reuben dip

Did you just ask if I happen to have a really good reuben dip for your summer parties and/or entertaining? Oh ok, I thought you had. Good, I have just the dip for you then. What a wild coincidence!
So you know I've told you I love my homemade ice creams with lots of stuff in them? And you know I love my cookies with tons of junk in them too. Well, I love my dips the same way--tons of stuff, and tons of flavors going on: A party in a dip.
So I'm proud to say I have this dip down to a science, a mere perfection of taste sensation. The flavor is spot on.
Cook notes: I found that using fried pastrami worked best; you could use fried corned beef as well. If you don't like using meat you can use just the cheese chunks and maybe some finely chopped veggies (red peppers, green peppers, cooked corn, etc.. would go very well). If you can, use round dark russian bread as it states in the recipe below. It really melds well with the flavor of the dip. On my first batch I used the dark bread, but on the second batch they had no more russian bread so I used sourdough. I highly recommend using the russian dark and/or marble breads for dipping as sourdough just doesn't quite cut it. Dig it.

reuben dip
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¾ lb. pastrami (fairly lean), finely chopped ½ inch pieces
Less than ¾ lb swiss cheese, finely chopped ½ inch pieces
Almost a ½ cup of yellow or sweet onion, diced finely
¼ cup ketchup
3 TB yellow mustard
¼ cup plus 2 TB sweet pepper relish (not dill)
4 TB hellmans mayo
2 TB creamy horseradish sauce
1 cup sour cream
8 ounces of cream cheese, room temp
A couple dashes of salt & pepper

1 12-inch round dark Russian bread, hollowed out and made into bread chunks
1 large rye bread, cut into chunks for dipping

I like to pan fry the chopped pastrami before adding it into the dip. Just gives it more flavor—this is of course optional but wonderful.
Place everything but the bread in a glass dish, mix well, taste and see if all is good; may have to add more sour cream or mayo. Recipe by dawn finicane. It’s best when the cream cheese is nice and soft, easier to mix.
Let this chill in the fridge at least a couple hours before serving.
When ready to serve place the dip inside the hollowed out Russian bread bowl, serve with the bread chunks on the side on a giant platter, then garnish with chopped fresh parsley or chives.

feta & raisin dip

That George Michael song: "Too Funky" is playing in my head as I write this. How ironic is that? OK, so this is a funky dish, but it's good-- I mean really good. The feta cheese melded great with the sweetness of the raisins and sun dried tomatoes. Kevin and Peter keep making these wonderful feta dips & salads, so naturally I had to follow with my own take. Plus I'm a huge fan of feta cheese, so salty and rich. Those chips you see in the photo are from Whole Foods, it's deep fried tortillas. You can make them at home if you want, I was lazy and picked up a bag. They go wonderfully with this dip. I think corn chips might work with this or even Ritz cracker, or nothing.
Thank you my sweet friends for all the birthday wishes. My b-day was good, I got spoiled, ate way too much cake(s) <---see the plural oh yeah.

feta & raisin dip
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6 ounces kalamata olives, pitted & diced
Sun dried tomatoes in oil; drained & diced (about 3 ounces +/-)
2 green onions (tops only), thinly sliced
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Handful of raisins (golden is best)
4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
Extra-virgin olive oil, about 1 TB +/-
Salt & pepper

Combine the olives, sun dried tomatoes, onions, lemon juice, olive oil, raisin, black pepper, except feta. Check, taste, and see if you need more lemon juice, olive oil, and salt & pepper. Then gently stir in the crumbled feta cheese.

Note: you can mold it into a ceramic dish, chill for a bit, then place onto dip plate. Serve with crackers (not too salty) or serve with fried tortilla chips.

sweet potato fries w/ caramelized onion-horsey dip

Are you tired of the sweet potato and carmelized onion themes? No? Cool. Seriously, ask any foodie out there, isn't it always all about the sauce, the dip, marinade, the drippings, etc..? Truth be told I am one of those people that when in a restaurant or in my own home I always want extra sauce; have no problem asking for extra sauce on the side. And you know it's nice to meet other foodies out there that share my same affinity for 'extra sauce'. Since I've started blogging, I've noticed and adore how many foodies out there that love extra sauce. In my last post, banana custard tarlettes, I talked about how as a young child I loved my extra sauce--I still do. A good sauce that has depth of flavor, as well as many flavors mingling inside, not just one or two, but many flavors in the beginning of the bite and at the end of the bite. This dip is one I created from my deep love for truly good caramelized onions. You know the kind of caramelized onions that take hours to caramelize and develop? I wanted to try and incorporate these caramelized onions into a spicy horsey creamy dip. I mean come on, caramelized onions and horsey sauce--Onwards I say! This also has fire/heat to it and it has that horsey heat to it as well (double the fun). Of course I need a vehicle to eat this dip, I mean you could use your fingers, but the sweetness of the sweet potato fries does add a really nice contrast to the two types of heat in the dip. I would imagine this dip would taste good with potato chips (might be kind of salty and hide the deep heat), but I prefer the sweetness of the sweet potato fries. Carrots or cukes would go very well with this.

Oh BACON, baaaaaconnn should be added to this! Quick write that down!

caramelized onion & horsey dip
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¼ cup mayo (Hellmans)
¼ cup sour cream
Couple pinches of cayenne pepper
Couple pinches of chili powder
3 TB or more of horsey sauce
3-4 dashes of hot sauce
2 TB of catsup
3 TB caramelized onions

Mix all together. You might want to puree the caramelized onions if you don't want chunks in the sauce--up to you. Please let this chill at least 3 hours before serving so all the flavors meld nicely together and get all nice and happy.
And add some real, crisp bacon chunks to this; I must try that next time.

cheesy artichoke bread & spicy hummus

What a wonderful combo! Oh you simply must try this. It was such an excellent combination that I made a meal out of it. I love my hummus and I love to jazz it up sometimes too, I mean one can only take so many hummus wraps and sandwiches. Now the bread idea I got from Smoky Mountain Cafe. I loved the sound of it, never heard of it before, and simply had to try it. I kicked it up a few notches, and turned some things around. The tanginess of the artichoke bread paired so very well with the spicy hummus. I cannot wait to make this again. This is an excellent appetizer for parties. cheesy artichoke bread with hummus print recipe
¼ cup butter 3 garlic cloves, pressed 1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped 4 ounces shredded Mozzarella cheese 1 cup grated parmesan cheese ½ cup sour cream 1 French bread loaf Salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 ounces shredded cheddar cheese My changes: for the artichoke bread, I followed the recipe, but used 1/8 cup (maybe a little more) of olive oil instead of the butter, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, 1 jar 10 or 11 oz. of artichokes, about 3 oz. of mozzarella cheese, and did not use cheddar cheese. For the hummus: I have never written down my hummus recipe, I do it all off the top of my head, but I think everyone knows how to make hummus? I just added in a bit of chili oil to the batch to make it spicy. Trader Joes sells a wonderful Mediterranean Hummus too. If you don't have a recipe for hummus, you can try this one, it looks pretty good. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the artichoke hearts, Mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese and sour cream. Stir to blend. Remove from the heat and cool. Slice the bread lengthwise and scoop out some of the center. (Note: You can crumble the pieces of bread and add to the artichoke mixture if you wish.) Spoon the artichoke mixture evenly into the bread shell and sprinkle with the cheddar cheese. Place each half on a baking sheet and cover lightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 25 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for another 5 to 8 minutes or until the cheese melts completely. Cut into slices and serve warm.