I Dip, You Dip, We Dip

I have joked in the past that this blog should have been called Minxdips because there's more than a handful of recipes for saucy things that work well on a tortilla chip or cracker. Dips are usually pretty easy to throw together, and they aren't just for dipping chips. Sometimes I'll use one as a sandwich spread, or as a sauce for a roasted cauliflower, kebabs, or roasted chicken. Hummus is one of my favorites to make, even if I don't technically make "hummus" because I don't use chickpeas) and among the most versatile.

The following is a list of links to the dips on Minxeats. If you enjoy any, I'd love to read your comments.

artichoke spinach dip

Artichoke Spinach Dip

Caponata

Cheesy Corn Dip

Edamame Hummus

Eggplant Artichoke Appetizer

Lemony Eggplant Dip

Lemony Tomato Pepper Relish
Mediterranean Bean Dip

Mediterranean Pimento Cheese

Miso Eggplant Dip

Muhammara

nutella cannoli dip

Nutella Cannoli Dip

Parsnip Hummus

pink sultan (yogurt with beets)

Pink Sultan

pizza pimento cheese

Pizza Pimento Cheese

Romesco Sauce

Shakshouky
Shrimp and Artichoke Dip

Smoky Southwest Eggplant Dip

South x Southwest Hummus

Sweet Potato Hummus

Three Dips with Thai Flavors

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Flashback Friday - Edamame Hummus

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on June 12, 2013.

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I've been on a hummus kick lately, have you noticed? I really do love the stuff and would eat it more often if it wasn't normally made with chickpeas. Those little bastards give me such intestinal distress, I can't even look at them without getting gassy. In their place, I've been making hummus with just about every other bean under the sun, mostly with success.

Not long ago, we bought some edamame hummus from Trader Joe's, and man, that stuff was delicious! The best bean yet. So when I decided that our Memorial Day dinner would involve kebabs and various Mediterranean-inspired sauces, I put edamame hummus on the list of must-makes. Coincidentally, I received Louisville chef Edward Lee's new cookbook, Smoke and Pickles, at around the same time and the first recipe I turned to when I opened the book at random was his version of edamame hummus. It was kismet.

Lee makes his hummus chunky and uses it as a side dish. I wanted a more traditional dip/puree, so I added a bit more water to the food processor when I was blending. I also didn't need quite so much hummus, so I halved the recipe. Here's my take on it:

Edamame Hummus (adapted from Smoke and Pickles)

2 green onions, white and light green part, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup frozen edamame
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin

Saute the green onion and garlic in the olive oil until soft, 2-3 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients to the pan and bring to a simmer. Cook 6-8 minutes, or until beans are no longer crunchy. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

Puree the mixture in a food processor until fairly smooth, adding additional additional water to help the process. Taste the mixture and adjust seasoning with more lemon juice, soy, and olive oil, if necessary.

Serve at room temperature with unsalted tortilla chips or pita.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Flashback Friday - South x Southwestern Hummus

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on November 5, 2012.

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I was in the mood for hummus. Not traditional hummus, mind you - I can't eat chick peas without suffering some painful consequences (I know, TMI) - but a reasonable facsimile.

My tastebuds were leaning toward a hummus flavored with tomatoes and red bell peppers, something Southwestern-ish, so I really wanted to use black beans. But lo and behold - I had none. I did have a cup of dried black eyed peas, however, and because I really wanted hummus (and was too lazy to walk to the store), I did a quick boil and soak, and then cooked the peas to tenderness. Beans are bland enough that just about any kind can be successfully used in a hummus-like preparation, but black-eyed peas are a little more South than Southwest.

Tahini is another traditional hummus ingredient, but just about any nut butter will do. If peanut butter is good enough for Alton Brown, then it's good enough for me. But I happened to have a can of tahini in the fridge, so that peanut butter hummus will have to wait another day. I did have bags of sundried tomatoes and sundried bell peppers (find them at nuts.com), which were rehydrated in boiling water, and the whole mess was bunged into the Magimix. (Sorry. Channeling Jamie Oliver there.)

