So I fell behind this month. I really have no idea what happened to August - it seems like it was gone in the blink of an eye. I suppose it has something to do with the fact that both life stuff and work stuff have been incredibly busy, both of which cut into my blogging time. But needless to say, I got both recipes made and Kyle and I fell in love with both of them.

I actually made the Butterflied Chicken before the Panzanella (by mistake) but made them both as part of my Week with the Barefoot Contessa. With my oven free of a huge roasting pan and chicken for the evening, I had lots of room to pair the chicken with roasted carrots and roasted potatoes, neither of which I had to stress about cooking in the oven because they essentially cook at the same temp for about the same amount of time. I love meals like this one!

The chicken itself was just wonderful!! I kind of cheated and chickened out (no pun intended!) by having the butcher at Whole Foods debone and butterfly the chicken for me. I figured that cooking a whole chicken on the grill was enough stress for one recipe and I didn’t need the extra stress of trying to debone and butterfly a chicken without mangling it. I prepped it while putting a movie on Pause for a couple of minutes, then threw it back in the fridge for another hour or so while I finished the movie. Simple. After allowing it to come up to room temp, I tossed the chicken on the grill, lemons and all. Even though I had to fiddle with the grill temp a couple of times for fear of burning the chicken, It cooked in exactly 25 minutes…and came out absolutely perfect. It was tender, juicy, and so flavorful - but not too lemony as I had hoped it wouldn’t be. I seriously couldn’t have asked for a better meal and I’m actually cooking another one tonight! Hats off to Stefany of Proceed with Caution for choosing one of the best Ina recipes I’ve tasted yet!

After reading all of the Musings comments about Ina’s Panzanella, the excitement was bubbling up inside me while waiting to make this recipe. Kyle and I had made a Panzanella on a whim a couple of years ago for a causal dinner party (ours included tomatoes, basil, fresh garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and bread cubes we toasted in the oven) so I think I was even more excited to try a different version of it. And let me tell you…I definitely splurged on the champagne vinegar. Yes, yes…my pantry already houses 4 different kinds of vinegar but I’ve passed over so many recipes that had champagne vinegar in them recently that I decided to bite the bullet for this one. I realized while making it that I didn’t have any Dijon mustard so I subbed in *gasp!* Gulden’s mustard - and it worked out fine.

And I’m so glad I did. This Panzanella was out of this world! The sweet veggies with the salty bread with the tangy vinaigrette - the combination was just perfect. I made the whole recipe and Kyle and I ate most of it for lunch then picked at it for the rest of the afternoon. The recipe definitely is a keeper and I am already planning to bring it to a party we’re attending in a few weeks. Thanks so much to Melissa of It’s Melissa’s Kitchen for choosing such a fabulous summery recipe!!

I’m not going to type out the recipes here because this post is already too long so click on the links above for the recipes on Food Network.

I know it’s still summer.  I know meat is still being grilled and pool parties are still occurring.  But frankly, I’m ready for fall.  I’m ready for cool, crisp weather…and for the leaves to start changing…and of course for all of the comfort foods associated with the fall and winter.  That’s why I chose, in the middle of August, to make Ina’s Turkey Meatloaf and Parmesan Smashed Potatoes as part of my Week with the Barefoot Contessa.

Comfort food enthusiasts, don’t even think about turning your nose up at the fact that this is a turkey meatloaf.  If my beef-loving husband didn’t know I was making a turkey meatloaf in advance, I could have totally passed this off as a meatloaf mixture recipe.  I, too, expected him to balk at this recipe and turn up his nose but being that just about every single Ina recipe that I’ve made has been a complete success, I think he’s learning to trust the recipes as much as I am. And that’s a success story in and of itself.

My friend Jen was actually the one who encouraged me to make this recipe as we were pouring over some of Ina’s cookbooks a few weeks ago, all giddy about sharing recipes we’ve already made and getting excited to try out new ones.  Once I heard that her husband loved this recipe, I knew that Kyle would too.  In my eyes, if you’re going to make meatloaf in the middle of the summer, you have to go all out and make mashed potatoes on the side.  Ina’s Parmesan Mashed Potatoes was another recipe that Jen highly recommended so this side was a no-brainer for this meal. Thanks Jen!!

