MARKHAM – If you’re trying to impress upscale home buyers at a real estate showing or open house, sometimes it pays off to roll out the red carpet and serve a snack fit for a king. These canapés (French cuisine-inspired bite-sized hors d’oeuvres) couldn’t be simpler to make, but their appetizing appearance and light, refreshing flavour will really add to the elegance and sophistication of your showing.
Ingredients
200g smoked salmon
1 package Breton (or similarly-sized) crackers
113 g. (1/2 of an 8-ounce container) cream cheese
3 tbsp. chopped fresh dill
1 tbsp. lemon juice
black pepper and salt to taste
Preparation
As always, start by washing your hands thoroughly and putting on some plastic gloves – this prevents germs from making their way onto food that will be served to your interested buyers. Use a sharp knife to slice the salmon into chubby strips of roughly 1.5 inches by 4 inches. Using a clean blade, pluck a roughly 1.5-inch section of dill from each of your fresh sprigs. Set these mini dill pieces aside – you’ll be using them as a garnish later on.
Chop up the rest of the dill, and let the cream cheese soften a bit at room temperature.
Make the Spread
Combine the dill, cream cheese, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a small mixing bowl, mixing vigorously until a spread-like consistency has been achieved. Set aside.
Assembly
Set out an attractive serving platter and open your box of crackers. Take a cracker, and use a butter knife to apply a healthy dab of the cream cheese spread across the middle. Take one of your salmon strips and fold it into a small roll or cone, then place it on top of the spread on the cracker (don’t spend too much time trying to make the shape perfect! The colour of the salmon will be more eye-catching anyway).When that’s all done, take one of your mini dill sprigs and place it atop of the salmon as an attractive garnish.
Keep repeating the process until you run out of salmon or cream cheese spread. You’ll likely have some crackers left over – you can enjoy these with some hummus to congratulate yourself on a job well done!
Serving
If your open house isn’t until later, cover the canapés with saran wrap and refrigerate. Just set these out at your leisure before you leave your house prior to the showing or open house – chances are they won’t last too long! Lemonade and sparkling water are great beverages to accompany this dish.
Pro Tip: If you want to go all-out, you can substitute the crackers for fresh baguette slices, brushed very lightly with olive oil and then toasted in the oven. This “crostini” style serving method is a great twist on the traditional canapé presentation.
