Posts filed under 'Condiments'
Here’s a simple yet scrumptious dip that will be perfect for taking to your New Year’s Eve events…
My son suggested this one after having something similar at CHILI’S. Since I’ve never had it there, I had nothing to go on except that it must have spinach and artichokes.
Our family usually has nothing but munchies on Christmas — purchased appetizers, cheese dip, chips, candy, etc. (This tradition helps me stay available as the designated battery-hunter, instruction-reader, and box-opener.) One of the munchies this Christmas was this Spinach Artichoke Dip, which was served with a variety of chips and crackers.
Party Spinach Artichoke Dip
1 8 oz. package of cream cheese
1/2 c. mayonnaise
1 small jar of marinated artichoke hearts
fresh spinach, about half of a bag
OR frozen spinach, 10 oz.
salt and pepper to taste
There are two possible ways to prepare this — I have a small crock pot for serving dips and cheese sauces. This was perfect for this warm dip.
Cube the cream cheese. If you have a small crock pot, put it in there. If not, let it come to room temperature in a mixing bowl, then cream it with your mixer.
Add the mayonnaise.
Drain MOST of the liquid from the artichoke hearts and place them in a food chopper and give them a few pulses so there are no large chunks. Add this to the cream cheese/mayonnaise combination.
If using fresh spinach, chop and then saute until wilted with just a drip of olive oil. If using frozen spinach, thaw it and squeeze as much liquid out as is humanly possible. Add the spinach to the rest of the ingredients.
Dash your salt and pepper in.
Next, if using the crock-pot method, wait until it warms up and stir occasionally. If using an oven, mix it all up, then place in a small greased casserole dish. Bake at 325 for 20 minutes.
Serve with any of these possibilities: bread sticks, pita chips, bagel chips, crackers, corn chips, fresh bread…
December 28th, 2007
Who loves to experiment in the kitchen? I suppose some people really don’t, but I do! The main thing that holds me back from constantly experimenting is that I hate throwing food away and I’m not crazy about serving nasty experiments-gone-wrong, either.
This is one idea that I had which I thought would take a few tries, but I really wanted to make it, so I dug in a few days before Thanksgiving, hoping I would get it right so we could munch on this on Turkey Day. It’s funny, isn’t it, how you imagine one scenario, but the complete opposite happens? Instead of having to try, try, try again to get the result I wanted, this newly-invented recipe turned out great the first time and was completely gone before Thanksgiving! Everyone in the family who tried it loved it and we ended up sort of fighting over it. (We couldn’t convince the littlest ones in the family to taste it and I have to admit we didn’t try very hard.)
Instead of going out and buying one of those “cheesy” plastic-wrapped and nut-covered cheese balls for the holiday season, try making your own… I bet you could even come up with a new flavor or two to suit your own tastes. I’m thinking of making a few for neighbors and friends.
So, here it is, faithful readers…. The Bacon Jalapeno Cheese Ball:
8 oz. Velveeta
1/3 c. water
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
2-4 jalapeno peppers
2 cloves garlic
2 t. olive oil, butter, or any kind of oil
1/2 t. red pepper flakes
5 bacon strips
To start, fry up the bacon and let it cool and drain, then crumble it. You can even put it in your food chopper or just have a willing helper cut it up into small pieces with a kitchen shears.
Next, seed the peppers — cut the tops off and remove the inside pith and seeds. Chop them extra-tiny or throw them in the food chopper along with the garlic cloves. These you should saute in the oil in a small skillet. As they cook and soften, add the red pepper flakes.
I did not add any salt or other seasonings to this. Some of you may want to add cumin, chili powder, or other flavors. I decided to keep it simple. I will also mention that I did NOT add SALT, since the Velveeta is already plenty salty and the bacon, too.
So, once the peppers are softened and the bacon is crumbled, you can start on the cheese portion; Place the Velveeta, cut into chunks, and the water in a microwavable, large bowl with high sides (we’re going to be using the mixer in a minute.) Microwave this for a minute at a time, turning and stirring — until the cheese is rather soft. Use an electric mixer to whip this up. It should turn into a smooth, slightly runny cheese sauce, much like nacho cheese. You may have to microwave longer if the chunks won’t smooth out.
Finally, add everything together — dump the jalapenos and the bacon in, mix them in, then add the cheddar cheese. This may seem too soft to make into a cheese ball, that’s OK. Wrap this in some plastic wrap and refrigerate. After a couple hours of chilling, you should be able to mold it into a ball or log for serving.
Serve with your favorite crackers or pita chips. ENJOY!
November 26th, 2007
Eggs Benedict — A sure-fire way to sweeten up my husband on a Saturday morning. I make these for him about once or twice a year, usually when I’ve got something on my honey-do list that is particularly distasteful. He thinks they are SOOOO good, but I think they are SOOOO going to give him heart failure in later life.
In case you don’t know, Eggs Benedict is a split English muffin, each side topped with a slice of Canadian bacon, a poached egg, and Hollandaise sauce.
Of course, if you have a Perkin’s Restaurant or any other good breakfast-specialty restaurant in your neighborhood, you can go have a sit-down breakfast and simply order them.
Or, if you’re like me, and love the challenge of making from scratch that which most folks would only dream of making at home, you will follow the extremely lengthy directions below:
Eggs Benedict
makes one serving
English Muffins — make these yourself (click the link to see my recipe) or go buy a box. I think you can guess my personal opinion on buying them.
2 eggs
2 slices of Canadian bacon or lean ham
Hollandaise Sauce — consisting of…
1 egg yolk
1 t. lemon juice
2 1/2 T. firm butter
Slit the English muffin, toast it, and set aside. That’s the easiest part. 
Next, I get out everything I need for the Hollandaise and have it ready. For this you need very gentle heat, so I use a double boiler or a small pan inside a larger pan with water in the bottom of the larger pan.
In another pan, heat some water to poach the eggs. Hubby usually does this part, but I think I know how — the water should come to a gentle boil, then be turned down so that it’s just barely under a boil. Place two canning rings into the almost-gently-boiling water. (No, I have not gone crazy, just do it!) Now, crack the eggs, one at a time of course, and drop them into the canning rings. This will help keep them from spreading out and floating all over the place and give them a nice uniform, circular shape approximately the same size as your English muffin. (See, I am a genius - well, Pat is a genius!) The eggs only take a couple of minutes to cook this way, you want them nice and soft.
Meanwhile… (I’ve never figured out if you should do the eggs first or the sauce first, it seems like they should both be done right before you are ready to eat) In the top part of your double boiler, which should be set at about medium to low heat - so the water will steam and just warm up the top, whisk the egg yolk and the lemon juice. Stirring constantly, add half of the butter and keep stirring until it is completely melted. Add the other half of the butter and repeat. Keep stirring. The egg must cook slowly and absorb the melting butter at the same time. Most people think Hollandaise Sauce is too tricky to try at home but I have actually never failed at this. Have the ingredients handy and don’t walk away while preparing it. When the butter is incorporated and the sauce is thickened, remove from heat.
Assemble your Eggs Benedict like this: Toasted English Muffin, topped with Canadian Bacon, then poached eggs, and the Hollandaise Sauce poured over all.
Enjoy! Make someone else clean up, then take the rest of the day off!
November 15th, 2007
Previous Posts