And we weren’t let down.  Both of these recipes were fantastic!  The meatloaf (which I cut down by 2/3 - 5lbs of ground turkey? Really??) was moist and so incredibly flavorful that you cannot tell it’s turkey meat. Amazing.  This was seriously the best meatloaf I’ve ever made and I even got “2 thumbs up” from Kyle, the meatloaf critic. The potatoes (which I cut in half of the original recipe) were delish and perfectly buttery; the Parmesan cheese flavor really comes through since there aren’t many other flavors competing with it.

Side note about the potatoes: As I was reading this recipe, the blurb that precedes the ingredient list mentions that Ina got this recipe from a woman named Antonia Bellanca.  My eyes just about popped out of my head.  My grandmother’s late dear friend was Ann Bellanca who lived in East Hampton, NY.  Coincidence?? I think not.  After discussing this with my mom, it turns out that Antonia is Ann’s daughter!  What a small world! Six degrees of separation working again! How cool is that?

Turkey Meatloaf

source: Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

• 3 cups chopped yellow onions (2 large onions)
• 2 tablespoons good olive oil
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (1/2 teaspoon dried)
• 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 3/4 cup chicken stock
• 1 1/2 teaspoons tomato paste
• 5 pounds ground turkey breast
• 1 1/2 cups plain dry bread crumbs
• 3 extra-large eggs, beaten
• 3/4 cup ketchup

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. In a medium saute pan, over medium-low heat, cook the onions, olive oil, salt, pepper, and thyme until translucent, but not browned, approximately 15 minutes. Add the Worcestershire sauce, chicken stock, and tomato paste and mix well. Allow to cool to room temperature.
3. Combine the ground turkey, bread crumbs, eggs, and onion mixture in a large bowl. Mix well and shape into a rectangular loaf on an ungreased sheet pan. Spread the ketchup evenly on top. Bake for 1 1/2 hours until the internal temperature is 160 degrees F. and the meatloaf is cooked through. (A pan of hot water in the oven under the meatloaf will keep the top from cracking.) Serve hot, at room temperature, or cold in a sandwich.

Parmesan Smashed Potatoes

source: Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

• 3 pounds red new potatoes, unpeeled
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus 2 teaspoons
• 1 cup half and half
• 1/4 pound unsalted unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1. Place the potatoes and 1 tablespoon of salt in a 4-quart saucepan and add cold water to cover. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer covered for 30 to 45 minutes, until completely tender. Drain.
2. In an electric mixer with paddle attachment, mix the potatoes for a few seconds to break them up. In a small saucepan, heat the half-and-half and butter. Add them slowly to the potatoes, mixing on the lowest speed. The last quarter of the cream should be folded in by hand. Fold in the sour cream, Parmesan, 2 teaspoons salt, and pepper and serve immediately.

As we near the end of my Week with the Barefoot Contessa, I realize that I’ve not yet posted about any of Ina’s fabulous desserts. How I could be so neglectful, I don’t know. I actually made this Blueberry Crumb Cake a few weeks ago to bring to a friend’s house for a girls night dinner but had yet to blog about it. And truthfully, I don’t know why I kept putting it off because this cake was just so great. The crumbs were perfect - holding together well with good crunch - and the cake itself was moist, flavorful, and full of delicious in-season blueberries. Growing up in New York, I had a lot to compare this cake to and it definitely stands right up there with some of the best crumb cakes I’ve ever had. I wouldn’t at all feel bad about substituting this cake with one of my family’s favorite in the Entemann’s Ultimate Crumb Cake.

The whole recipe was a simple one and the only part I struggled with was getting the cake out of the cake pan without losing the crumbs. If I had a 9″ spring form pan, I would have use that but instead I flipped the cake upside down on to a plate that was larger than the circumference of the cake and then flipped it right side up onto a cooling rack. Worked fine with no issues.

Blueberry Crumb Cake

source: Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa at Home

For the streusel:

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

For the cake:

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (3/4 stick)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• Confectioners’ sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-inch round baking pan. For the streusel: Combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter and then the flour. Mix well and set aside. For the cake: Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed for 4 to 5 minutes, until light. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla, lemon zest, and sour cream. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Fold in the blueberries and stir with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed.Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out with a knife. With your fingers,
crumble the topping evenly over the batter. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely and serve sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar.

No, this is not today’s Barefoot Bloggers post but it IS another day of my Week with the Barefoot Contessa! I actually goofed and thought that this week’s BB recipe was the Butterflied Chicken until about Tuesday when I realized the Panzanella is this week. So my Panzanella will be a little late - check back on Sunday for that one as I’m not going to be able to make it until Saturday night.