Cumin and garlic are usually found in hummus, but to spice it up a bit more, I added some ground chipotle for a smoky kick. The result was quite luscious, and we scooped it up with chips made from stale flour tortillas.

South x Southwest Hummus

1/2 cup loosely packed sundried tomatoes
1/2 cup loosely packed sundried red bell peppers (or 1 jarred or freshly roasted red bell pepper)
3 tablespoons tahini
2 cups cooked or canned black eyed peas (or your favorite bean)
1 clove garlic
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper (or 1/2 canned chipotle in adobo)
extra virgin olive oil, as needed
salt to taste
chopped scallions

Place sundried tomatoes and peppers (if using) in a saucepan with about a cup of water. Bring to a boil, then turn down heat and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to come to room temperature.

Drain tomatoes and peppers and chop coarsely. Place in the bowl of a food processor with the tahini, beans, garlic, lemon juice, cumin, and chipotle. Blend until well puréed, adding olive oil to aid the process. (If you're using jarred bell pepper, you'll need less oil than if you use the sundried.) The texture should be thick enough to be scooped with pita or tortilla chips, but not so thick that the chip would break. Add salt to taste.

Serve drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and garnished with chopped scallions.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Flashback Friday - Edamame Hummus

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on June 12, 2013.

I've been on a hummus kick lately, have you noticed? I really do love the stuff and would eat it more often if it wasn't normally made with chick peas. Those little bastards give me such intestinal distress, I can't even look at them without getting gassy. In their place, I've been making hummus with just about every other bean under the sun, mostly with success.

Not long ago, we bought some edamame hummus from Trader Joe's, and man, that stuff was delicious! The best bean yet. So when I decided that our Memorial Day dinner would involve kebabs and various Mediterranean-inspired sauces, I put edamame hummus on the list of must-makes. Coincidentally, I received Louisville chef Edward Lee's new cookbook, Smoke and Pickles, at around the same time and the first recipe I turned to when I opened the book at random was his version of edamame hummus. It was kismet.

Lee makes his hummus chunky and uses it as a side dish. I wanted a more traditional dip/puree, so I added a bit more water to the food processor when I was blending. I also didn't need quite so much hummus, so I halved the recipe. Here's my take on it:

Edamame Hummus (adapted from Smoke and Pickles)

2 green onions, white and light green part, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup frozen edamame
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin

Saute the green onion and garlic in the olive oil until soft, 2-3 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients to the pan and bring to a simmer. Cook 6-8 minutes, or until beans are no longer crunchy. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

Puree the mixture in a food processor until fairly smooth, adding additional additional water to help the process. Taste the mixture and adjust seasoning with more lemon juice, soy, and olive oil, if necessary.

Serve at room temperature with unsalted tortilla chips or pita.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Shrimp Dip

I like to make dips, so much so that I think my next cookbook might be all about them. Why do I like them so much? Besides the obvious deliciousness factor, dips are versatile. Though some are specifically meant to be eaten at room temperature or cold, many can also be heated until bubbly and golden. Some can also be re-purposed as a sauce for pasta (like the corn dip in this pasta casserole) or a sandwich component (try crab dip on a hot dog). If the dip is hearty enough, it can be dinner (see: fondue).

When we received samples of Farmer's Pantry Cornbread Crisps, I determined that they needed a dip. Well, not really--they are perfectly delicious on their own. The jalapeno flavor is especially tasty, and it does indeed have a peppery kick. I found myself eating them by the handful even before the dip came out of the oven. By that time, I was getting full, so the dip became my dinner. (Mr Minx's too, even if he didn't eat half a bag of Crisps before dinnertime).

The dip is full of chunks of shrimp and artichokes, with lots of cheese and a few sliced almonds scattered on top for crunch. It's one of those things that would also work really great as a topping for chicken breast fillets or pasta, so consider that if you have any left over. And that's a big "if."

