If you like cookies and cream ice cream or cheesecake you’ll probably love this dip. It has all of that cookies and cream flavor with the tang of cream cheese. Chopped white chocolate is folded in for extra flavor. Delicious!
This is a sweet dip but if you like a sweet/salty combo consider using pretzel rods, pretzels, potato chips, or Ritz crackers as dippers. Continue reading
Filed under Appetizers and Snacks
There are a lot of spinach artichoke dip recipes on the Internet, in cookbooks, and on tiny scraps of paper tucked away in scores of cookbooks. I know this because I have tried approximately 2.4 million of them. I adore spinach artichoke dip…I love the flavor, the texture, and the aroma. I like hot spinach artichoke dip on crackers, on sourdough, and in omelets and crepes.
I feel like the guy in Green Eggs and Ham. I will eat it on a train, I will eat it in the rain…I will eat it here or there…
As long as it doesn’t have mayo in it. I just do not like what happens to the texture of the dip when mayo is added and it is baked. No. I. Do. Not.
On New Years Day we were going to have an open house. It fizzled terribly and ended up being my family and one of my two partners in crime, Edye. I figured..hey, that’s o.k..more for us, right? More dip, more champagne, more snacks….and then I found out that Edye can’t drink champagne. Marc doesn’t drink hardly at all (I don’t either but even so he make me look like a lush) and so…I soon found that I had 3 bottles of champagne to drink…all to myself.
PARTY ON!
I didn’t drink them all. I am a responsible adult, and I hate getting drunk…. but I will admit to pushing the envelope just a little.
Anyway, Edye is the kind of friend you want to taste your recipe experiments because she always has an effervescent and ebullient enthusiasm. So I wanted to make something that would knock her socks off…and knock my socks off, too.
This recipe has a ton of flavor. There is absolutely nothing mild or insipid about it. The texture is creamy, rich and gooey, while the flavor pops with spinach, artichoke, and a smoky flavor. You can use regular Provolone if you need to but smoked gouda would be a better substitution so you can get that smoky flavor.
This makes a great appetizer scooped up on top of a toasted slice of sourdough baguette with maybe some crumbled bacon on top. Keep it snack casual with crackers and chips, or keep it on the healthy side with fresh, raw vegetables. I think you will like the versatility of this.
I specify Philly cream cheese because that is what I use and what I like the best. I wish they did an organic version but they don’t. To my mind the Philly has the best flavor and texture. There are few things I specify and almost never non-organic items but in this case it does make a difference.
And if you happen, just happen to have some left over? Spoon it in your omelet or roll it up in a crepe. Just sayin.
Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip with Smoked Provolone
Optional: You can sprinkle the top with 1/2 cup crumbled crispy bacon if you like…. you know..just a little added WOW.
images: marye audet (c) 2011
Filed under Appetizers and Snacks, Holiday Cooking
This week’s just desserts challenge (brought to you by the letter E for Evil Shenanigans) was petit fours. Petit fours can be described as any bite sized sweet but most often they are cake and filling. They are usually beautiful to look at. At least if you do them right.
To me, these are one of the most creative things you can make and I enjoy them a lot. Not only can you play with a variety of flavors but you have texture, shape, and color to manipulate, too. It’s like being Jackson Pollock with icing tubes.
I felt really at a disadvantage here because I did not see the show last week, was gone all weekend, and then rushed to put them together last night. I wanted to do something autumn themed, something delicate that you might have with a tea but also substantial enough to be served at a wrestler’s retreat. Yeah. I like versatility.
I wanted some flavor that would be perfect for a tea, Thanksgiving, Christmas, or anything autumn related. I think these cute autumn leaves are the perfect choice. The glaze that I used was a white chocolate (and bittersweet chocolate) ganache but you could use the traditional poured fondant or confectioner’s glaze if you like. If you are going to color the white chocolate ganache use paste food color and a toothpick after the chocolate has melted into the cream. It doesn’t take much.
