Mmm...dip

So, Miss M did it again last fall when she shared the amazing recipe for Buffalo Chicken Dip with us. This dip went faster than any other food item at our first OSU-Michigan party (Nov 22, mark your calendars).

As with all my recipes it seems, you start with a creamy base - in this case, cream cheese and chunky blue cheese dressing
Then the magical elixir....real AUTHENTIC Anchor Bar wing sauce
See how orangey the creamy mixture gets?
Meanwhile, over on the other counter, Mr. R was shredding a rotisserie chicken....
Then, most of the non-ick parts of said chicken were added to the base....
Spread into a casserole dish and bake at 400 degrees until hot and very bubbly
Like this
Serve said dip with bread or tortilla chips and a cold beverage of your choice...

Homemade ranch dressing

Again, I was inspired by Pioneer Woman with her recent post regarding ranch dressing.* While I don't claim ranch to be my favorite dressing of all time, something about the pictures on that post drove me to crave ranch dressing like never before. With a few days off work, I decided to give it a whirl.

First, the herbage. Here we have dill, chives, and a lot of flat-leaf parsleyl. Oh, and a garlic clove that is preparing to meet its Maker, the microplane. Behold the gleaming garlic clove!Next, the creamy goodness. Sour cream and mayo - I opted for an almost equal split - maybe a cup of mayo to 2/3 c sour cream? Something along those lines. I also tossed in a splash of Worcestershire sauce. That stuff goes with everything, I swear. I also added sea salt and ground black pepper. Mmm.Mix mix mix and add splashes of buttermilk as you go - I probably added nearly a half cup when all was said and done. It is still SLIGHTLY thick for a salad, but I'm thinking that most of mine will be used as a dip for strips of bell pepper, carrot sticks, and grape tomatoes.As our friend PW says, you'll want to play with it - taste as you go, etc. Mine took more salt than I'd expected. Once it sat in the fridge for a while, I ended up adding another pinch of salt. And, for my personal tastes, one minced garlic clove was MORE than enough - the dressing was actually spicy just from one. But that's the beauty of homemade salad dressings - they are endlessly customizable to meet your personal tastes!



*A shoutout to my mom - RANCH!

Famous beer cheese dip

Ok - so I make this dip for most parties. It is a HUGE favorite in my husband's family, and generally enjoyed by all who enjoy a good dip. I'm not entirely clear on the provenance of this recipe - I got it from my grandparents who got it from a friend of my aunt and uncle's. That's about all I know. Here we go - beer cheese dip.

First, you take one 8 oz. bar of cream cheese and 3/4 of a packet of ranch dressing mix. You can easily sub low fat cream cheese. Just stay away from fat free, that is super sick.

Smush those items together for a bit, then add some glorious beer (or not so glorious - you can use crap beer if you desire) ACTION SHOT!

And finally.....cheese....wonderful cheese....
Mix 'em all up and put into a serving bowl. Serve with pretzels, crackers...really just about anything!

Super Bowl Snacking

Mmm. I love national events based around eating. Oh, and sports, I suppose. But really, I am not the one playing the sport, so I have to eat to support the players, right? RIGHT?

Anyways, last night we had a lovely spread featuring some chicken tenders with honey mustard, soft pretzels (from a box, I'm lazy, also with honey mustard), leftover onion rings, and some lovely taco/bean dip. Delish.
I won't bore you with the thrilling details of removing chicken tenders and pretzels from their freezer packages and placing them on baking sheets, etc. But the honey mustard is quite delish. A blob of mayo. A squirt of Dijon or yellow mustard. A squirt of whole grain mustard. Some salt and pepper. A TINY globule of honey. I mean tiny. I tend to over-honey at this point thinking that's all we need is honey. NO! A little honey goes a long way here. I mean, for this maybe? cup of honey mustard, I used less than a tsp of honey. Do NOT over honey it. DO NOT! Mix. Eat. Enjoy.

The taco dip comes by way of Miss M from Buffalo. With modifications of course, 'cause I can't leave anything alone. Cream cheese base. Chili beans (I use Bush's medium). I mix it with salsa, because I like the tomatoey twang. I believe she uses diced chilis. Then cheese on top. Bake until golden bubbly. THEN LET IT SIT FOR A FEW MINUTES.* Or else they'll name a ward at the burn unit after you. Serve with tortilla chips or whatever you'd like.


*I seem to be yelling a lot today. I had 3 glasses of sweet tea at lunch. There may or may not have been a Barrel run.

Rings..rings...more rings

On Miss M's prompting, we decided to make some Guinness battered onion rings on Saturday evening. I always forget that this recipe is kind of a pain because 1) anything involving frying can be messy 2) it takes a long time to make because you are frying a million onion rings and 3) it makes a million onion rings and there are only 2 of us. However, they are quite tasty, although, but the time I was done, I was sort of out of the mood for them. And for some reason, our oil would just NOT get hot enough, so they were a bit oily and pale. But I promise, normally they are delightful.

First, I made some dipping sauces. On the left, we have Mr. R's sauce - mayo, chili sauce, and a squirt of ketchup. V. blah. Inferior dipping sauce. On the right, in the bold red bowl, we have MY dipping sauce - mayo, chili sauce, squirt of ketchup, but with HORSERADISH. Yes. Superior dipping sauce.
See, it makes a ton. And I didn't even use the whole big onion. I got sick of frying. These are big onion rings. This would easily feed 8-10 people, or more, really, if we're being sensible here. I think the next time I make them, I may toss some cornmeal in the battered to add some crunch. I'm crazy like that.

I served them with ridiculously zesty hamburgers. I was trying to use up the last of some steak seasoning and the burgers were a bit overly zesty. As in, borderline inedibly zesty. Oh well.