Shrimp and Artichoke Dip

1/2 onion, chopped
1/4 red bell pepper, chopped
Olive oil
Pinch salt
8 ounces of shrimp, peeled, deveined, and chopped into dime-sized pieces
2-3 teaspoons Chesapeake Bay-style seafood seasoning, like The Spice Lab Best of the Bay
4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/2 cup grated Swiss cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan + more for topping
1 (14-oz) can artichoke heart quarters, drained, chopped, and blotted dry
Lemon juice
Sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Over medium-high heat, cook the onion and bell pepper in a bit of olive oil and a pinch of salt until translucent. Stir in the shrimp and cook a few minutes until opaque. Stir in Bay seasoning to taste.

In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese and mayo. Stir in the Swiss cheese, the 1/2 cup of Parm, the artichokes, and the shrimp mixture. Add lemon juice to taste.

Scrape the mixture into a round or square 8" baking dish, or into individual ramekins. Top with additional Parm and some of the sliced almonds. Bake for 15-20 minutes until oozy and the cheese and almonds are browned.

Serve with Cornbread Crackers or sliced French bread.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Artichoke Spinach Dip

I think I remarked some months ago that this was turning into a dip blog because so many of the recipes I put up here seem to be for something to spread on a cracker or carrot stick. But who doesn't need the occasional dip recipe? Especially this time of year, when the approaching holidays can mean entertaining family and friends. I attempt to entertain friends at the end of every month when I host a stitch and bitch. It's not always possible that all of us can make every meeting, but regardless of the number of people I'm expecting, I always provide homemade snacks.

Most recently, I made spinach artichoke dip. I've always enjoyed this classic veg-and-cheese concoction but didn't want to make the traditional cream cheese and instant vegetable soup-based version. Not to disparage that recipe - I certainly ate plenty of it in my youth and much preferred it to that other soup mix dip, French onion (bleurgh!) - but I wanted to do something different, and just as easy.

Rather than seasoning cheese with soup mix, I bought ready-seasoned cheese. A convenient cheat. Mashed up with veg and a few seasonings, it was pretty tasty. As always, I was too lazy to make crudite, so I served it with Keebler Townhouse Flatbread crackers.

Artichoke Spinach Dip

1 (6.5 ounce) container garlic herb cheese (Alouette or Boursin or whatever)
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon mayo
1 14-ounce can or jar of artichoke hearts
1 box frozen spinach, thawed
2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese
2 scallions, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Pepper

Stir together the cheese and sour cream. Mix in the mayo. Chop the artichokes finely and add to the cheese mixture.

Squeeze out all of the moisture from the spinach by placing it in a tea towel and wringing it. Chop the spinach and stir into the artichoke cheese mixture. Stir in cheese and scallions, and season with salt, lemon juice, and pepper.

Serve with crackers, flatbreads, crudite, etc.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Muhammara

A couple months ago, we took a field trip to Southern Maryland for a fishing tournament. Figuring the ride would be long, we took snack foods in the form of a box of Triscuits and a tub of Trader Joe's Muhammara. We'd never tried the stuff before, muhammara, but the combination of walnuts, roasted bell peppers, and pomegranate molasses sounded really good. And it was. Really good. I could have eaten the entire container myself (AND the whole box of sweet potato/onion Triscuits - yum), but I did share with Mr Minx.

When the next stitch and bitch rolled around, I decided to make muhammara. I typically make some sort of dippy thing, because it's the neatest thing to consume while knitting. There were only two of us this time, but we pretty much killed the entire batch. So tasty, and I think this recipe from Epicurious, with my adjustments (much less bread and oil), tasted pretty similar to TJ's version, only, of course, home-made, and therefore, better.

