprinkled some toasted sesame seeds on top for decoration.

A close-up of the pâté and pickle roll-ups.

The pâté roll-ups are done the same way, only I used butter to seal the seam and pressed them into paprika to hide it.

A tray of pâté and pickle roll-ups with paprika.

They tasted great, even though they didn't look as pretty as I wanted them to. I just need practice. In fact, I'm making them again for apéritifs this evening at the home of our British friends, Janet and David.