Sweet Potato Chips

Printable version

Little is known about the menu at the first Thanksgiving dinner with the pilgrims and Native Americans at Plymouth, but more than likely sweet potatoes weren’t on it. Their introduction as a Thanksgiving staple occurred during the 20th century and is the result of the spread of Southern cooking throughout the United States, where it had been a regional mainstay for generations.

I personally have never been crazy for sweet potatoes but that is because I don’t have much of a sweet tooth. I enjoy them most when they are prepared without lots of sugar.

For this recipe, I turn the sweet potato into a savory baked chip and serve it with a roasted garlic and chive dip. The potatoes need to be watched closely near the end of cooking because the window between under cooked and over-cooked is small, but well worth watching for. A tray of sweet potato chips and creamy dip is a nice little compliment to go with the mounds of savory Thanksgiving turkey and delicious sides.

BEHIND THIS BITE

Sweet Potato Chips with Roasted Garlic Dip

With this recipe, I launch the first salvo of Thanksgiving 2013.

This is the fourth time around for me as far as writing and documenting recipes for the holidays. I’m improving each time. (I hope to have it down pat by year 10!) This time I made a couple of dishes early on for the weekly print column (Sweet potato chips is one of them) then served a full-on Thanksgiving dinner to my niece, two nephews and my Mom and Dad on November 16. This will allow me to have all the recipes written with graphics and pretty photos published in time for people to use them or get ideas for creating there own Holiday spread. I still have one more recipe to complete though, which involves the leftovers, so I'm not totally finished.

I’m really happy with how all of my dishes turned out this year. I planned well, which resulted in a yummy turkey and five better than average sides. I didn’t make any dessert, because when it comes to Thanksgiving I’m way too full of the savory stuff to want any sweets. I’d rather just snack on turkey and green bean casserole as day goes along. I'll save the deserts for Christmas.

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE

Sweet Potato Chips and Garlic Chive Dip

 
Serves 4; 1 hour
2 Sweet potatoes (sliced 1/8 inch thick or less)
5 cloves Garlic
1/2 C Sour cream
3 Tbs Mayonnaise
2 Tbs Chives minced

Slice, bake chips
Preheat oven to 400°.
Brush both sides of sweet potato slices with oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet. In batches, bake slices for 20 to 25 minutes, or until crispy, flipping half way through and rotating pan if necessary. Monitor closely near end of cooking.

Make dip
Drizzle garlic with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper, then wrap with aluminum foil. Place in oven with sweet potatoes and cook 20 minutes. Remove, let cool and mince. Mix sour cream, mayo, chives and garlic together in a bowl, let flavors meld at least 20 minutes, then serve with sweet potato chips. 

Spicy Refried Beans

Printable version

This recipe is an update of a basic refried bean dish I made back in May. This time I added some choice spices and a little cheese to the final product. I also tried to extract some heat and flavor from three habanero peppers while I cooked the beans.

I was going for a much spicier bean dip than what I ended up with. I have used this habanero extraction technique before in barbecue sauce and it worked like a charm, but for some reason it didn’t translate with the beans, I’m not sure but I think the amount of beans to the ratio of liquid might have been what neutralized the heat. It was a little spicy but not habanero spicy.

I could have gotten much more kick by skipping the habanero and just adding cayenne pepper in the final stage. The habanero was tame but the jalapeno pepper and the pepper jack cheese were able to bring a little kick of their own to the party.

BEHIND THIS BITE

Spicy refried beans

I put together a nacho bar for a church gathering recently and decided it was a good opportunity to improve on my refried bean recipe from a few months back. I have found that nacho, taco or even hot dog bars are some of the best ways to feed a group of people. All you need is a variety of toppings to go along with the main proteins.

Not everyone at the party is going to put all the items on their hot dog or nachos, they will pick and choose. This can backfire if everyone goes over board, but in general, enough of each topping to cover half to three-quarters of the guests is usually more than enough. If something runs out then people have other options.

If your not sure what to take to the next family get together try a couple bags of tortilla chips, canned chili and nacho cheese, throw in some fresh onions and tomato and I’ll bet it’ll be a hit.

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE

Spicy refried beans

Makes 4 Cups; 4 hours
1 lb Dried pinto beans
3 Habanero peppers
8 C water
1 Tbs Salt
1/2 C Onion,diced
1/4 C Jalapeno, seeded, diced
1 Tbs Garlic, minced
2 Tbs Chili powder
1 Tbs Cumin
1 C Pepper Jack cheese, shredded

Prepare beans
Place beans in a large sauce pan or soup pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, cover and remove from heat. Let sit at least one hour then drain. Return beans to pot with fresh water and salt. Cut slices in habanero peppers and throw in pot. Bring to a simmer and cook uncovered until soft, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Drain and reserve 1 cup of the liquid. Discard habanero peppers.