Muhammara (adapted from Epicurious)

1 large red pepper, peeled, seeded, and roasted, or 1 1/2 jarred roasted red peppers
5 tablespoons fine fresh bread crumbs
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted lightly and chopped fine
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, or to taste
2 teaspoons pomegranate molasses
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Big pinch cayenne
4-5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt to taste

Blend everything together in a food processor until it's a fairly smooth paste. Serve with crackers or crudite.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Non-Babaganoush, Non-Shakshouky Eggplant Dip

Once a month I hold a stitch-n-bitch in my living room. If you don't know what a stitch-n-bitch is, it's a gathering of knitters/crocheters/other fabric-crafty people that involves working on projects and chatting. And often, wine. My gatherings always include food, both savory and sweet. Who doesn't like a little nibble in the afternoon? The biggest concern is that the food be neat to eat. Nobody wants to have messy fingers while crafting, and I'd prefer folks not drop stuff on the floor or sofa. (Yes, we have a dog, but he's very polite.) I usually end up making a thick dip that more often than not includes eggplant. Why eggplant? Because it's easy, tasty, and thick. I can pick up a big glob of it on the end of a pita chip and shove it in my mouth in between stitches without missing a beat or getting messy.

Though the meetings are only once a month, I don't think my guests want to eat the same babaganoush or hummus every time, so I mix things up. Like I said, eggplant is easy, and it certainly takes on flavors well. I had half a preserved lemon in the fridge that I wanted to get rid of so I could use the jar for a fresh batch and decided to use that as a starting point for flavoring. I added a bit of this and a bit of that until the dip had a balance of tart and sweet flavors with a little nip of heat.

If you don't have preserved lemons on hand, use the juice and finely grated zest of half a lemon.

Lemony Eggplant Dip

1 large eggplant
1/2 preserved lemon, chopped
1 tablespoon cilantro, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 roasted red pepper (jarred or fresh)
Extra virgin olive oil
Agave syrup
Salt
Cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut eggplant in half lengthwise and place cut-side-down on a baking sheet. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until soft and collapsed. (Or...skip the oven and cook in the microwave for 8-10 minutes.) Set aside until cool enough to handle.

When eggplant is cool, scrape out the flesh and put it in the bowl of a food processor along with the lemon, cilantro, garlic, red pepper, and a glug of olive oil. Pulse to a puree. Season with agave syrup, a big pinch of salt, and as much cayenne as you care to add.

Enjoy with crudites and pita chips or fresh pita triangles. Also tasty stuffed into a pita with some baby greens and more roasted red pepper. Feta, too, if you have it.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Paolo's Tapenade

Anyone in Baltimore remember Paolo's? When the Harborplace location opened, it became one of my favorite downtown restaurants. I was first introduced to (the now impossibly dated) raspberry vinaigrette at Paolo's, and the concept of tapenade as "butter." Back then, most restaurants offered butter with their bread--the whole olive oil thing hadn't quite caught on yet in Baltimore. Paolo's served bread sticks and a tasty green olive-based tapenade.

I loved that tapenade, and usually requested more. One of the restaurant's hosts worked with a theater company that I also did some work for, and I was happy to see him bring a veritable vat of green olive tapenade to a company party. Thinking back (waaay back), I probably parked myself in front of it and ignored the other guests (most of whom I didn't particularly like--I think that was true of 90% of the members of this particular group).

Flash forward about a decade to the early 2000s, when Mr Minx and I had dinner at the Towson Paolo's. During our meal, we noticed something rank-smelling. We checked on the table and under the table before realizing it was the crab on his pasta dish. We never went back. Rotten crab aside, I still enjoyed the tapenade. And the raspberry vinaigrette. (I still like both.)

For some reason, that tapenade popped into my mind, and I decided to email my contact at Paolo's parent company for the recipe. Before I did that, I checked the restaurant's Web site (there are still Paolo's in DC and Reston) and found it there. It seemed like a good thing to make for a Stitch-n-Bitch snack. So I did. I reduced the recipe by half and still ended up with a quart. The original also called for chickpeas, which don't sit well with me, so I used cannellini beans instead.

It wasn't quite as I remembered it--I think the chickpeas are probably crucial--but it was really good. I enjoyed it, and my fellow stitch-n-bitcher enjoyed it too.

