Spreads
Strawberry Preserves with Black Pepper and Balsamic Vinegar
Spooned atop fresh goat cheese on crostini, these piquant preserves make a great hors d'oeuvre. They are also delicious with scones or muffins at teatime.
Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.
Curried Cream Cheese Spread (Snaffles Mousse)
Gregg Thompson of St. Joseph, Missouri, writes, "A good many years ago, my wife and I enjoyed a beefy curried mousse at Snaffles restaurant in Dublin. The recipe was published in You Asked for It in your January 1972 issue. It's a wonderful dish that I have continued to enjoy through the years, and I believe it should be resurrected."
Active time: 5 min Start to finish: 8 hr
This is a great hors d'oeuvre to make the night before it's served, and it's best when made with the freshest garlic you can find.
Roasted Eggplant Salad with Capers and Onions
Roasted eggplant spreads and salads come in many variations throughout Greece and are usually embellished with local flavor. In the North, yogurt is often added to the eggplants, for example, throughout the Cyclades, it is the ubiquitous caper and tomato that season this delicious dish.
Roasted Red Pepper Dip
Offer toasted pita bread triangles or toasted baguette slices with this tangy dip. It's nice with raw vegetables, too.
Party Barbecue Sauce
This recipe is an accompaniment for Annabel's Baby Back Ribs.
Prepare this sauce 2 days ahead of your party for the flavors to meld. Any extra freezes well.
Crème Fraîche
This recipe produces a crème fraîche reminiscent of the enchanting varieties found in France. Crème fraîche is wonderful just as it is to adorn a pie or pastry, but it also can be lightly sweetened and whipped while still maintaining its mild tang. Any left over is great for finishing savory sauces because, unlike sour cream, it does not curdle with heat.
Dilled Shrimp Spread
Named for a friend of my mother who was a wonderful cook, this recipe is very quick and easy and always elicits lots of requests for copies," Cindy Vogels of Littleton, Colorado. " I often serve this dish as a first course, leaving the shrimp whole, but here they are blended in a food processor to form a delicious spread."
Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 1 3/4 hr
Broccoli Sprout-Tofu Spread on Toast
This recipe is from Martha Johnson, chef at New York's Whole Foods organic market in SoHo.
Roasted Shallot and Tarragon Pesto
This condiment can be tossed with asparagus and potatoes for an easy salad, dolloped onto scrambled eggs, or spread on bruschetta.
Blue Cheese and Spiced Walnut Terrine
The creation of chef Monique Barbeau of Fullers at the Sheraton Seattle Hotel & Towers. Serve the terrine as an appetizer with toasted bread, or as a cheese course accompanied with a glass of Port.
White Bean Spread Rippee
This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.
Old-Fashioned Strawberry Preserves
This simple, delicious treat is excellent spread over scones or toast and comes together in practically no time at all.