I thought I would bake drop dead this time of the year but lately I have started selling baked goods, pickles and dips and it has been eating up my time. I started it to distract myself from the long wait for my thesis reports. It soon started bringing in more orders than I expected and before I knew the blogging took a backseat. I must also admit I was frustrated with photo editing. In blogger it was so easy and here it was starting to challenge my intelligence :) so I backed off saying I had things to do. Yesterday I got to know from my supervisor that my reports have arrived and I have passed not in complete flying colours but I did pass indeed. So now that I do not have the excuse of awaiting my doctoral thesis reports I thought I should celebrate this success with my dear blog.
Last month a friend of mine called me up suddenly and asked me if I could cater for her daughter’s birthday party. I was super excited and I brought out all my cook books. This recipe was on the cover page of a party cook book. I loved the idea of warm caramelized onions over cold cream cheese. But my friend could not digest this concept. She had cutlets and samosas in mind for her vegetarian guests. And eventually I could not cater for the party because my kiddo fell ill. But this recipe stayed on my mind.
I made cream cheese last week and this recipe popped into my mind. I got some awesome baguette at a nearby store. I tried this recipe and it tasted as good as it did in my head. I am repeating it for m Christmas party. And I guess with bits of bacon with the caramelized onions they could be perfect starters for Christmas.
Ingredients for Christmassy Crostinis
Baguette- 1
Cream cheese- 100 g
Onions- 4
Sugar- 1 tbsp
Apple cider vinegar- 1 tbsp
Salt- a pinch
Olive oil- 1 tbsp
Pepper- 1/2 tsp
Directions
If you want to make home made cream cheese you will have to start a day ahead. My version of cream cheese uses 4% full cream milk (Amul gold). heat 1 liter of this milk and add 2 tsp vinegar when the milk boils. As the milk begins to curdle pour it to a bowl and add few ice cubes. Now strain the curdled milk through a muslin cloth and take out the water content. Once the cottage cheese inside the muslin cools down add 4 tbsp thick curd and run them in a blender. Store in a muslin cloth lined box overnight in the refrigerator and next day your cream cheese will be ready. You can add salt and spices like basil, dill, oregano or paprika depending on the flavors you want.
Now if you plan to buy store bought cream cheese omit the last paragraph and let us begin from here. Chop the onions finely. Heat oil in a pan and add the onions. Saute it half way and add sugar, salt and pepper. The onions will begin to caramelize quickly keep stirring. When the onions are dark brown as shown in the images switch off the flame. When the onions cool down a bit add vinegar. Now for assembling cut the baguettes into 1/2 inch diagonal pieces. Toast them on a girdle and smear some cream cheese first. Set on a plate you intend to use for serving these crostinis and add the caramelized onions on top. The crostinis are ready to serve do not reheat these crostinis. It would be ideal to serve the onions warm so that it contrasts the cool cream cheese so you can add the onions over the cream cheese after your guests arrive.
So hope you will try this recipe for Christmas. And here’s our little reindeer wishing you a Merry Christmas.
