Smoky Cream Cheese (As a Dip or for Many Other Uses)

"This is such a versatile recipe. I created it as a dip to go with raw vegetables (such as celery and carrot sticks), but found that it worked very well as a substitute for sour cream on mashed potatoes. A friend who tried it said it would also be good as a dipper for some seafood items -- just add some sweet chili sauce. Hope you try it and let me know how you used it. UPDATE: Thanks everyone for trying this for the Ready, Set, Cook contest. Based on comments, I have adjusted the amount of lemon called for in the ingredients. We love lemon and the original recipe called for 1 lemon, zest and juice. Decide for yourself, based on your taste.preferences."
 
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photo by Lalaloula photo by Lalaloula
photo by Lalaloula
photo by Lalaloula photo by Lalaloula
photo by Susie D photo by Susie D
Ready In:
5mins
Ingredients:
8
Serves:
12
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ingredients

  • 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 4 ounces sour cream
  • 6 -8 roasted garlic cloves, roughly chopped
  • 12 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 12 - 1 lemon, zest and juice
  • 14 - 12 teaspoon salt (to taste)
  • milk, if needed
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directions

  • Put all ingredients (except milk) in a food processor. Use a whole lemon if you love its flavour, otherwise a half should be plenty. Buzz for at least a minute.
  • If the end result is too thick for your liking/use, add milk – 1 tablespoon at a time – until you have the consistency you need.
  • Serve as a dip for raw vegetables (or for any other use you can imagine).

Questions & Replies

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Reviews

  1. I scaled this recipe way back, so that I had just enough to accompany some chips as a late afternoon snack. It's a good thing I did, because it is tasty enough to just eat with a spoon. Thought there was still a brick of cream cheese in the fridge but I was mistaken, so I used some whipped cream cheese in place of the softened cream cheese...didn't alter the flavor, and was so much easier to blend. I omitted the milk, as I liked the consistency the way it was. I will be making the dip again as I think it would be wonderful on a toasted bagel topped with some ham. Thanks for sharing your recipe LP. Made and reviewed for AUS/NZ Swap #66.
     
  2. YUM, what a nice dip for raw veggies!!!! I really enjoyed the combination of flavours from the smoked paprika and roasted garlic, but wish the garlic had come through a little more. I used 8 cloves, so maybe next time Ill just use 10. The consistency was great for dipping without adding the milk, but I guess that always depends on what brand of cream cheese and sour cream you use. Due to an allergy I left out the lemon and found the dip was great without it, too. THANK YOU SO MUCH for sharing your creation with us, Leggy Peggy. It will be made again here. Made and reviewed for Make My Recipe June 2010.
     
  3. I didn’t add the milk electing to leave it thicker & use more as a spread. I really enjoyed the smokiness & the roasted garlic flavors. The lemon though overpowered things and we found the dip was quite tart. Maybe the lemon I had was too large & I would have been better with measurements to achieve the results the chef had in mind. I served with raw veggies & crackers and enjoyed the combination. The recipe is also very easy to prepare. Thank you for your contribution to RSC & good luck!
     
  4. This was just ok for me, certainly not bad but just didn't knock my socks off. It's super quick and easy to put together. Regarding the lemon, I started by only using the half of the lemon's juice, as it seemed like the whole would have been a lot to add, and glad I did. I could definitly taste a lot of citrus and I think with the whole lemon it would have been too much. And I wasn't getting a lot of the delicious roasted garlic flavor coming through and would have liked to have tasted moe of that. I tried this for dipping with raw carrots and it was good, and I used it to top the potato skins of the contest entry of Twice Baked Potatoes and it went nicely with that as well. Nice entry for the contest. Good luck!
     
  5. ZWT6: Very easy to make and the flavor is delicious!! Served with fresh bread, crackers and veggies!
     
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Tweaks

  1. I scaled this recipe way back, so that I had just enough to accompany some chips as a late afternoon snack. It's a good thing I did, because it is tasty enough to just eat with a spoon. Thought there was still a brick of cream cheese in the fridge but I was mistaken, so I used some whipped cream cheese in place of the softened cream cheese...didn't alter the flavor, and was so much easier to blend. I omitted the milk, as I liked the consistency the way it was. I will be making the dip again as I think it would be wonderful on a toasted bagel topped with some ham. Thanks for sharing your recipe LP. Made and reviewed for AUS/NZ Swap #66.
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

<p>Thanks so much for visiting my page.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>I love to cook and travel.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>I'm originally from Nebraksa and now live in Australia. Have also been lucky enough to live in Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Burma.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Since the beginning of 2009, hubby and I have visited all seven continents. We've cooked and travelled in Africa and Antarctica, from London across Asia to Sydney, around Australia, around South America, and across India, Europe, Canada and the USA. Most of our travels have been by road and we've covered more than 150,000 kilometres. It's been fun to learn about food and recipes from all over the globe, and most of the souvenirs I bring home are cookbooks.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>If you're interested in seeing some of our trip and menu highlights, please visit my travel blog at http://leggypeggy.com or my food blog at http://cookingonpage32.wordpress.com</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Thanks also to everyone who has made, reviewed and/or photographed any of my recipes. Most appreciated.</p>
 
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