Cream Cheese with Pepper Jelly Dip

Vivek Surti, chef and owner of Tailor Nashville, has built his following for blending recipes from his Indian heritage with his Southern upbringing. When it comes to holiday recipes, Surti thinks about ways to upgrade tried-and-true classics, whether by using unexpected ingredients or techniques. Cream cheese with pepper jelly, he says, is a classic. However, he likes to combine cream cheese with an equal amount of Duke’s Mayonnaise, which lightens the cream cheese and gives it a highly dippable consistency. Not to mention, the tangy acid in Duke’s gives the blend plenty of lift, making it the sort of holiday hors d’oeuvre that keeps you coming back for more.