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Tomato Canapes
3 ounces cream cheese 2 tablespoons Roquefort cheese 2 tablespoons heavy cream 1/4 teaspoon salt shake of cayenne 2 medium sized tomatoes toast mayonnaise Mix the two cheeses together with the cream and seasoning, until smooth. Cut rounds of toast the same size as tomato slices. Spread with the cheese mixture, cover with slice of tomato and garnish with spoon of mayonnaise. Serves 6.
A cold canape assembled at the last minute; the only real work is getting the cheese spread smooth and the tomato slices dry.
- Drain the tomatoesSlice the tomatoes about 1/4 inch thick, salt them lightly and let them sit on paper towel for ten minutes before assembling. Undrained slices weep and soften the toast within minutes.
- Cheese temperatureBring the cream cheese and Roquefort to room temperature first. Cold cream cheese will not beat smooth with only 2 tablespoons of cream, and you will end up with lumps of blue in a stiff paste.
- RoquefortTwo tablespoons of Roquefort is somewhere between 1/2 and 1 ounce depending on how tightly it is packed into the spoon. Any firm sheep or cow blue works; the sharper the cheese, the less salt the mixture needs, so consider adding the 1/4 teaspoon of salt at the end and to taste.
- Toast roundsThe recipe cuts rounds from toast, but it is easier to cut rounds from firm white sandwich bread with a biscuit cutter sized to the tomato and toast them afterwards, since toasted bread is more likely to crack or crumble under a cutter.
- Mayonnaise garnishA "spoon of mayonnaise" here means a small dab, not a coating. Thin it with a few drops of lemon juice so it sits in a soft dome instead of a stiff peak.
- Yield and timingSix servings means roughly 12 canapes from two tomatoes. Make the cheese mixture up to a day ahead and refrigerate, but assemble no more than 20 minutes before serving.