Salmon and Caviar Spread

I'm not sure why, but most of the caviar recipes I researched involved other expensive ingredients: lobster, lox, truffles, etc.  If you're going to throw money at something, make one thing stand out.  Don't make it a contest to see which ingredient costs the most.  (Unless it's lobster with a saffron cream sauce.  I'll make that someday.)

This is a combination of a couple of ideas.  Most of it is Ina Garten's caviar dip.  The addition of salmon came from Emeril's caviar and corn cakes.  The corn cakes look delicious, but I felt it would be repetitive after the blini.  I'll do something different with them at some point.

Oh, and this is my 300th post.  I am very proud of myself for trying many new recipes over the past couple of years, instead of falling into ruts and making meatloaf once a month.  There have certainly been repeats on my table, but many of those have been of recipes I devised or discovered for this site.  I've also put on a couple of pounds from the fancier stuff I've been making this month.  Time to cut back on the meat and go back to lighter, vegetarian meals.

*4 oz (1/2 a brick) cream cheese
*1/2 C sour cream
2 Tb lemon juice
*1 tsp dill weed
*2 Tb minced green onion, red onion, or shallot
1 5oz can (or pouch) salmon, drained
*1 2oz jar of a light caviar like whitefish or salmon

1.  In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese until smooth.  Add sour cream, lemon juice, onion, and dill and beat again until smooth.

2.  Gently beat in salmon until evenly distributed.  Stir in all but 1 Tb of the caviar.  Chill spread until ready to serve.

3.  To serve as a dip: Place in bowl and garnish with remaining caviar and sprigs of fresh dill.  To serve as a canapé: Spoon or pipe a dollop onto crackers, bread, or vegetables and top with a small dab of the reserved caviar.

Makes 1 pint of spread

Difficulty rating  π