Hot Artichoke Dip

Hot artichoke dip, yum! This is most likely the richest, creamiest hot dip that you will ever consume in your life. In fact, the reason why in the picture the bowl looks like it is barely filled is because that is all I could scrape out of the pan after everyone dug in. It is a very easy recipe to half, and half was plenty for 6 people as an appetizer. It reheats okay, but the cheese and the fat in the mayo tend to separate a bit, kind of like alfredo sauce with leftover fettucine. And don't make the same mistake I did of trying to remember the recipe without glancing it. I ended up melting 2 cups (2 CUPS!) of butter by mistake. Enjoy!

Hot Artichoke Dip
2 cups artichoke hearts (chopped)
2 cups parmesan cheese
2 cups real mayo
1 small can green chilies (diced)
tortilla chips, bread, or whatever you want to use for dipping

Chop and dice. Mix, heat, and eat!

Savory Deviled Eggs

Sorry I don't have a great picture of my deviled eggs. I made them quickly (or as quickly as I could) and then we scooted out the door to take them to our picnic at the park. You see, I actually made these deviled eggs back in May for a Mother's Day picnic that we did for my mom down by the lake. Yes, I'm just getting around to posting about them. It's not that I've had so many more things to post about since then, it's just that I kind of saved it in my "if I ever need something to post about" file and that's about where I'm at right now since we spent the whole month of June and some of July out of town. It was more the look than the taste that relegated them to that particular file. I just can't seem to get a great picture of some types of foods so when they look less than appealing I hesitate to put them out there for everyone to see. I guess that's perfectionism in it's worst form, but as I've said before, who cares what it looks like if it tastes good.

I actually had never made deviled eggs before this experience. I always left that task to someone else when we attended picnics and potlucks because I get easily frustrated with shells on hard-boiled eggs that tear off half the egg white along with the shell and I figured if I had to do this for at least a dozen eggs I was sure to go crazy. I managed to stay sane though and most of the shells came off pretty easily. Instead of making the traditional deviled egg recipe, I made one that I saw in a Southern Living magazine that used slightly different ingredients. I had a good experience overall so I think I'll be making more deviled eggs in my future. Enjoy!

Savory Deviled Eggs
Makes 2 dozen

1 dozen large Hard-Cooked Eggs, peeled
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons chopped black olives
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

**If you don't have a foolproof method to hard-boil eggs, skip to the * at the bottom of this post.*

Slice eggs in half lengthwise; carefully remove yolks, keeping egg white halves intact. Process yolks, garlic, olives, and lemon zest in a food processor until combined, stopping to scrape down sides. (You can see I just used my pastry blender since I don't have a food processor. It worked just fine for me.)

With food processor running, gradually pour olive oil through food chute in a slow, steady stream, processing until mixture thickens. (Again, you don't need a food processor. Just stir it in until completely combined.) Stir in salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon yolk mixture into egg white halves.

*Hard-Cooked Eggs
Place eggs in a single layer in a stainless steel saucepan (do not use non-stick). Add water to a depth of 3 inches, and bring to a rolling boil. Cover and remove from heat. Let eggs stand 12 minutes. Drain immediately, and return eggs to pan. Fill pan with cold water and ice. Tap each egg firmly on the countertop until cracks form all over the shell. Peel under cold running water.

Guacamole

I can get stuck in a rut. When I go out to a restaurant I often order the same thing every time I'm at that restaurant. I figure that if I know I like that particular meal then why not go with something I know I like instead of risking not liking something as much and then being disappointed. Sad, I know. So imagine my surprise when I decided to try a new guacamole recipe after making it for the first time in my life just a few months ago.

I would not consider myself a huge guacamole connoisseur. I love avocados, I just haven't made a lot of guacamole. I think the fact that just in the last few months I have finally started cooking with raw onions is a big part of this. Before this last year any recipe that used raw onions I tended to shy away from. I'm still not a huge fan of onions but I seem to be better able to tolerate them if they are chopped very, very small. So, back to the guacamole.

I had a get together a few weeks ago and I decided to be daring and try a new recipe. I think it's always fun to try a new recipe when you have many other tasters available, but it can also backfire on you and taste absolutely disgusting and then you feel totally embarrassed. I decided to take the risk so I typed "world's best guacamole recipe" into my computer and I found this website, Raw Food Hypocrite. What I thought was great about this particular post is that the writer summarized what ingredients go in most guacamole and then linked to their top five guacamole recipes. I tried the number one recipe and have to agree that it is a winner.

The only change I made to the original recipe was using dry cayenne pepper instead of the Texas Champagne cayenne pepper, and then experimenting with the amount of cilantro I added. Enjoy!


World's Best Guacamole
Source: Cooking.com

3 ripe avocados, peeled and pitted
juice of 1 lime
1 medium ripe tomato, diced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
4 dashes cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon sugar
salt to taste
parsley, chopped fine (optional garnish)

Mash the avocados in a bowl with a fork until slightly lumpy. Stir in the lime juice, tomato, cilantro, onion, and garlic. Add the cayenne pepper, cumin, sugar, and salt. Mix well. Sample and add more seasonings if desired. (Make sure you sample with the chips you will serve it with; sometimes chips can be more salty than others and that can change the taste of your guacamole.)

Cover the bowl and chill or let sit at room temperature for about an hour to let the flavors blend.

Pico de Gallo and Guacamole

Homemade pico de gallo and guacamole graced our tv trays during the great eat fest of 2010 otherwise known as the Superbowl. Yes, I know that the Superbowl happened over a month ago and I am just now getting around to posting one of the appetizers that I made that day. So, I'm a little slow.

Anyway, I received the Pioneer Woman's cookbook as a Christmas gift this year and if you've never heard of the Pioneer Woman you'll have to go check out her website because she has some fantastic stuff on there. I had never before made guacamole, and let me tell you, there are a bazillion different recipes out there for variations on guacamole. Since I am such a visual learner I chose to follow the step by step instructions in her cookbook. Yes, I even bought, peeled, and chopped up an onion. If you know me you know that is about the third time in all my 15 years of being married that I have purchased and cut up raw onion to use in a recipe. It was also my first time using cilantro and I can tell you that if I chop it up again I will have a wooden clothespin over my nostrils. For some reason the smell of that herb got to me good.

You can find the recipe online, or you can also purchase her fabulous cookbook which has both recipes in it as well. You can also make pico de gallo and guacamole separate of each other if you would like to. Enjoy!


Pico de Gallo
Source: The Pioneer Woman

5 whole roma tomatoes
1/2 whole large (or 1 small) onion
3 whole jalapeno peppers
cilantro
lime juice
salt

Chop jalapenos, tomatoes and onions into a very small dice. (Leave seeds in your jalapenos for a hotter pico). Adjust amount of jalapenos to your preferred temperature. Next, chop up a nice-sized bunch of cilantro. Just remove and discard the long leafless stems before chopping. No need to remove the leaves from the stems completely. Place all of these ingredients together in a bowl and give it a good stir.
Squeeze the juice of half of one lime into the bowl. Add salt to taste and stir again.


Guacamole
3 whole avocados
pico de gallo
lime juice
salt

Start with buttery-soft avocados. Halve them lengthwise and remove the pits. Next, with a spoon scrape the “meat” out onto a large plate. Next, with the bottom of a clean cup (or with a fork) mash the avocados, making sure to leave it relatively chunky. Add just a couple of shakes of salt to taste. Next, add a generous helping of Pico de Gallo. Fold together. Lastly squeeze the juice of half of a lime over the top. Give it one last stir.