Recipe by Helen Dollaghan from the Sept. 16, 1979, edition of The Denver Post. Makes about 20 hors d’oeuvres.
Ingredients
3 1/2 packages cream cheese at room temperature
4 extra large eggs
1/3 cup whipping cream, unwhipped
3 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium green pepper, chopped
7 ounces smoked salmon, diced
3/4 cup (about 4 ounces) shredded Gruyère cheese
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup packaged Italian-style bread crumbs
Paprika, green pepper strips, pimento strips for garnish
Directions
Mix together on medium speed cream cheese, eggs and cream until smooth. Scrape down sides of bowl frequently with rubber spatula. Melt butter. Add onion. Saute until onion is transparent. Add onion-butter mixture, green pepper, salmon, Gruyère cheese, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to cream-cheese mixture. Mix well.
Heavily butter bottom and sides of a springform pan, 8 inches in diameter and 3 inches deep, or 10 inches in diameter and 2 1/2 inches deep. Mix together remaining 3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. Turn crumb mixture into pan. Swirl pan to coat bottom and sides with crumb mixture. Press as much of the mixture as possible on bottom and sides with fingertips. Shake out excess crumb mixture. Spoon salmon mixture evenly into pan. Set pan in a larger pan containing about 2 inches of boiling water. (Boiling water is important to prevent it from seeping into pan. Sides of pans shouldn’t touch.) Bake, uncovered, in oven preheated to 300 degrees for 1 hour and 40 minutes. Turn off heat. Let cheesecake stand in pan of water in oven with door closed for 1 hour. Remove cheesecake from water. Place cheesecake on a rack to cool about 1 hour. Refrigerate cheesecake in its pan overnight or until chilled. Release sides of pan. Don’t remove bottom of pan from cake. Place cake on serving plate. Garnish with paprika, green pepper strips and pimento. Serve as a spread for crackers, party rye or other bread of your choice. It may be cut in wed- ges for larger portions or scooped with a round-bladed knife onto crackers.