Anywho, I’ve been looking forward to making this recipe all week. I’m a big fan of spinach and frankly, “How bad could spinach in a puff pastry be?” Puff pastry, with all of it’s buttery, flaky layers of goodness…so bad, yet so good! This one comes from Barefoot in Paris and can be found in the Lunch section and while this could be served as a full meal for lunch (maybe with a little salad on the side), I decided to make it a side dish for dinner. I paired it with grilled boneless pork chops marinated in Italian dressing.

I knew that the puff pastry was going to take a little time to make after work so I got a few things prepped in the morning before leaving (shredded the Gruyère and drained the spinach) and got the pork chops marinating in a plastic Ziploc bag. The rest of the puff pastry came together rather easily and in the future, I might even prep the entire spinach filling in advance so as to shorten the process even further.

As you can see from the pics, this turned out beautifully. Perfectly browned, no leaks, and the pastry puffed up just as it should in spite of the fact that I mistakingly brushed the whole pastry with the egg wash, not just the top like the recipe instructed. As for the flavor itself…just delicious!! Seriously so good. And it’s definitely something that could be served as the main course for lunch…or even cut up into smaller pieces and served as an elegant appetizer. I love how versatile some dishes can be!

Next up for my Week with the Barefoot Contessa will be Blueberry Crumb Cake - you knew I had to get some dessert in this week!!

Spinach in a Puff Pastry

source: Ina Garten, Barefoot in Paris

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Heat butter in saute pan and cook the onions over medium-low heat for 5-7 minutes, until tender. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Meanwhile, squeeze most of the water out of the spinach and place it in a bowl. Add the onion mixture, scallions, Gruyere, Parmesan, eggs, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, nutmeg and pine nuts. Mix well.

Unfold one sheet of puff pastry and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spread the spinach mixture in the middle of the pastry, leaving a 1-inch border. Brush the border with the egg wash. Roll out the 2nd sheet of pastry on a floured board until it’s an inch larger in each direction. Place the 2nd sheet of pastry over the spinach and seal the edges, crimping them with a fork. Brush the top with egg wash but don’t let it drip down the sides of the pastry won’t rise. Make three small slits in the pastry, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bake for 30-40 minutes, until the pastry is lightly browned. Transfer to a cutting board and serve hot.

This can be assembled a day in advance, refrigerated, and baked before serving.

Thanks to What’s on My Plate for offering her already typed out recipe for me to copy and paste here!

My 3rd day of my Week with the Barefoot Contessa brings you Roasted Tomato-Basil Soup. Why, you ask would I be making a hot soup in the middle of August? To be frank, it certainly doesn’t feel like the middle of August but rather the end of September/beginning of October. With morning temps here in CT in the mid to upper 50s and daytime highs in the mid 70s, my usual mid-summer longing for fall has begun. And with the influx my kitchen has seen of our Roma tomatoes and abundance of backyard basil, I needed to find something to make that would use up a good amount of both ingredients. This recipe was perfect.

I halved the recipe (full recipe serves 6 to and even with that, I used 2 cups of packed basil and about 10-12 tomatoes. While roasting the carrots and potatoes for dinner the other night, I popped in the tomatoes as well and allowed for the soup to be that much easier to make tonight.

The soup was just great! The recipe didn’t call for salt but it really did need it and next time, I would add some salt to the onions in the beginning rather than at the end. With the red pepper flakes, there definitely is a kick of heat which was nice and will be even better on a cold winter night. The recipe says to pass the soup through a food mill but I used my immersion blender. If you don’t have one of those, you could use your blender or food processor - it really is a necessary step unless you like hunks of tomato in your soup, which I don’t. I paired the soup with an Italian panini or Genoa salami, roasted red peppers, basil and fontina on ciabatta bread - the perfect complement to this soup.

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

source: Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

• 3 pounds ripe plum tomatoes, cut in half
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons good olive oil
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 (28-ounce) canned plum tomatoes, with their juice
• 4 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
• 1 quart chicken stock or water (I made this chicken stock a few weeks ago and froze it)
  

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Toss together the tomatoes, 1/4 cup olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread the tomatoes in 1 layer on a baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes.
2. In an 8-quart stockpot over medium heat, saute the onions and garlic with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the butter, and red pepper flakes for 10 minutes, until the onions start to brown. Add the canned tomatoes, basil, thyme, and chicken stock. Add the oven-roasted tomatoes, including the liquid on the baking sheet. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes. Pass through a food mill fitted with the coarsest blade. Taste for seasonings. Serve hot or cold.

