5 APPETIZERS WITH CREAM CHEESE
Author: Camila Santamaria
It got my attention one day talking with some american friends about food that when I told them that I normally use cream cheese to prepare appetizers they thought that it was quite strange and that they’ve never thought about using it for that since they usually consume cream cheese in a bagel or a sandwich.
What I like about cream cheese is that is cheap and tasty. Also because of its smooth consistence you can easily combine with any other food.
I came up with 5 different and really easy ways of using cream cheese as an appetizer. Combine them all with crackles and there you go!
Cream cheese with soy sauce and sesame seeds
This is probably the most common one we use back in Chile. Just take a block of cream cheese and heat it in the microwave for aprox. 20 seconds. Spread a good amount of soy sauce on top and toasted sesame seeds.
Sweet red pepper cream cheese
Take one red pepper/capsicum and cut it in thin stripes. In a pan heat some white vinegar and sugar. Mix them with the red pepper and cook it until the vinegar has evaporated. Put everything on top of a block of cream cheese.
Cream cheese and smoked salmon roll
Grab a block of cream cheese and spread it over a square of aluminum paper. In the middle of the square put some smoked salmon in pieces in a line like when making sushi. Chop some chives and spread it over the salmon. Roll the paper with all the ingredients just like sushi. Take the paper out and put some more chives or sesame seeds in the outside part of the roll. Don’t cut it, serve the whole roll in a plate.
Tuna cream cheese dip
Put some cream cheese in a bowl and add some milk. Whip it up with a fork to make it a little bit more liquid, so it has de consistence of dip. Grab a can of tuna and mix it with some mayonnaise, mustard and chopped parsley. Mix it with the cream cheese and serve in a bowl with chips.
Cream cheese mushrooms
Try to use mushrooms that are quite big so there’s more room to stuff them. Take the stam out so there’s a hole inside the mushroom. Fill them with a spoon of cream cheese. Add some chopped chives and put it on top of the cream cheese. Put them facing the cream cheese up in a tray and cook it in the oven at medium temperature for not more that 15 minutes. Serve hot.