Sort of, Kind of, Irish Post

I wanted something snacky for Alex's birthday party, but I didn't want to weigh everyone down with a really rich food.

I remembered a recipe I'd looked at a couple of weeks before, and decided it would be perfect.

The Irish tie-in? The recipe is from a cookbook I picked up at a used-book store in Waterford, Ireland. The book itself was published in England, but hey...my point of origin is County Waterford.
(We also picked up some lovely crystal, after taking a tour of the factory; the nice folks at Waterford Crystal shipped this serving tray and a picture frame very much like this, as well as a 'bonus' tea lite holder.)

The books is called Vegetarian Cooking for Children, by Rosamond Richardson. The book was published in 1984, and is currently out of print.

The recipe is Mousetrap Mousse, and here it is:



8 oz. cottage cheese
1/2 large, ripe avocado
6 spring onions (scalions)
3 Tbl. parsley, chopped
salt and pepper
1/2 cucumber, peeled and diced
3 oz. smoked cheese, cubed
3 Tbl. mayonnaise
1 oz. agar-agar, dissolved in 2 Tbl. lemon juice

Puree the cottage cheese with the ripe avocado flesh in the blender until very smooth. Mix in the spring onions and parsley and season to taste with salt and pepper. Fold in the diced cucumber and cheese and stir in the mayonnaise. Finally mix in the agar-agar thoroughly, and pour into a well-oiled ring-mould. Leave to chill and set for serveal hours or overnight.

What a lovely dip! Really pleasant taste, with the onion as the strongest flavor (I think). Everything blends together nicely. I used a variety of organic tortilla chips as dippers. Tasty.