Spiced Peanut Butter Dip

One of my favorite snacks as a kid was ants on a log.  Three simple ingredients, yet so good.  My strategy was to get an 'ant' in every bite.  I remember my mom packing these in my lunch as a kid and being so excited for lunchtime to pull them out of the Ziploc, or 'baggie' as everyone in my family calls them.  Sure they ended up a bit mangled with peanut butter smeared on the inside of the baggie and the ants were all mashed down into the peanut butter but still very much worth looking forward to.

Ants on a log... you must have had one at some point as a kid.  It's like having a PB&J or Peanut Butter & Banana sandwich.  You know what I'm talking about, right?  Celery with smeared peanut butter and raisins on top?  I thought I should force a reminder in case of the small possibility that my mom made up the name herself.  Like how I thought all kids knew that new shoes could make you run faster then realized later that the only other kids that 'knew' this were my siblings.

Regardless of what you call it, everyone's had one... Unless you were one of those kids I feel bad for that were allergic to peanuts and missed out on all good things that come with that.  Like Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs at Easter or Reese's Pieces at the Movie Theatre (that was always my choice), peanut butter cookies or those totally awesome Little Debbie peanut butter wafer things.  The cool kids (obviously including me) would always eat it layer by layer.  Yeah I feel pretty sorry for the kids who couldn't have peanut butter and you should just stop reading now because you're missing out on something even better...

I found this recipe in a cookbook I received as a wedding present.  Which when I was roaming around Crate & Barrel registering for wedding gifts a few years ago with the little gun thing and saw the title "Delicious Dips" I knew it belonged in my collection.  Anything that I can dip or dunk into I am a fan of, and this dip I am definitely a fan of.  It has peanut butter (of course) and is great served with celery, but that's where the differences to ant on a log end.  There is no 'ant' here and instead is ginger, sugar, garlic, soy sauce all blended up with the peanut butter and then you use the celery to dip in it.  So dip, peanut butter and Asian, three great reasons why I am in love with this dip.

Most of my family is huge peanut butter fans.  My dad's favorite snack is a scoop of peanut butter on a spoon.  And of course his favorite cookie is peanut butter.  Johnny's not much different, if I ask him to make me a piece of toast I am always alarmed at the inch thick layer of peanut butter, the same as he does for his own, so needless to say he loves peanut butter as well and is a HUGE fan of this dip.

In my mind this is the 'adult' version of an ants on a log.  But go ahead and throw yours in a baggie anyway... for old times sake.

Trish's Tips:  This keeps very well in the fridge for a few days.

Spiced Peanut Butter Dip
Adapted from Delicious Dips by Diane Morgan

Ingredients:
2 TBL fresh ginger root, peeled and minced
1 green onion, including green tops, cut into 1/2 inch lengths
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 cup chunky peanut butter (I used all-natural)
2 TBL low-sodium soy sauce
1 TBL Asian sesame oil

Directions:
In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, process the ginger, green onions, garlic, sugar and red pepper flakes until minced.  Add the peanut butter, soy sauce and sesame oil.  Process until all the ingredients are well combined.  Transfer to a serving bowl.  Cover and set aside at room temperature until ready to serve.  Serve with celery sticks.

White Bean Dip

I had a fabulous weekend doing what I love: cooking.  My friend, Marcie, and I hosted a baby shower this Saturday along with a few other girls, and we were in charge of food.  We scoured through cookbooks for menu planning, did some strategic list making, hit three grocery stores and spent two days cooking.  We had a ton of fun doing it and it all ended up pretty good, if I do say so myself.  I kind of felt like my mom this weekend in the party planning zone, three recipes going at once.  What can I say, I learned from the best.

We made a pretty good mix of tried and true favorites, such as the tomato soup recipe I have posted here previously, and a few newbies as well.  I had several advertisers of my blog (slash followers of my blog telling others about it) at the party, so hopefully some of you have found me.  Sorry, but not all of the recipes will be posted because the added stress of taking photos of each recipe at each stage of cooking/chopping would have potentially put me over the edge.  But who knows, some of the recipes may just make an appearance here eventually.  For those of you interested, here was our menu:  Tomato soup in mini cups with grilled cheeses made with sharp white cheddar to dip in the soup.  We also served mini mac n cheese servings that we baked in a muffin tin and a spinach salad with hazelnuts and blood oranges.  For appetizers we served stuffed mushrooms filled with pecorino and turkey sausage, walnut pesto crostinis and..... White Bean Dip with crudites.

