little_tippler

I went to a party this weekend and one of the guests, who happened to be an American girl, brought along the MOST excellent dip I have ever tasted, called Hot Artichoke Dip. I easily found some recipes online and it must be quite a popular thing stateside, but I'd like to know whether anyone has a special recipe for making it, and if you've had it before, isn't it just melt in the mouth DELICIOUS?

__________________
Whether we write or speak or do but look
We are ever unapparent. What we are
Cannot be transfused into word or book.
Our soul from us is infinitely far.
However much we give our thoughts the will
To be our soul and gesture it abroad,
Our hearts are incommunicable still.
In what we show ourselves we are ignored.
The abyss from soul to soul cannot be bridged
By any skill of thought or trick of seeming.
Unto our very selves we are abridged
When we would utter to our thought our being.
We are our dreams of ourselves, souls by gleams,
And each to each other dreams of others' dreams.

Fernando Pessoa, 1918

maleficent

I've made it a bunch of times, becauase it's easy, and people really seem to enjoy it....

To make (and the amounts are all approximates...

1 can of artichokes in water, drained and tossed in a food processor chop up pretty small
3/4 cup of mayonaisse
1 cup of parmesean cheese
5 cloves of roasted garlic (this was a special touch I added in)
2 cloves regular garlic tossed in the food processor

Mix artichokes, mayo, and garlics togetherin a bowl, add in 3/4 of the parmesean cheese.
Put in oven to heat, covered (about 325 degrees for 20 minutes or so)
Add on rest or parmesean cheese and uncover
drizzle on a bit of olive oil....

Heat until parmesean cheese browns slightly

Serve with crackers or crusty bread.


(For larger crowd, I've tripled the recipe and served in in a small crockpot to keep it warm

__________________

bernadette

mmmmm
i've never made it, but i love this stuff.

ahhh the occasional guilty pleasures.

__________________
.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.

maleficent

I have made it with lowfat mayonaisse, and you honestly cant tell a difference in taste -- I'd probably just add a shot of lemon juice in it... The fat free mayo is just like wallpaper paste....

and it's gotta be mayo-- miracle whip just doesnt cut it...

__________________

bernadette

heh. i grew up on miracle whip, but as an adult i've learned about REAL mayo & i ain't never turning back.

non-fat anything is almost always just wrong! (& often quite nasty).
low-fat is alright, but i'm tending nowadays to go for the gusto.

just go for it & do it right!
moderation is the key. not inferior fakey ingredients.

__________________
.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.

little_tippler

I've seen a few recipes using sour cream instead of mayonnaise, that's probably nice enough.

As an aside, here is my homemade mayonnaise recipe that is really wonderful and easy to make.

1 whole large egg
1 1/2 tsp mustard (smooth)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

I use my blender to make this and you can't go wrong, no problem with separating or anything like that. It looks like this:



I use the whisk attachment with the cup.

So, just put the whole egg into the cup together with the mustard and mix them up with the tsp a little.

then add a little olive oil and turn your whisk on in there.

when that's blended up, start trickling the olive oil in gradually, giving the mix time to blend, if it starts to get all oily inside then stop adding the oil, blend up and then continue. The mayonnaise should start to thicken up. Keep going till all the oil is in and you have a smooth, thick, yellow mayonnaise. After you can add the vegetable oil to give the mayonnaise a lighter flavour. When you've added all the oils, then stick your finger in it, the mayo should be thick and consistent and yellow. Add some salt and pepper and the vinegar and whisk again. Don't overwhisk it all or you'll end up with mayonnaise mousse instead of a creamy consistency.

Taste it to check seasoning and voilá - all natural yummy mayo. This makes a big quantity so just add less oil if you don't want so much mayo.

I use the whole egg as opposed to the egg yolk only because it makes the mayo much lighter and fluffy.

optionally you can use only olive oil to make it less unhealthy but it makes a much stronger taste, and not quite like the mayonaise you're probably accustomed to.

__________________
Whether we write or speak or do but look
We are ever unapparent. What we are
Cannot be transfused into word or book.
Our soul from us is infinitely far.
However much we give our thoughts the will
To be our soul and gesture it abroad,
Our hearts are incommunicable still.
In what we show ourselves we are ignored.
The abyss from soul to soul cannot be bridged
By any skill of thought or trick of seeming.
Unto our very selves we are abridged
When we would utter to our thought our being.
We are our dreams of ourselves, souls by gleams,
And each to each other dreams of others' dreams.

Fernando Pessoa, 1918

maleficent

I made this for a baby shower I went to over the weekend and it was a huge hit... (and the group was a bunch of fussy eaters)

2 cans of artichokes (drained and chopped in the food processor)
3 - 4 cloves of garlic, chopped in food processor
1 package of reduced fat cream cheese
3/4 cup mayo (reduced fat is fine)
a few shots of tabasco sauce
1 cup asiago (or hard grated cheese of your choice)

COmbine all ingredients in sauce pan, and stir until cream cheese is melted.

Pour ingredients into baking dish and sprinkle 1/2 cup or so of grated parmesean cheese (or romano, or asiago, whatever your preference) on top and bake until sides are bubbly and cheese is lightly browned.

Serve with bagel chips or plain (not orange cheesey) tortilla chips.

__________________

Val_1

Love artichoke dip. Ooo, I want some now, even though it's breakfast time for me.

I use :
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup or so chopped red onion
tablespoon or so lemon juice
cup parm cheese
jar artichokes
touch of salt and pepper

bake @ 400 till top gets brown

real good with Melba Snacks. i sometimes add some crab meat, or a bit of spinach.

__________________

I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day.

-Frank Sinatra