Make refried beans
In a cast iron skillet over medium heat saute onion and jalapeno in a little olive oil until soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Season to taste. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more. Add the beans and mash, add some of reserved water to make a paste-like mixture (amount may vary). Stir in chili powder, cumin and a quarter cup of cheese. Once melted add another quarter cup of cheese, repeat until gone. Adjust seasoning and simmer to a desired thickness, then serve.

French Onion with Bacon Dip

Printable version

To me, chip dip screams summertime. It seems like whenever I’m scooping a mouthful onto a wavy potato chip I’m either at a lake for a picnic or an outdoor party in the heat of summer. The one exception is Super Bowl Sunday, but that is the pinnacle of party food and dips are a requirement.

For this recipe, I decided to revisit a classic that I had made a couple of years ago for my print column - French Onion Dip, only this time I add bacon.

The secret to making this dip delicious is not the onions or the bacon – it’s the roasted garlic, which provides a savory balance to the sweetness of the caramelized onions and gives the dip depth of flavor.

I tried something I have never done before to cook the garlic for this dish. Instead of roasting it in the oven, I wrapped it in foil with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and tossed it into the pot with the onions. After a half an hour it was perfectly roasted and ready for me to mince and put in the dip. The foil worked perfect as a little garlic roaster.

In the end, this dip was outrageously good.
The homemade version just blows any store-bought french onion dip out of the water. It will be a highlight in any spread at a party.

BEHIND THIS BITE
As I mention in the beginning, it has been a couple of years since I have made homemade chip dip and I had forgotten how delicious it is. I destroyed about a half a bag of chips after I made this stuff and had to force myself to put it away.

It seems like over the last few weeks I had been putting together some huge posts with tons of pictures and steps. This dip was a conscious effort to make something simple that wouldn’t take hours to photograph and reproduce in an information graphic. I had done a couple of tacos (here & here) recently that contain as many photos and steps as I usually do in two or three posts. I wanted a simple recipe that would come together quick.

If you’re a fan of dips I highly recommend trying this, but make sure there is enough chips around because it’s pretty easy to polish off an entire bag with a bowl of it on the counter.

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE
Makes 2 Cups; 1 hour
4 strips Bacon, diced
5 cloves Garlic, whole
1 1/2 C Onion, diced
1 C Sour cream
1/2 C Mayonnaise
1 bag Wavy potato chips

Fry bacon
In a pan over medium heat cook bacon until crispy and rendered, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from pan with slotted spoon to a paper towel lined plate.

Caramelize onions, roast garlic
In same pan over medium heat saute onions in bacon drippings. Season garlic with olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Wrap cloves in aluminum foil. Add foil wrapped garlic to onions. Cook until onion are soft and have caramelized 25 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove onions from pan and let cool. Remove garlic from foil and mince.

Make dip
Mix together bacon, onions, garlic, mayonnaise and sour cream until well incorporated. Adjust seasoning if necessary. Let rest at least half an hour for flavors to meld. Serve with wavy potato chips for dipping.

Red Pepper and Onion Dip

Printable version

In the 1950s, the Thomas J. Lipton Company began promoting dip made from mixing their dried onion soup with sour cream or cream cheese. They sponsored radio and television programs and provided recipes on millions of their packages as promotion.    At the same time, potato chips were being mass marketed and it wasn’t long before the crunchy and salty treats became the favorite method of dip delivery.

The ease and convenience of chips and dip made them a popular snack to enjoy while watching television, which also became widely accepted in the 1950s and helped catapult the dip industry to the billion dollar business that it is today.

For this recipe, I make a homemade dip from red pepper and onion. The vegetables are sautéd with a little garlic to bring out their sweetness and to eliminate any raw or sharp flavors before being mixed with sour cream and mayo. The end result is a savory dip that will make devouring an entire bag of potato chips a simple task.

BEHIND THIS BITE

As the daily temperature slowly begins to rise in Northern Indiana I have been thinking more and more about warm weather cooking. I always think about grilling stuff, so I’m not really talking about that. I’m thinking about all the stuff that goes with grilled food.