The White Bean Dip was definitely one that fell in the 'tried and true' category and is one that's been around in my family for a while.  My mom, sisters and I are all fans of Giada, whom this recipe comes from.  And I'm pretty sure we all had the cookbook that this comes from within the first few months of it being out.  In fact, I think this was one of the last things that my mom made for me because she knew it was one of my favorites.  I'm a hummus lover as you know, and this is a twist on hummus using white beans instead of chickpeas.  The original recipe calls for parsley and I made it that way for a couple of years, but one time as I went to make it, realized that I didn't have any parsley, but did have a huge bunch of basil from the farmers market.  I tried that instead and have yet to go back to making it the original way.

I often serve it with the pita chips as Giada calls for here, but don't have photos of it, as our menu for the shower was carb heavy enough so we served it with crudites.  Maybe try a mix of both, or depending on your mood or just pick one.  I love recipes like this because as long as you have a food processor it's pretty simple.  These are all ingredients that I generally have on hand, so this can be your go to recipe when you have unexpected hungry guests.  Or maybe even 18 or so expected guests and a pregnant guest of honor.  This will work for that too.  

Trish's Tips:  I have adjusted this recipe to be how I like it, but add more citrus, more oil, more salt and pepper if you like.  Or less, of course.  Make it your own.  Try it with parsley and basil and let me know which one you like better.  The hummus will keep in the fridge, but I think is best at room temperature.  I made it the night before the shower, but made sure to bring to room temperature.  The pita chips won't be the right consistency if made the day before; they tend to get a bit chewy.

White Bean Dip
Adapted from Giada de Laurentiis

Ingredients:

Pita Chips:
4 pita breads, split horizontally in half
2 TBL olive oil
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

Dip:
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 (15 - ounce) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup (loosely packed) fresh basil leaves (or parsley)
2 TBL fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove

Directions:
To make the pita chips:  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Cut each pita half into 8 wedges.  Arrange the pita wedges evenly over a baking sheet.  Brush the pita wedges with the oil, then sprinkle with the oregano and salt and pepper.  Bake for 8 minutes, then turn the pita wedges over and bake until they are crisp and golden, about 8 minutes longer.

To make the dip:  In the bowl of a food processor, put in garlic clove.  Turn processor on until garlic clove is sufficiently minced.  Add beans, lemon juice, salt and pepper.  Turn on until the ingredients are well mixed.  Add basil.  Slowly add olive oil until the mixture is creamy, adding more olive oil or water to get to desired consistency.  Taste and add salt as needed.  Serve with pita chips or crudites.

Swiss Fondue

The pressure of a New Years Eve Dinner Menu is enough to put even me over the edge.  Although I love getting all of my cookbooks out and menu planning I was pretty pooped from all of the Christmas cooking and planning and even I was almost sick of thinking about food.  I was just out of ideas, or out of good ideas at least.  I consulted with a good friend of mine and fellow foodie on menu suggestions and she suggested a fondue menu.  It was simple and didn't mean all the perfect timing required with the other elaborate options that I was pondering.

We served this fondue with bread cubes (of course), baby red skinned potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower and also had another fondue pot with oil.  With that we served even more veggies, cubed steak and several dipping sauces.  And what fondue party is not complete without chocolate fondue for dessert.  It was a really fun, interactive menu but does take a considerable more time than a normal meal.  Which I don't think is such a bad thing.  Sometimes I feel like we spend so much time making a meal only to have it consumed in twenty or thirty minutes and then on to the task of dishes or whatever.  In fact this took so long that we missed the party we were supposed to head to, so I would caution you to plan accordingly if you do the whole menu.  But definitely do it.  It is so much fun and then when the guests arrive the hostess can have fun too.

Part of the reason I initially wanted to make this fondue was because it made me think back to another year that we had fondue on the menu for New Years Eve.   As we toasted the New Year of 2005 we made this same fondue recipe at my parent's house.  Johnny and I haven't spent many New Years Eves at my parents, but for whatever reason that year it worked out for us to.  I think most of my siblings decided to stay in that night and we made Fondue.  Not the whole menu that I did this year, but for a cheese lover like myself this is the one I like best anyway.  I remember sitting in the living room at my parents house over a fondue pot that I think my sister got for Christmas, or maybe it was mine.  Either way we all wished one another a Happy New Year over champagne and ooey gooey cheese.  And it was a damn good year, 2005.  It was the year I got engaged and the year I was promoted at work.  So for superstitious sake this was another good reason to ring in the new year with this recipe.  Its only day two, but I'm pretty sure the fondue is the clincher that is going to make my year.  Hoping 2010 is one of your best years yet.  Happy New Year to you and your family!

