Spicy Smoked Salmon Canapes

I love spicy tuna-maki. It's my must have in every sushi order. I wanted to find a way to satisfy my craving for the spicy mayo which is central to these makis, without having to spring for sushi. The result: an easy appetizer which requires little work and is a nice alternative or compliment to a cheese board and olives.

Ingredients:

3 tbsps. mayonnaise
sirrachi or hot sauce of your choice
6 ounces smoked salmon
2 tbsps. sesame seeds, toasted in a dry skillet till lightly browned.
1 green scallion finely sliced.
2 heads of endive

This is not an exact recipe. The proportions of hot sauce to mayonnaise depend on personal taste and the strength of your hot sauce. I used sirrachi, but there was a noticeable difference in the heat between the bottle I picked-up at Trader Joe's and the bottle from my Asian grocer. My suggestion, keep on adding hot sauce until the mayo has a BIG kick. Remember you want a little bit of spicy mayo to add a lot of flavor to the smoked salmon. I started with about 3 tablespoons of mayonnaise and 1/2 tsp of hot sauce. I kept adding small increments of hot sauce until I reached the desired heat level. The finished product was somewhere in color between a creamsicle and orange juice.

6 oz. of smoked salmon ( appx. 2/3 of a 8 ounce package) - dice the salmon into small pieces.

Add spicy mayo to smoked salmon in 1/2 tsp. increments until desired spiciness is reached. If your spicy mayo is too mild you will end up with a mash of mayo and salmon. The goals is to minimize the amount of mayo needed.

Mix salmon/mayo mixture with one finely sliced green scallion.

Fill 1/2 of each endive leaf with salmon mixture, top with toasted sesame seeds.

Other serving ideas: toast points, water crackers, naan.