Chips and dip are one such treat for me. They are also a party food, but curly chips with some creamy dip always reminds me of lunch on a hot summer day. I ate a lot of the two during summer vacation as a kid. When we were in school we had to eat the school lunch. In the summertime, there were many days that I was able to sneak off and eat a plateful of chips with a half tub of dip for my mid-day meal. I would just skip the tuna salad sandwiches Mom made for us all together.

Amazing how a plate of fried potatoes with a dairy based sauce could be enough fuel to play outside all day four hours and hours. These days it seems I need at least two meals and a gallon of coffee just to have enough energy to photograph and write about food.

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE

Makes 2 cups; 15 minutes active; 2 1/2 hours inactive
1 C Red pepper diced
1 C Sweet onion diced
1 tsp Garlic minced
1 C Sour cream
1/3 C Mayonnaise

Cook vegetables
In a sauté pan over medium heat cook red pepper and onion in a little olive oil until soft with salt and pepper to taste, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in garlic, cook another 1 to 2 minutes more. Remove from heat and let cool at least 30 minutes.

Make dip
In a medium sized bowl mix together vegetables, sour cream and mayonnaise. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours to let flavors meld. Serve with favorite type of chip or fresh vegetables for dipping.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Printable version

NOTE: For all my regular readers, this is the last buffalo chicken recipe for a while. Promise.

I was at holiday party back in December and someone had brought buffalo chicken dip. It seems like 90 percent of the time I have eaten the dip it has been made with to much hot sauce. I don’t mind the heat, it’s the acidity. It leaves a foul after-taste in my mouth.

Honestly, I have never cared much for buffalo chicken dip – until I tried it at the holiday party. The secret was adding more cheese and dressing, enough to balance the hot sauce. More mozzarella, combined with ranch dressing, cream cheese and blue cheese was enough to take away the unpleasant after taste. I nearly wiped out the entire crock-pot myself.

The most common recipes for buffalo chicken dip found on labels and manufactures web sites do not call for enough cheese to balance the hot sauce in my opinion. A half cup of Frank’s or Tabasco sauce goes a long way – there has got to be a good amount of milk based product to balance that out.

For this recipe, I add a cup of cream cheese (8 oz), cup of mozzarella, quarter cup of blue cheese and half cup of ranch, That’s 3/4 of a cup more combined than what you’ll find in most Buffalo Chicken Dip recipes. For me, that is the key to make this dip delicious.

BEHIND THIS BITE
Two weeks ago I made four different Buffalo Chicken recipes. I was inspired by some Buffalo Chicken Rub I had picked up at Williams-Sonoma. I wanted to mix it up and get my Buffalo on. I had intended to make the dip then, but I got burned out on Buffalo Chicken. I had to give it a break. I decided to wait until the Super Bowl got closer to make this.

Of all the Buffalo Chicken recipes I've made in the last month this was my favorite, I love how the creaminess of the dip works with the hot sauce. I use tortilla chips with this recipe but it's equally good, and a little healthier, with stalks of celery.

The irony of my Buffalo Chicken recipe frenzy is that I never made the one thing Buffalo Chicken is famous for – wings! Honestly though, if I’m going to make wings, I’m going to make my own gourmet sauce, like the Chipotle Bacon wings I made last summer. Buffalo wings are good, but to me, the secret to great wings is in a special gourmet sauce.

THE RECIPE
Party Dip; 45 minutes
2 cans Chicken (12.5 oz)
8 oz Cream cheese, room temperature
1 C Mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 C Blue cheese, crumbled
1/2 C Ranch dressing
1/2 C Hot sauce (such as Frank’s)
Tortilla chips or celery for dipping

Mix together and bake
In a 2 quart baking dish mix together hot sauce, ranch dressing, mozzarella, blue cheese and chicken. Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 30 minutes or until heated through and bubbly. Stir and serve with tortilla chips.

Beefy Mexican Nacho Dip

Printable version

Another Super Bowl is upon us. The big game has become an unofficial holiday in America, bringing together millions to watch two teams compete for the championship of the NFL. The Super Bowl has something for everyone, if you’re not a fan of football then there’s the commercials and star-studded entertainment.

For me, not only is it the biggest game of the year, but it’s a day to showcase my best party snacks, which is also my favorite type of cuisine to cook and eat. What I love about this type of food is the variety of bites and flavors that can adorn one plate. A good Super Bowl spread should look like a parade of appetizers that will provide hours of snacking. This will create a good base for hours of drinking – or praying – after all, the game is always played on Sunday.