I keep forgetting how much I enjoy carrots. For whatever reason, I wasn’t thrilled with them as a kid but the past few times (and there have only been a few) that I’ve made them as a side dish, I have just loved them. This recipe comes from none other than Ina Garten as part of my Week with the Barefoot Contessa and although I’m a day late on posting this and can’t yet share the remainder of the meal these carrots were served with (Butterflied Chicken to be posted on Aug. 28th) I assure you that these carrots are worth trying out. They made a fabulous accompaniment to the Butterflied Chicken and roasted potatoes that we devoured earlier this week and were so easy to make, they will definitely be making future appearances on our dinner table.

Roasted Carrots

source: Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

• 12 carrots
• 3 tablespoons good olive oil
• 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh dill or parsley I omitted

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. If the carrots are thick, cut them in half lengthwise; if not, leave whole. Slice the carrots diagonally in 1 1/2-inch-thick slices. (The carrots will shrink while cooking so make the slices big.) Toss them in a bowl with the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Transfer to a sheet pan in 1 layer and roast in the oven for 20 minutes, until browned and tender.
3. Toss the carrots with minced dill or parsley, season to taste, and serve. Serves 6.

As part of my week with the Barefoot Contessa, I’m kicking it off with some Banana Crunch Muffins. As I’ve never been a huge fan of bananas as an ingredient in food (except banana bread), I’ve been avoiding these muffins for a while now. Something “clicked” while I was thumbing through The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook the other day and since I had all of the ingredients in the house, I decided to give this recipe a shot.

And of course, I wasn’t let down. The only regret I have about this recipe is that I didn’t have any granola to add to the batter - but I do now since picking up about a pound of loose raisin granola at Whole Foods earlier today so that I have some on hand for the next time I make these muffins. The whole recipe was a cinch to put together…and oddly enough, Ina instructs to sift the flour and sugar together then add in the melted (cooled) butter then add the rest of the wet ingredients. I was a bit skeptical, but it worked. These little breakfast treats were just delightful. Light and fluffy with a nice full banana flavor that I’m sure will be even more prominent tomorrow morning.

Modifications:

• I halved the recipe without any problems (yields 9 muffins)
• Added about 1 tsp of honey to the batter…couldn’t hurt, right?
• Baked for 23 minutes at 335 degrees F - I’m realizing that dark non-stick pans really do need to be adjusted for

Next up on the list for my week with the Barefoot Contessa will be some Roasted Tomato-Basil Soup tomorrow night. The temperature isn’t supposed to go much above 70 tomorrow so I figured some soup and a sandwich would be a nice treat on a chilly August night. heh.

Banana Crunch Muffins

source: Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (table salt)
• 1/2 pound unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 2 extra-large eggs
• 3/4 cup whole skim milk
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 bananas)
• 1 cup medium-diced ripe bananas (1 banana)
• 1 cup small-diced walnuts omitted due to allergies
• 1 cup granola omitted, sadly
• 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• Dried banana chips, granola, or shredded coconut, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.Line 18 large regular sized muffin cups with paper liners. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the melted butter and blend. Combine the eggs, milk, vanilla, and mashed bananas, and add them to the flour-and-butter mixture. Scrape the bowl and blend well. Don’t overmix.

Fold the diced bananas, walnuts, granola, and coconut into the batter. Spoon the batter into the paper liners, filling each 1 to the top. Top each muffin with dried banana chips, granola, or coconut, if desired. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes (see modification above), or until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly, remove from the pan, and serve.

Since I goofed and forgot to give Kyle his registration information from the DMV way back in June until 2 weeks after the registration for his pick-up expired, I was without a car yesterday because he had some side work to do (he’s an electrician). So that conveniently left me with plenty of time to plan a menu for next week’s meals…something that I’ve been too lax with the past few weeks which has lead to me not want to cook anything.

I took out 3 of the cookbooks I’ve been neglecting (did I mention my newest addition? The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook: The New Classics that I picked up on sale in Williams-Sonoma a few weeks ago for just $14.99!!) and as I was going through them writing down meals for next week, a pattern start to emerge. In addition to the butterflied chicken I’ll be making tonight for the second of August’s Barefoot Bloggers challenges, every other meal contained an Ina recipe. Without reluctance, I decided to stick with the menu as it had evolved and am calling this week A Week with the Barefoot Contessa, where everyday I will bring you a new Ina recipe. And with this public commitment, I will not have any excuses to stray from my menu, as I usually do.

