Liptauer cheese spread (p.76) and Eggplant caviar (p. 75)

As I mentioned in the last post, my cousin and her boyfriend were going to be visiting and I tend to forget to have much in the way of snack food in the house. I knew we were likely to have a night of TJOC cocktails and it seemed like a good idea to have some carb-heavy appetizers. Of course, I totally forget to serve them and Josh and I ended up eating them all the next week.

I actually have made a significant portion of the "Appetizers and Hors D'oeuvres" so it is getting increasingly difficult to find items that both are not particularly difficult and look appetizing.

Liptauer cheese spread (p.76) seemed like it could go either way to me. I mixed cream cheese and paprika by hand (I made sure the cream cheese was really soft and it wasn't difficult to mix by hand). I then stirred in minced onions and capers:



It actually was really good on dark rye break. The sweetness of the cream cheese was broken up by the tang of the capers and the paprika. TJOC recommends spreading it on radishes and I bet that would be good.

I also made Eggplant caviar (p. 75). I forgot to take any pictures of the process or the finished product until the next day. I roasted two eggplants and then peeled and chopped them (as they oozed water everywhere). I sauteed onion and garlic in olive oil until soft, then added in the eggplants, a can of tomatoes, and salt. I cooked it for an over an hour, until the liquid evaporated.



IT WAS SO GOOD! If you like eggplants and garlic, this is the recipe for you. I suppose if you don't like eggplants or garlic, stay far, far away from this recipe--it is strong. I ate it on crackers. Warning--it makes a LOT of eggplant caviar. A LOT. It says 8-10 servings, I would say it makes more than that. I will make this again--it would be a bit hit in my garlic loving family. It's a great summer garden recipe--a lot of people grow tomatoes and eggplant and I think the recipe would be even better with garden-fresh veggies.