Caviar Pie

Our entire family adores seafood. We particularly love prawns as part of the Christmas Day luncheon, a family tradition that dates back decades. (Seafood is ideal on what is inevitably a hot Australian day.) However, I'm also partial to a spoonful of caviar. So, too, was Diana Vreeland, from what I hear. In fact, she adored caviar so much, she created a Caviar Pie with it as the main ingredient. Guess what our household will be tucking into on Christmas Eve, accompanied by some lovely bubbly?

{Image by Oi-Cheong Lee from the Photographic Studio

for the Metropolitan Museum of Art]

Diana Vreeland's Caviar Pie

1 1/2 cups minced white onion, scallions or green onions
8 large hard-cooked eggs
1/4 cup mayonnaise
8 ounces cream cheese or Neufchatel cheese, softened
1 cup sour cream
8 ounces caviar*, 2 or more colors if desired

Spread the onion on paper toweling to drain. Mince the eggs and combine with mayonnaise; set aside. Beat the cream cheese and sour cream together; it should be very smooth.

Lightly coat a 9" round springform pan with butter or cooking spray. Spread the egg mixture evenly over the bottom and sprinkle the onions on top. Drop the cream cheese mixture by spoonfuls atop the onion layer and spread gently with the back of a spoon. (Wet the spoon, if necessary.) Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or overnight.

Before serving, gently spread the caviar over the cream cheese layer in a decorative design. Use waxed paper or even string to outline your design. Accentuate with chopped chives, scallions or parsley, if appropriate.

Note: It's best to use inexpensive caviar in this recipe, such as Salmon, Whitefish, or Lumpfish. Some less expensive caviars do contain artificial coloring, however rinse the caviar in a strainer and drain on paper toweling before arranging and this will fix the problem.

Serve with good Champagne!