Green Olive Tapenade (adapted from Paolo's)

1 medium eggplant
8 ounces canned cannelini beans
1 15-ounce jar green olives with pimentos, drained
1 red bell pepper, roasted, peeled and seeded (can be from a jar)
1 large handful fresh parsley
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper

Split eggplant in half. Place cut-side-down on a microwave safe plate. Cover with plastic wrap. Microwave on high for 10-15 minutes, until soft and deflated. Remove from microwave and allow to cool.

When cool, scoop eggplant flesh into the bowl of a food processor. Add the beans, olives, bell pepper, parsley, garlic, and half the olive oil. Pulse to a puree. Add the remaining olive oil and season with pepper. Pulse to combine.

Serve with crostini or crusty bread.

Makes a ton.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Pink Sultan

That's a funny name for a dip, isn't it? Pink Sultan? Perhaps a little pompous? But it's a thing--a yogurt and beet concoction that is a typical Turkish mezze. Traditionally made with labne, a yogurt cheese, the dish can be quite thick, like the one we had at Bosphorus earlier this year.

Labne isn't exactly in every supermarket, and I didn't feel like waiting 24 hours to make my own (nor did I have any cheesecloth), so I just used plain, unstrained, Greek yogurt to turn the dish into a dip for crackers and crudites. One thing that can be found in most supermarkets is plain cooked beets. Use the ones found in the produce section, not in jars in the canned goods aisle. Two 1 1/2" - 2" beets should do the trick for 1 cup of yogurt. Season it up with garlic, a bit of lemon juice, and salt, and you have a tasty and different party snack. And it doesn't even really taste like beets.

If you do find labne, or have the patience to make your own, you can still use the same recipe. The labne will be spreadable rather than dippable, so serve it with some fresh pitas rather than crackers or veg.

Pink Sultan Dip

2 cooked beets, chopped
1 cup Greek yogurt
1 clove garlic, crushed
Squeeze lemon juice
Salt to taste

Combine ingredients in a food processor until well-blended. Serve with pita, crackers, or crudites.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Nutella Cannoli Dip

A recent dinner out inspired me to whip up this little treat. We were served mini cannoli stuffed with Nutella-flavored ricotta, and I thought, why bother with the cannoli shells?

I was originally going to make it for last weekend's Stitch 'n' Bitch, but everyone bailed on me. I made it anyway, and we ate it all ourselves.

A little tip for food geeks and people watching their weight. (Which is everyone, except me.) The more powdered sugar one adds to the dip, the better and thicker the texture. But sugar, of course, has calories. Ultratex 3, a thickening agent derived from tapioca, can deliver the same texture with far fewer calories. Unlike other starches, it doesn't need to be heated first and doesn't leave a starchy or gummy mouthfeel. Two teaspoons of Ultratex 3 is plenty for this amount of dip, allowing you to decrease the amount of sugar used to 1/4 cup.

Nutella Cannoli Dip

1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1/4 cup Nutella
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 - 3/4 cup powdered sugar
Chopped hazelnuts, for garnish
Cookies and fruit, for serving

Combine the ricotta, Nutella, vanilla, and cinnamon in a bowl. Stir in powdered sugar until it reaches a dippable texture--neither runny nor thick, somewhat like cooked pudding.

Speaking of pudding, one can certainly skip the dippers and serve this as a pudding.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Goddess-y Dressing

So, more snow. I really can't take much more of this. And I like winter--I just don't like the seemingly endless cycle of shoveling and salting, shoveling and salting. Walking the dog on slippery sidewalks (because nobody else in the neighborhood seems to understand that they should salt their sidewalks so pedestrians won't slip and break anything) is annoying and scary and I just want this crap to melt and never come back.

While it seems most appropriate to make a comforting stew or other such cold-weather food, I felt like I needed a reminder that Spring was somewhere around the corner. We had a bunch of cilantro and basil in the fridge, so I whipped up a green dressing with them. The lovely color and zingy flavor was a nice harbinger of things to come. If they come.