So in no particular order, here is my menu for the week (Ina recipes in pink):

• Banana Crunch Muffins (Sunday morning)
• Butterflied Chicken with Roast Carrots and Roasted Potatoes
• Panzanella
• Pork Chops with Spinach in a Puff Pastry
• Roasted Tomato-Basil Soup and Fontina Basil Roasted Red Pepper Panini
• Turkey Meatloaf with Parmesan Smashed Potatoes
  

My mom and I are totally enamored with France. When we were there visiting close friends during the summer I turned 16 (what a Sweet Sixteen gift!!!), we truly had a blast. We self-toured all over Paris and borrowed our friends’ car and took a 4 day road trip into northern and northwestern France visiting the beaches of Normandy , Mont-Saint-Michel and Trouville-sur-Mer, driving past countless sunflower fields and down breathtaking poplar-lined country roads, eating at little bistros along the way, and just winging it in “hotels” with no hot water. It was the experience of a lifetime and reminds me that traveling with my mom is so much fun. So when she was up to visit Kyle and I a few weeks back, I decided to set out a throwback breakfast to our days spent en France.

As I’ve mentioned before, the French typically eat light for breakfast and what I decided to serve my mom is no exception:

• Fat free vanilla yogurt parfait with fresh peaches and Kashi Go-Lean Crunch
• Warm croissants and French gourmet jelly (which you can find in your grocery store!) on the side.
• For the parfait, simply layer the yogurt, diced peaches and Go-Lean Crunch (or you could also use your favorite granola) - its really as easy at that!!
• You can find croissants in most supermarket bakeries, regular bakeries or even in wholesale stores like BJs or Costco. They are still fabulous a day old provided they are kept in a well-sealed container - warm them up in the oven for a few minutes on 400 degrees F.

Another savory recipe for a Barefoot Blogger challenge! Love it! This, the 5th BB recipe, was chosen by Ashley of The Spicy Skillet and I have to say she did a great job with her pick! I know choosing a “different” type of recipe isn’t easy…wondering how people will react to it…hoping that everyone will put their finickiness aside and try the dish…and to be honest, I was nervous about the outcome…not that I ever considered not making it. However, when breaking down the recipe, I realized that I loved all of the ingredients with the exception of maybe the dill but I know enough about Ina’s recipes to trust her. She knows what she’s doing.

And since I really didn’t know how the Smoked Salmon Spread would go over with Kyle (along with the fact that all of Ina’s recipes seem to feed an army), I decided to put this on the menu the weekend my mom was here to visit recently. This weekend was decidedly about trying out new recipes, including the Coeur a la Crème that I’ll be posting about on July 31st, so I ended up making all three of the BB’s July recipes (including the Bonus recipe) plus an extra Contessa recipe in one weekend. Needless to say, we ate well.

The salmon spread came together in a breeze. I added some extra lemon juice and horseradish (which didn’t need to be drained) and had to use dried dill because I forgot to buy fresh. No biggie, but I think fresh would have definitely added an extra level of flavor. As for the salmon, I know that Ina recommends Norwegian salmon but I wonder if that tends to be more of a delicacy found in gourmet food stores (correct me if I’m wrong!), so I went with smoked wild Alaskan salmon that I found on sale in my grocery store’s seafood market for $4.99 (4oz.) I was thrilled! I served the spread with sliced up cucumbers and bagel chips and it was a big hit! I made the full recipe so it was way too much for the 3 of us but we all definitely enjoyed it and I will definitely make it again…perhaps for the 30th (shhh!!) birthday party Kyle is planning for me next month for which I’m not supposed to be making/cooking/baking anything. ha.

Thanks again to Ashley for a great pick and for continuing the fantastic streak of Ina recipes we’ve had so far! You can see how the rest of the group did with the salmon spread here. August’s recipes will be post on the Barefoot Bloggers blog on July 31st so be sure to check back next week too!

~~~~~

Smoked Salmon Spread

source: Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa Family Style

• 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh dill
• 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish, drained
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 pound (4 ounces) smoked salmon, minced

Cream the cheese in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until just smooth. Add the sour cream, lemon juice, dill, horseradish, salt, and pepper, and mix. Add the smoked salmon and mix well. Chill and serve with crudites or crackers.If you can find it, I prefer Norwegian salmon; it’s drier and less salty than other smoked salmon.