BB: Smoked Salmon Spread

Does anyone know what time it is!  Tool Time!  (listens to the crickets in blogland.) Ummm...yeah...I watch too much Nick at Nite.  Its really Barefoot Bloggers time again!  I am loving this group more and more as the recipes come.  Ina has such a diverse collection of recipes to choose from.   This time around, Ashley of The Spicy Skillet chose Smoked Salmon Spread.

I love salmon.  Normally I am not a big fish person.  Its always just too...fishy.  Salmon and tuna, to me, don't have the stinky fish taste that I tend to get with other types. The only draw back to salmon is the price. Being only out of college for about a year and a half, I'm paying back those wonderful student loans and all the lovely bills that come with finally being an independent adult in the real world. My grocery budget is stretched as it is so while I would love to get the nice fancy super tasty smoked salmon, I just couldn't do it nor did I want to use canned. I instead went with the smoked Alaskan salmon fillet in the pouches. The right amount that the recipe called for and still a pretty good quality for way less than the other.

The recipe calls for cream cheese and sour cream so I decided to lose to fat and calories here by subbing in fat free versions of both.  Some would say you loose so flavor in the transfer but I didn't notice anything.  I've been using fat free sour cream for awhile and it tastes exactly the same as the regular version.  This way I didn't feel quite as bad when I ended up eating a 1/4 of the recipe for dinner last night.  ;)

The fresh dill was not very strong when I tasted the spread.  This was probably a good thing because strong herbs are a turn off for me.  Now I did taste it right after I made it so the flavors likely didn't have a chance to mingle very long.  I'm sure it will be stronger when I eat it later.  I ended up leaving out the horseradish because I'm not a fan of it and my dad doesn't visit often enough to justify buying it.    

This was a very tasty spread.  I put it on unsalted saltines (hmmm...that just doesn't sound right...) and it was delicious.  The salmon was too strong but complemented the creamyness of the cream cheese/sour cream mixture.  I didn't miss the horseradish in the spread.  It would have overwhelmed the spread in my opinion.  I could have easily eaten the whole batch by myself, I liked it so much.  I managed to restrain myself so I could take it to lunch the next day!  

This would be a great spread for a party.  A light, creamy taste with a touch of freshness from the dill and salmon.  Another one to add to the make again list!     

Check out the other Barefoot Bloggers for more salmon goodness!

Forgive my thumb and the piles of junk in this pic.

Smoked Salmon Spread

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 (I left this out. Don't eat it enough to justify buying it.)
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.

I didn't have crudites or any fancy crackers so I served mine with plain ol' unsalted crackers.

Source: Food Network.com and Barefoot Contessa Family Style, page 35.