Tag Archives: cream cheese

garlicky cream cheese and almond puff pastries

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This is a riff on my already versatile cream cheese and almond… what? Filling, spread, topping, snack?  I mean really, what can’t it do? Anyhow, I discovered this option recently when I was defrosting my freezer and had to use up some puff pastry AND THEN realised it could also be used as a pastry filling and omg. So fast, so simple, so good. The first time I just used the basic stuff that I seem to always have in the fridge now. A dollop of it on a square of puff pastry, fold it over, crimp it and… wow. I showed a photo of them to my friend Paul and he said “if you stuck spinach in it would almost be healthy”. So yes, next time I made them I added chopped wilted baby spinach and hey – Paul was right. Crispy cheesy crunchy deliciousness with virtuous green stuff inside. In fact the spinach works really well.

Then over the Christmas holidays, probably the only time I have smoked salmon at home, you guessed it. I tried a version with all of it all together. Garlicky cream cheese with toasted almonds, baby spinach and smoked salmon. Fabulous. Still working on getting my triangles to actually look like triangles but they’re so good nobody actually cares what they look like.

Ingredients and instructions below…
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endive with cream cheese and anchovy filling

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Here’s another recipe I found online – in this case an Instagram post by @poesiadefogon – that I first made according to the instructions (other than swapping pecans for marcona almonds) but since then I have made it several times with various changes. The first recipe (pic above served with garlic toast) is the original and the second “quick version” is shown below. Main difference is for the quick version I used garlic and onion powder (not garlic and onion salt – very important), added black pepper and some ground guidillas for heat, and served it on different toasts with different tinned fish toppings (mackerel or tuna) along with some sliced piquillo peppers. Really to turn it into more of a light meal than an aperitif snack. Also, I don’t usually have fresh chives and gherkins on hand.

But I mean, as a base, cream cheese with chopped toasted almonds lends itself to almost unlimited number of variations on a super tasty theme. Could even be a dip? I noticed in the video the cream cheese he used looked more liquid than actual cream cheese. Anyhow, try it out and let me know what you think.

Ingredients and instructions below…

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creamy cheesy spinach artichoke chicken stew

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I think this originated with me seeing an NYT recipe posted on Twitter sometime last year, but it has gone through so many permutations over the months that it bears little resemblance to the original recipe, and anyhow, I’ve lost the link. So here we have… a slow-cooked cream-cheesy chicken stew that, depending on how long you slow-cook it, can also end up as a spread or sauce. Up to you!

I just love the ingredients as most of them are “fridge forage” items, and it’s such a tasty and satisfying and versatile dish. So here we go. It’s not terribly photogenic but it works in many scenarios… I’ve had it over fat pasta noodles, over mash or with roasted potatoes, or even on toast.

Ingredients and instructions below…
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