A typical green goddess dressing has tarragon and anchovy, but I think any combination of flavorful green herbs (except rosemary) works fine. In place of the anchovy, I added a few drops of Worcestershire sauce.

Goddess-y Dressing

1 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves and stems
1/2 cup loosely packed basil leaves
3 scallions, white and green parts chopped
extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
lime or lemon juice to taste
few drops of Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper

Place the cilantro, basil, and scallions in a food processor and pulse to a puree with the help of some of the olive oil. Just use enough to get the herbs going. Add the yogurt and mayo and puree. Season to taste with the citrus juice, Worcestershire, and salt and pepper.

Makes about half a cup.

We had some leftover rotisserie chicken in the fridge, so I made a chicken salad using some of the herb dressing. Chopped apple adds additional green flavor and a nice texture.

Goddess-y Chicken Salad

2 cups cooked chicken, torn into medium-large chunks
1 small apple, peeled and diced
3 tablespoons or so of Goddess-y dressing
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients. Serve on greens or in sandwiches. Serves 2.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Edamame Hummus

I've been on a hummus kick lately, have you noticed? I really do love the stuff and would eat it more often if it wasn't normally made with chick peas. Those little bastards give me such intestinal distress, I can't even look at them without getting gassy. In their place, I've been making hummus with just about every other bean under the sun, mostly with success.

Not long ago, we bought some edamame hummus from Trader Joe's, and man, that stuff was delicious! The best bean yet. So when I decided that our Memorial Day dinner would involve kebabs and various Mediterranean-inspired sauces, I put edamame hummus on the list of must-makes. Coincidentally, I received Louisville chef Edward Lee's new cookbook, Smoke and Pickles, at around the same time and the first recipe I turned to when I opened the book at random was his version of edamame hummus. It was kismet.

Lee makes his hummus chunky and uses it as a side dish. I wanted a more traditional dip/puree, so I added a bit more water to the food processor when I was blending. I also didn't need quite so much hummus, so I halved the recipe. Here's my take on it:

Edamame Hummus (adapted from Smoke and Pickles)

2 green onions, white and light green part, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup frozen edamame
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin

Saute the green onion and garlic in the olive oil until soft, 2-3 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients to the pan and bring to a simmer. Cook 6-8 minutes, or until beans are no longer crunchy. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

Puree the mixture in a food processor until fairly smooth, adding additional additional water to help the process. Taste the mixture and adjust seasoning with more lemon juice, soy, and olive oil, if necessary.

Serve at room temperature with unsalted tortilla chips or pita.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

South x Southwestern Hummus

I was in the mood for hummus. Not traditional hummus, mind you - I can't eat chick peas without suffering some painful consequences (I know, TMI) - but a reasonable facsimile.

My tastebuds were leaning toward a hummus flavored with tomatoes and red bell peppers, something Southwestern-ish, so I really wanted to use black beans. But lo and behold - I had none. I did have a cup of dried black eyed peas, however, and because I really wanted hummus (and was too lazy to walk to the store), I did a quick boil and soak, and then cooked the peas to tenderness. Beans are bland enough that just about any kind can be successfully used in a hummus-like preparation, but black-eyed peas are a little more South than Southwest.

Tahini is another traditional hummus ingredient, but just about any nut butter will do. If peanut butter is good enough for Alton Brown, then it's good enough for me. But I happened to have a can of tahini in the fridge, so that peanut butter hummus will have to wait another day. I did have bags of sundried tomatoes and sundried bell peppers (find them at nuts.com), which were rehydrated in boiling water, and the whole mess was bunged into the Magimix. (Sorry. Channeling Jamie Oliver there.)

Cumin and garlic are usually found in hummus, but to spice it up a bit more, I added some ground chipotle for a smoky kick. The result was quite luscious, and we scooped it up with chips made from stale flour tortillas.