Trish's Tips:  We learned the hard way, but do NOT put the flame on an empty fondue pot.  Only put the flame under it after the cheese (or whatever liquid) is in the ceramic pot.  It will crack and you will be fondue-less.  Any cheese fondue takes somewhat of a careful moderation of temperature.  I usually use my electric pot (which is a great investment in my opinion) but we used that for the oil fondue so I used a small ceramic pot instead and the little tea light could only do so much.  Once the cheese gets really stringy it needs to be warmed up.  If you have leftoers, don't pitch, they will reheat easily in the microwave.

Swiss Fondue

Ingredients:
1.25 lb Gruyere Cheese
.65 lb Emmentaler Cheese
1 garlic clove, smashed
1 TBL plus 1 tsp cornstarch
1 1/2 C white wine
2 tsp lemon juice
1 1/2 TBL kirsch, optional
pepper
nutmeg

Directions:

Cut off rind from cheeses.  You should be left with about 1 lb. of gruyere and 1/2 lb of Emmentaler.  Shred cheeses on a box grater or food processor.  Put aside.  Dissolve cornstarch in wine.  Heat saucepan over medium-low heat.  Rub smashed garlic clove on inside of pan until fragrant.  Heat wine/cornstarch mixture and lemon juice over medium heat and bring to a boil.  Stir cheese in graduatlly stirring until combined and no longer stringy.  Stir in the kirsch if using and sprinkle with pepper and ground nutmeg.  Transfer to a fondue stand immediately and serve with cut up bread cubes.

Chip Dip

Christmastime gives me so much 'Mom' material I can barely keep up.  This isn't necessarily just a Christmas recipe, but one my family always had on Christmas Eve.  We call it Pond Family Chip Dip.  Or just Chip Dip, but I guess a more appropriate name would be Onion Dip.  Not French Onion, just Onion Dip.  My mom always made it in mass quantities partly because we always had a crowd, but partly because it was always everyone's favorite.  It's only appropriate that I made it today in her mixer and the photo above shows it in her Chip Dip bowl.  I don't know that this bowl saw any other kind of dip than Chip Dip.

It originated from my Dad's side, as his Mom, our Mimi, as we called her, would make it.  My Dad's Brother carries on the tradition as well, but makes it a bit different than my Mom.  My Uncle's is a bit sweeter and my Mom's is a bit more oniony.

There is of course no real recipe of how my Mom made it and adapted it.  Fortunately the Christmas before my Mom died I happened to wake up early.  My Mom was always the first one up and especially on Christmas Eve there was a lot of action going on in the kitchen.  I think by the time I got up she had already made her potatoes and crust for her quiche and numerous other recipes I have yet to post here.

I remember sitting at the counter by the Kitchen Aid while she was making Chip Dip.  As I sat down with a cup of coffee, she asked me, "Want to learn how to make Chip Dip?"  So I sat and watched and took it all in.  My Mom didn't measure.  As I think I've written here before, she was certainly not a measurer.  There was a lot of squirting from the ketchup bottle, pouring of the Worcestershire and sprinkling of my mom's favorite ingredient, Seasoned Salt.  Then she would just continue to taste it.  She had probably made it hundreds of times, so certainly didn't need a recipe.  Then she would turn on the mixer and just let it whirl.  My Mom used that Kitchen Aid Mixer for everything.  She would whip this dip for probably 15-20 minutes to get in a creamy consistency.  Maybe that's why her first mixer went kaput at some point.  She definitely put it to good use.

It was over a year before I tried it on my own.  There was a lot of tasting involved to figure out how to get it just right.  I had to test the color, the consistency and of course the flavor, but I think I got pretty close.  After getting the approval of my Dad I think it must be as close as any of us will ever get it.  Although I think that my Mom would laugh at this recipe and that it only lists to use three packages of cream cheese, I don't think she ever made it with less than ten since we always had at least 20 people over for Christmas Eve.  Try it for yourself.  Maybe it'll be a Christmas tradition in your family too....

Trish's Tips:  My Mom never took the time to bring the cream cheese to room temperature, but it really does help to keep the lumps out.  Taste as you go and make it your own.  Add more onion or more Worcestershire if you like a sharper flavor and more ketchup if you like it sweeter.

Pond Family Chip Dip

Ingredients:

3 - 8 oz. packages of cream cheese (1 1/2 lbs total)
4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3 TBL plus 1 tsp Ketchup
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1/4 cup grated onion with juice (about 1/2 of small onion)
1 TBL milk (optional)

Directions:

Grate Onion on small side of box grater.  It should be just a pulp with no visible chunks of onion.  Put cream cheese in mixer.  Beat until soft.  Turn mixer off, scrape sides of bowl and turn on low.  Slowly add Worcestershire, Ketchup and seasoned salt.  Mix until smooth.  Add milk if needed for smoother consistency.  You may need depending on how juicy your onion is.