For this recipe, a huge helping of ground beef is smothered in nacho cheese, spices and sautéd vegetables. It’s then heated through in a slow cooker, creating a batch of beefy nacho dip big enough to feed a party.

BEHIND THIS BITE
I am really looking forward to Super Bowl XLVII. It’s the first year in a while that I’m not emotionally invested in the game in one way or the other.

I am a huge Colts, Peyton Manning and whoever is playing the Patriots and Steelers fan.

That said, I have had a real reason to root for one team or the other for the last decade. Some games have been euphoric, the Colts triumphant win in Super Bowl XLI and The Giants destruction of the Patriots perfect season the following year were two amazing highs. The night the Colts lost to the Saints in SB XLIV was a devastating low.

This year, there is no Tom Brady, Ben Rothlisburger or Peyton Manning to sway my fandom. I can set back and just hope for a great game. Will the Raven’s Ray Lewis go out on top or will the young Colin Kaepernick from the 49ers make a mark on the game for the new type of running QB that seems to be emerging around the league.

I hope it’s a game for the ages.

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE
Party Dip; 1 hour, 30 minutes
2 lb Ground beef
1 C Red onion, diced
1 C Jalapeño, chopped with flesh and seeds removed
2 Tbs Chili powder
1 Tbs Cumin
2 cans Nacho Cheese (15 oz each)
1 can Tomatoes, diced and drained (24 oz)
2 bags Tortilla chips

Prep ingredients
In a skillet over medium-high heat brown ground beef, 6 to 8 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Remove with slotted spoon and place in slow cooker. Discard all but 1 tablespoon of drippings. Sauté onion and jalapeño until soft 5 to 6 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Remove to slow cooker.

Combine, heat and serve
Add chili powder, cumin, cheese and tomatoes to slow cooker and combine with beef and vegetables. Cook on high until heated through and bubbly,
1 hour. Serve with tortilla chips.

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Printable version

The final seven years I lived in New York my favorite burger and beer joint, named Sunswick, was just down the block from my apartment. The little establishment had the most beers I have ever seen on tap. Trying to drink a glass of all of them in one sitting would most likely have resulted in an arrest or a ride in an ambulance.

I loved going there on Thursday nights for karaoke or stopping by before heading home after a night of Big Apple debauchery. The burgers were the star of their menu, but my favorite item was their spinach and artichoke dip.

This recipe is inspired by the Sunswick’s recipe, but it contains my own gourmet twists. I’ve added red peppers, garlic and shallots and I make a cheese sauce from scratch, which provides an extra creamy and cheesy base to bind it all together. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to eat spinach and artichoke dip and not be reminded of great times at the corner of 35th avenue and 35th street in Astoria, Queens.

BEHIND THIS BITE
I mention in the intro that Sunswick had so many beers on tap that it would be impossible to drink one of each kind in one sitting. Well, that might be true for most, but there was one night back in 2005 that Sunswick decided to have a contest to see if people could do exactly that.*

I didn't enter the competition but my cousin, who was visiting from out-of-town, decided he would give the challenge a try.

Long story short, he was kicked out before finishing.

Because the owner knew me, it was not done with force, he asked me nicely to take him home, he told me I could stay, but made it clear that my cousin was going to be removed if I didn’t get him out myself. Luckily, he listened to me and we left without incident. He came to visit me often over the years I lived in New York and we always had a great time. (On one particular occasion, I found him explaining to my Brazilian friends what the slang term “tossing your salad” meant.)

*There was one guy at the Sunswick that completed the challenge. I am told he was walked home to make sure he didn’t fall down or take a nap on the stoop of an apartment building, but he completed the challenge and drank for free that night.

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE
Appetizer for 6; 30 minutes
1 Tbs Unsalted butter
1 tsp Garlic, minced
2 Tbs Shallot, minced
1/2 C Red pepper, diced
1 Tbs Flour
2 C Milk
1 C Spinach cooked, chopped
1 C Artichoke hearts, cooked, chopped
2 C Mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 C Parmesan cheese, fresh grated
Tortilla chips

Sauté vegetables, make roux
In a large sauce pan over medium heat, sauté garlic, shallot and red pepper in butter until soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Stir in flour, then cook another 2 minutes.

Add milk, thicken, add spinach, artichokes
Add milk to the pan and simmer until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add spinach and artichokes, simmer another minute or 2.

Add cheese, serve
Add cheese 2 tablespoons at a time. Stir until it is completely melted and then add another two tablespoons. Repeat until cheese is gone and incorporated. Adjust seasonings if needed. Place in a bowl and serve with tortilla chips.