South x Southwest Hummus

1/2 cup loosely packed sundried tomatoes
1/2 cup loosely packed sundried red bell peppers (or 1 jarred or freshly roasted red bell pepper)
3 tablespoons tahini
2 cups cooked or canned black eyed peas (or your favorite bean)
1 clove garlic
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper (or 1/2 canned chipotle in adobo)
extra virgin olive oil, as needed
salt to taste
chopped scallions

Place sundried tomatoes and peppers (if using) in a saucepan with about a cup of water. Bring to a boil, then turn down heat and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to come to room temperature.

Drain tomatoes and peppers and chop coarsely. Place in the bowl of a food processor with the tahini, beans, garlic, lemon juice, cumin, and chipotle. Blend until well puréed, adding olive oil to aid the process. (If you're using jarred bell pepper, you'll need less oil than if you use the sundried.) The texture should be thick enough to be scooped with pita or tortilla chips, but not so thick that the chip would break. Add salt to taste.

Serve drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and garnished with chopped scallions.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Lowbrow Brilliant

We had a couple of people over before Christmas to celebrate the birthday of a friend. For noms, I put together a do-it-yourself taco bar with several types of homemade salsas and cremas and a centerpiece of roasted pork shoulder using Dave Lieberman's technique and a rub of Penzey's Bicentennial seasoning. But before the tacos hit the table, I served up a baked corn dip that disappeared like wildfire. My friend Sue Ellen would call it "lowbrow brilliant." ("Sue Ellen" and "lowbrow" don't even belong in the same sentence, but there it is.)

Prepared with canned corn, mayonnaise, and sour cream, the dish was definitely lowbrow. The blogger who supplied the recipe usually eats it cold, but the look is so unappetizing (no photo - use your imagination: corn, glops of white stuff, and shreds of yellow cheese) I can't imagine even giving it a taste in its uncooked state. However, heated in the oven until the cheese melts and forms a creamy amalgamation with the other ingredients, it's quite delicious.

Cheesy Corn Dip adapted from One Savory Life

2 11oz cans corn, or three cups of frozen corn kernels
2/3 cup mayo
1 1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1/2 cup finely minced fresh cilantro
3 cups shredded medium-sharp cheddar cheese
1 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper or 2 dashes hot sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together, place in a 4-cup oven safe dish and bake at 375° for 20 minutes or until bubbly and the cheese is melted. Serve hot with flour tortillas or crisp corn tortilla chips.
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So what to do with a bunch of sundry party leftovers? (Corn dip, shredded pork, two types of crema  - one with green chiles and garlic and one with chipotle - bacon, and leftover spaghetti from another night.) Why, make a casserole!

Leftovers Casserole

2 cups cooked pasta
1 cup Corn Dip (see recipe above)
1 cup sour cream
cilantro, green chiles, scallions, seasonings to taste
1/2 cup shredded cheese
2 slices bacon, crumbled
2 tablespoons bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350F. Place pasta in a microwave-safe container, cover with plastic wrap, and nuke for a minute or so to soften.

In a separate bowl mix leftover dip and sour cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper, plus chopped scallion, chopped cilantro, cumin, chipotle, green chiles, etc.

Pour sour cream mixture over spaghetti and toss to blend. Place in a 8" square baking dish. Top with shredded cheese, bacon, and bread crumbs. Bake for 20-25 minutes until cheese is melted and dish is heated through.

Exotic Dinner Party

Had I made it past the first round of Project Food Blog, this would have been my third post:

When I read that the third challenge was to hold a "luxurious dinner party where guests would discover new tastes and exotic flavors," I was immediately struck by the word "exotic." My favorite cuisine, one that is still pretty exotic in the greater Baltimore area, is Thai food. I can't begin to tell you how much I love the intense flavors of lemongrass, kaffir lime, and chiles commingled with creamy coconut milk, the scent of fragrant, nutty, jasmine rice perfuming the air along with garlic and galangal, and the aromatic wonder that is red curry.

:::closing eyes and taking a deep, imaginary sniff::: Ahhh!

