Smoked Salmon Cheesecake Appetizer

T'is the season for appetizers! Well, almost. Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years mean a lot of entertaining for our family and having a few delicious appetizers up my sleeve is a lifesaver! I've been craving a salmon, cream cheese mixture lately so it's only natural I would start the 09' holiday recipe season with this one.

You might have to make adjustments to the onion for carb count (or if you just don't like the taste of onions) but otherwise, it's not only delicious and elegant for everyone, but the low-carb crowd can enjoy as well as long as it's served with an almond cracker or cheese chips.


Smoked Salmon Cheesecake


1 1/2 cups almond flour
5 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup Swiss or Gruyere Cheese, grated

1 onion, chopped
3 tablespoons butter
1-3/4 lb. cream cheese
1/2 lb. Swiss cheese, grated
1/3 cup whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 eggs
1/2 lb. smoked salmon

Preheat oven to 325°F. Mix all crust ingredients well and press into bottom of 9" springform pan or aluminum (disposable type) cake pan (not pie pan). Bake for 10 minutes. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Saute onion in butter until tender. Cream the cream cheese. Beat in onion, Swiss, whipped cream, salt and pepper. Add eggs, one at a time, beating briefly after each addition. Fold in salmon. Pour into crust. Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes.

Cheater's Chicken Pot Pie

My all-time favorite pot pie recipe is made with turkey to use up Thanksgiving leftovers or with chicken a 'typical' winter day. I've posted about it sometime in the past on my website and mentioned it was from an obscure cookbook released by Margaret Hamilton who played the Wicked Witch in the original "Wizard of Oz". I have been making her version of the homemade pot pie since the early 90's and it's one I'll be making the rest of my life as we love it so much. However this version of Chicken Pot Pie does not have you make the biscuits for the top crust. No kneading needed! You simply mix the crust ingredients and pour it on. I added this to my computer files on this date two years ago and laughed when I saw it coincided with todays date. I guess that means I was meant to post it.... finally!

Cheater's Chicken Pot Pie

1- 3lb. chicken or chicken pieces (boil until tender –save the broth it makes)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 - 2 cups chicken broth from boiling the chicken
1 cup frozen vegetable mix or a pea's and carrots mixture, microwaved or cooked
1/4 t poultry seasoning or even ground sage if you don't have poultry seasoning on hand
1 stick melted butter
1 cup buttermilk or whole milk
1 cup self rising flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Cube the chicken and place in a large, greased casserole dish. Combine the cream of chicken soup, seasoning and the chicken broth with the pea's and carrots. Pour over chicken. Combine margarine, buttermilk, flour, salt and pepper and pour over above to make crust. Bake at 425 for 30 minutes.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Another Spinach Artichoke Dip

2 c (8 oz) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
1/2 c fat-free sour cream
1/4 c (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 t black pepper
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 (14 oz) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
8 block 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
1/2 (10-oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
Tortilla Chips to serve with it

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine 1 1/2 cups mozzarella, sour cream, 2 tablespoons Parmesan and the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl; stir until well blended. Spoon mixture into a 1 1/2-quart baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella and remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown. Serve with tortilla chips.

You've all heard of 7 layer bars... here is 6!

By using a prepared graham crust you skip the step that includes mixing butter and graham crumbs to form the crust. Just use a store bought pie crust and that step is done. You do have to be careful baking though as the edges tend to over-bake quickly as you wait for the center to be done. Watch it closely the last 3-4 minutes.




1 graham cracker crust
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 can (15 ounces) sweetened condensed milk

Sprinkle the graham layer with the chocolate chips, then the butterscotch, then the coconut and walnuts. Pour the can of sweetened condensed milk over all. I didn't use quite all of the condensed milk, I'd say there was about 1/4 inch left in the bottom of the can. Bake for 24-33 minutes in a preheated 350 oven. Cool completely then cut into pieces. These are very, very rich!

How Do You Make Popcorn? The Old Fashioned Way!

Born in the 70's, I grew up during an era when popcorn and how we made it changed with the times. We first made it in a pan on the stove-top or once in a while we bought the special aluminum foil pans (mostly for camping) that you pull the top cardboard off, shake it over the fire or heat source and watch as the foil grew to an unbelievable size and looked as if it were a UFO. The 80's came and with it came the air-popper complete with a small plastic compartment above the hot air where you placed a stick of butter and let it melt and drip down on the popcorn as it made its way through the opening and fell to the bowl placed below. We also had the round canister style that you poured a little oil into and added some popcorn and put the cover on while it heated and a small wire turned round and round like the second hand of a clock to keep the popcorn moving while it popped. My friend Christi's family had a yellow and brown microwave popper that you added your own popcorn to and cooked in the microwave instead of in the air popper, and lastly came the invention of the microwave popcorn which was so quick and easy that it stuck around and it's what most of the population uses today.

Not me.

My family makes fun of me but I still love popcorn the old fashioned way. In our home my family calls it Moms "Amish" popcorn. But to be honest, nothing can beat the flavor of popcorn made this way, on the stove top. Microwave popcorn can't compare.

If you want to make popcorn the 'old fashioned' way you start by purchasing a bag of popcorn kernels. The bags are usually 2 pounds in weight and sell for about $1.



Using a nice heavy bottomed pan, pour canola or vegetable oil into the bottom (or buy the special popcorn oil they sell in the popcorn aisle... but I'm too cheap to purchase it... ha ha) of the pan. The amount depends on the amount of popcorn you will make but I like to pour in until about 3/4 of the bottom of the pan is covered and then I lift and swirl it around to coat the entire bottom surface. I turn the heat on high at this point to heat the oil quickly.

Add your popcorn to the oil (hot or cold doesn't matter)... but do so sparingly! A single layer of popcorn to cover the bottom is enough for about 2-3 people! Put the tight fitting lid on the pan. Do not lift.

The oil heats the moisture inside the kernel and causes them to start popping. Turn the heat down to medium as soon as they start to pop and leaving the pan on the stove, shake it gently back and forth to keep the kernels moving so they don't burn and to allow all the kernels to come into contact with the hot oil.

When the last of the kernels are popping and there is about 4-9 seconds between pops you will know your kernels are have all popped. Remove from heat with the lid still on. Don't keep it on the stove or it will start to burn. Pour into a large bowl or even a large brown paper bag. Melt butter in the pan or microwave to drizzle over and salt as you like.