There is nothing sophisticated about dips and dunks, but they are easy. If you have an ambitious menu, have a few of them strategically placed surrounded by your favorite chips, toasts, and crackers. You can’t go wrong. All of these are oldies, updated but near and dear to all of us.
Truth to be told, if last minute guests arrive or the neighbors drop in or hungry grandparents arrive on the scene, don’t panic. Look in the refrigerator. Most of us usually have sour cream, yogurt, cream cheese, mayonnaise in the refrig along with many other helpful items. Any one of these can stand alone as a base for a dip or be combined. You can add scallions or chopped onions, seeded and chopped tomatoes, relish, canned tuna fish, canned chopped clams, anchovies, chopped hard boiled eggs, sliced or finely diced olives, grated cheese, left over vegetables….you name it. Oh and don’t forget that old standby, an envelope of dried onion soup mixture. Mix what you will by hand, in the blender or in the food processor until the desired texture is attained. Any kind of chips, crackers, pita bread or if all else fails, make toast cut into smaller pieces for dipping.
Is it gourmet? Certainly not. But generations of busy people have found that in situations where time is the essence, a tasty dip will do.
But beyond the”throw it together” dip, there are some classic dips and spreads that deserve attention.
SPINACH DIP
4 cups of fresh baby pre-washed baby spinach, stems removed
8 ounces softened cream cheese, no lo-fat or lo-cal , just regular
1 ½ cups sour cream or plain yogurt, or combination; l cup of sour cream and /2 cup heavy cream is a blissful idea also. For that matter, l or 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise adds another dimensions, and believe me, the more dimensions the better the dip.
1 cup chopped water chestnuts or jicama or even walnuts or pecans, if it appeals to you. The idea is to get a feeling of crunch.
Blanch spinach in boiling, salted water for 30 to 50 seconds. Drop in pot of cold water to cool. Drain, squeeze water out as thoroughly as possible with hands. Chop; combine all ingredients to taste. Add your own touch with chopped fresh herbs or even thinly sliced scallions. Be daring. Serve with chips, crackers, toasted baguette slices, pita bread et al.
(You could use frozen chopped spinach, but it will not taste as good. Baby spinach is more expensive, but it is pre-washed. Regular fresh spinach is fine, but wash well. Sandy dips are a social no-no.)
TAPENADE
I like tapenade a great deal. It is a deeply flavored traditional Provencal spread that must include oil cured black olives, anchovies or anchovy paste, and an ample amount of garlic. Recipes vary, those are the basics but capers and onions are frequently not far behind. Once blended, you have a product with a hearty, zesty and decided taste.
Unfortunately my husband’s background did not include oil cured black olives, or anchovies or even ample amounts of garlic. He insisted “the smell stays with you.” “So what?” was my inevitable retort. I solved the problem and the resulting “fake” tapenade became popular despite departure from traditions. All this because Lew loved tuna fish and I used the blander canned American style black olives.
1 clove garlic
2 scallions, sliced, white part only
¼ cup chopped parsley or cilantro
1 small can Italian tuna fish (available in super markets) or substitute l small can of white meat tuna
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup of pitted black American style olives
2 teaspoons of anchovy paste
1 tablespoon chopped thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
(Or you could use oregano)
Place all ingredients in food processor until well blended. This would be good with thin bread sticks or toasted slices of baguette. Note: If you really like tuna fish, use the 6 ½ to 7-ounce can. Did my husband like it? Let’s just say there was enough taste of tuna to convince him it was edible. Try the real stuff sometime, there are recipes in every good French cookbook.
Artichoke Dip
1 tsp butter
2 cups grated mozzarella
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
4 cloves garlic minced
2 14-ounce cans water packed artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
Grease a 9 by 9 ceramic baking dish with butter; set aside. Mix mozzarella, parmesan cheese, mayonnaise and garlic together in medium bowl; stir in artichokes. Transfer to prepared dish, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, preferably overnight.
Heat oven to 325. Uncover dip and bake until edges begin to brown, about 30 minutes. Stir and continue baking for 30- to 40 minutes more. Cool briefly, serve warm on toast points. This is a fairly creamy dip.