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Salmon Cream Cheese Spread

I really like smoked salmon cream cheese. I was horrified when Panera (St. Louis Bread) pulled it from their regular cream cheese flavor offerings. My standard  there was an asiago bagel with smoked salmon cream cheese - now I settle for the sun-dried tomato. When I got the smoker I knew that smoked salmon would be something I would have to attempt.

This isn't cold-smoked, preserved salmon. It's hot smoked so it is essentially cooked in a smokey environment. I run the smoker at about 230° F. I'm using frozen salmon fillet pieces that are about 8 oz each and slightly more than 1" thick at the thickest point. Depending on the size of the piece of fish it takes about 45 minutes for them to cook thoroughly and get a nice smokey flavor. Previous experience tells me that after an hour the fish starts to dry out and get crunchy – not good.

Smoked Salmon Cream Cheese

• 1 8oz piece of hot smoked salmon
• 1 package reduced fat cream cheese (you could use full fat), softened
  
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp dried dill

Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until a nice creamy texture. Serve on bagels, toasted french bread, heck serve it on anything you like. It's delish.

Saturday night we ate this as an appetizer on some homemade sourdough baguette slices that had been slightly toasted. A good precursor to the rest of the BBQ. 

Dinner with the Kirks

Last night Sarah and I had dinner with Steve and Tammy Kirks. Some watching of the Olympics and BBQ. Steve provided some outstanding brats from Wisconsin. We simmered them in onions and beer before tossing them on the smoker. Sarah and I provided some ribs, beans, fries, and smoked salmon spread. I figure if I'm firing up the smoker I may as well make it worth while. Yesterday's smoke wood of choice was apple. I thought it brought a nice sweetness to everything left to soak it up. The brats were some of the best sausage I've had - obviously from a high quality butcher. Something I really wish we had in Springfield.

As Steve pointed out in his post about the dinner we watched the Olympics on the DVR. Sarah and I realized the true joy of time shifting during the last Summer Olympics. It has held true this winter.  Check back tomorrow for the smoked salmon spread recipe.

Patton Alley Pub: Pork Tenderloin

Most people who know me, or read this blog, know I'm a huge fan of Patton Alley Pub. They've got some of the best burgers in town and it's impossible to beat their happy hour specials (half price domestics on tap and half price appetizers).

Sarah met me there for dinner on Friday and we invited her coworker Paula and Rebecca from the church. While we were there Steve and Tammy showed up, which didn't surprise us at all. The special on Friday was a fried pork tenderloin sandwich. It was one of the best I've ever had. Tammy tells me it was even better than the tenderloin at Smiths. I keep meaning to stop in  Bolivar or Collins for a tenderloin, but never drive through those towns at a meal time.

A note to Eric: next time you revize the menu add the tenderloin as a regular menu item. My only complaint was that it should have been served with lettuce, onion, and tomato. Horseradish would also be nice. Other than that it would replace the pub burger with wing sauce, blue cheese, and red onion as my standby.

The Blogging Hiatus Shall End

That's about it. Stay tuned for regular updates. I'm going to write everything I've thought about blogging but haven't for whatever reason. I've got no real excuse for the lack of blogging.

There are several possible reasons for this hiatus:

1. I'm bored with it
2. I'm getting all the creative outlet I need at work
3. I'm just too busy
4. I'm not reading as many blogs
   
5. Very little excitement in cooking anymore

None of these are really true though. I haven't been cooking a lot lately, but I have done enough cooking/eating to warrant a post or two a week. I am really enjoying my new job -- I'm getting to do a lot of old passions again (like video editing), but it's not all creative wonderland (e.g. Mondays are filled mostly with meetings). I am busier than I used to be, but it's really no excuse for not taking 5 minutes to post something. The increased business has decreased my reading time -- reading others does inspire me to post more. Even with tools like Bloglines I find that the feeds I read get out of control quickly. I'm also finding that cooking doesn't hold quite the same thrill it used to have for me. Like I said earlier, none of these are really excuses. We'll see how well the return to blogging goes.