I chose to do a pumpkin bourbon cake with a hint of cardamom and fill it with a cream cheese and pecan filling. The flavors work really well and you get that little after-kick of the bourbon which I really love with pumpkin. I have a set of maple leave cookie cutters in various sizes and I used them to cut the cooled cake. I put two of the cut outs together with the filling and then put them in the freezer for 30 minutes while I made ganache. After that I rolled the edges of the cakes in the ganache to fill in the sides and then poured ganache over the top. You will use a lot of ganache this way but I like the effect.
You can use any shape cutter you like to compliment your occasion. Keep in mind that the yield will change depending on the size of the cutter you use.
Dainty bites of bourbon pumpkin cake, filled with cream cheese pecan filling and topped with white chocolate ganache - perfect autumn petit fours for a tea or a party.
Ingredients
Instructions
Here are some autumn themed cutters available on Amazon to get you started. I love the acorns!
Filed under Cake
Figs are absolutely wonderful.
I was raised on Fig Newtons and they were what I thought figs were…and in 1965 that was good enough. I could eat them by the case and never tire of the magic sweetness, and complex heady flavor of the fig.
It took me until I was in my 20s to actually try a real, dried fig…. and it was years after that before I tried a fresh one.
Dang. There was no turning back. Thing is that figs have a flavor that reminds me of dark chocolate, velvet, and long summer nights… it is just so deep and unending. Hard to explain. How do you explain the flavor of a fig?
Thing is that figs are more versatile than most people give them credit for. Yep. There IS life after Fig Newtons. You have to be careful that the flavors you put with the figs complement them and are not overwhelmed. That is the key..and it isn’t easy to do.
The Balsamic in these figs adds sweet tang and depth that balances the sweetness of the figs. The pepper adds another layer of flavor that leaves your tongue dancing. Once you put the fig mixture on a bed of cream cheese, and top with a little more cheese…well dang.
So you have these heavenly flavors but no texture contrasts. Think about this..all of that figgy goodness on a crunchy croustade. Now your talkin’. How easy is this appetizer? Very easy… and you can easily make this ahead and just spread it on the croustades a before serving time.
Elegant, easy, delicious. This is a recipe that you will use in so many ways it isn’t funny. Have fun with it…and try not to eat all the fig spread before you have the croustades made.
Balsamic and Black Pepper Figs
Serious? Is that it? It sure is. Just spread baguette toasts with cream cheese, then a dollop of fig, and sprinkle with feta. It is absolutely amazing. Sweet and sour and tangy and peppery; rich and creamy, and crunchy.
Great for those holiday appetizer buffets you will be attending before you know it. Great for parties. Great for snacks… Just do it.
images: Marye Audet
A few weeks ago Philadelphia Cream Cheese asked me if I would be willing to try a recipe out of one of their cookbooks and let them know what I thought. They offered to send me the coupons for the cream cheese I would need.
I have never been one to turn down cream cheese. Free cream cheese.
So I got the book and the coupons and set out to fix something in it. There were a lot of cheesecakes but I am pretty partial to my recipe so I went on to the appetizer section. The book is called A Taste of Heaven, by the way. I love Layered Mexican Dip and decided that it would be a perfect choice for a quick lunch with homemade tortilla chips. I got out the ingredients.
I doubled the recipe because I needed to. As you can see, it is pretty straight forward and simple. I decided that homemade tortilla chips would be the perfect addition to make this a quick meal for the kids. After all, who doesn’t like chips and dips? The Kraft recipe called for low fat items, and I am putting those in parenthesis in the recipe. I chose regular items because we do not have weight problems and I personally find low fat things icky. Feel free to make it either way. 
This is great for your Superbowl party of course… you can serve it with vegetables, chips, crackers, and/or toast depending on what type of meal you are serving it as.
Mexican Dip
Ingredients:
Instructions
This makes an 8×8 inch panful. It serves 6 hungry kids. 
Probably more if you are serving it as part of an appetizer table. For Superbowl Sunday I would consider doing this with several types of things to dip in it and then a few other sandwiches and appetizers.
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on t.v. Philadelphia Cream Cheese sent me coupons to get the cream cheese at no expense, as well as a cookbook to work out of. I was not compensated for this post, but they are not asking for the cream cheese or book back. The opinions stated herein are the unadulterated opinions of a twisted mind. The entire post should be read with caution. You have been warned.
images:Marye Audet
Filed under Spreads
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