My favorite Thai restaurant closed a few years ago, leaving me heartbroken. Where was I going to get my fix of tom yum goong and Thai iced tea? While there are still a couple of pretty decent Thai places around, sometimes I find it easier to concoct something at home. And while I love authentic food, the inauthentic certainly has a place in my heart, too. Definitely in my kitchen. I thought it would be fun to have a party featuring not only Thai food, but also Thai flavors in dishes of other ethnic origins, to make them more accessible to my inexperienced friends. The Thai food virgins.

I was happily surprised to find that eight of the fourteen friends and family members I invited were eager to experience the flavors of Thailand. Counting Mr Minx and I, that would make ten diners.

And six dining-room chairs.

Rather than a sit-down dinner party, I thought it could be more fun to have a finger food buffet, that way, I could accommodate everyone, while making food prep a bit easier on myself.

The first thing I do in a situation like this - well, in any party situation - is to go through my cookbooks to get ideas for dishes. What authentic Thai dishes did I want to include? What other party food could be transformed with the flavors of lemongrass and Kaffir lime? How much coconut milk and red curry paste could I get away with using without making everything taste similar? What could be enjoyed cold or at room temperature? What dishes best fit the various dietary requirements and allergies that would be in attendance? And what do *I* really want to prepare that both shows off the ethnic flavors I wish to showcase...and my cooking talents?

And then I had it - the menu:

Thai red curry and Thai basil deviled eggs
Laab chicken salad wraps
Smoked Tofu lettuce wraps
Thai coconut gazpacho
Roasted eggplant with tofu and basil
Trio of Thai dips with crudités
Cucumber relish
Thai pork sliders (Tod mun mu)
Thai "babaganoush"
Jasmine rice salad
Coconut trifle

The whole spread.

One of my all-time favorite Thai dishes is tod mun pla, fried fish cakes studded with bits of green beans and seasoned with Kaffir lime. These little beauties are aromatic, crunchy, and fried - a triumverate of perfection. I always thought they would make terrific sliders. So I concocted a Minxian variation, substituting ground pork for ground fish. Served on mini potato rolls and topped with a traditional cucumber salad, these tod mun mu (mu being the Thai word for pork) were little bits of burger heaven.

A tod mun mu slider topped with cucumber relish and cilantro.

Another twist on Thai flavors is found in my coconut gazpacho. I whipped some of this up a few weeks back, when I had a surfeit of coconut milk on hand. The flavors are gorgeous, and a chilled but spicy soup is perfection on these still a bit too-warm early Autumn days.

Because Mr Minx isn't a fan of deviled eggs, I seldom get to eat them. But with seven egg-loving party guests (and one hater), I thought it would be a good occasion to break out my fancy deviled egg plate. (No good Southern girl should be without one, so I've been told!) I flavored half of the filling with Thai chilli basil paste (one of my all-time favorite condiments) and half with red curry paste. All were incredibly good, and I had to stop myself from eating most of them.

Yeah, they're not pretty. Almost every yolk was way off-center, which caused the
whites to tear when I removed them. And I didn't have a piping bag.

The egg-hater happens to be an eggplant lover, so I made a couple of dishes with her favorite vegetable. One was a fairly straightforward Thai stir-fry of roasted eggplant and tofu, and the other a Thai-ized babaganoush, with almond butter standing in for the tahini.

Babagawhash?

Can't have a dinner without dessert, right?  I contemplated making some of that decadent coconut custard that is usually served in tiny little two-tablespoon-sized bowls, but instead decided that a trifle would be just the thing.  I cheated a bit and used Bird's Custard, but mixed with two cans of coconut milk rather than cow's milk, and an Sarah Lee All Butter Pound Cake. Plus fresh pineapple and mango. It was a smash hit.

The verdict?

Everyone seemed to enjoy the food, and I received several requests for the recipes, which I'll be posting here in the near future. Two of the three dips were completely decimated, with the third being too spicy for most people. And people who didn't like coconut milk were eating...coconut milk.

Personally, I was very happy with the way just about everything turned out. The sliders were probably my favorite, followed by the gazpacho and the eggs (which made for a killer breakfast on Sunday).

If you liked this post (or even if you didn't), please leave a comment!