Jalapeño Dill Pickle Dip

 

​If you’re unfamiliar with the name, Lisa Fain, I would advise you to get to know her immediately, particularly if you are a text max fan like I am. I reviewed her book, Queso, a number of years ago, and have gotten every one of her books since. I love absolutely of her recipes. This one is hers as well, and a wonderful, zesty addition to other dips and spreads with which you’re probably familiar. This is not overly hot despite the jalapeños, but if you have a difficult time tolerating jalapeños, cut back to 1/4 cup. Remember, as I always tell you, dips and spreads work wonderfully as sandwich fillings or condiments, so keep that in mind.

Jalapeño Dill Pickle Dip

Slightly adapted from Lisa Fain

 8-oz. cream cheese, softened

¼ c. sour cream

1 c. finely diced dill pickles

½ c. finely diced Melissa’s pickled jalapeños

2 T. grated Melissa’s shallot

2 T. dill pickle juice

1 T. jalapeño pickle juice

¼ t. Worcestershire sauce

1 T. garlic powder

1 T. dried dill weed

1 t. onion powder

Pinch cayenne

Salt

Chips, crackers, or sliced vegetables, for serving

 Mix the cream cheese, sour cream, dill pickles, jalapeno pickles, grated onion, dill pickle juice, jalapeno pickle juice, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, dill weed, onion powder, and cayenne until smooth and well blended. Taste and adjust seasonings, adding salt to taste.

Chill for at least an hour for the flavors to meld. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before serving so it can soften. Serve with chips, crackers, and/or sliced vegetables.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 

Deviled Ham Salad

This post contains affiliate links. 

I discovered Lisa Fain via her Homesick Texan blog, and was immediately sucked in. Thereafter, she further delighted me with the publication of three books: Queso!, The Homesick Texan Cookbook, and The Homesick Texan’s Family Table, all of which I recommend. We seem to have similar ideas about food — we like it hearty, tasty, and with a bit of a kick. This recipe for deviled ham spread is based upon hers. The difference between her recipe and mine is that I prefer shallots to onions, like my red peppers roasted, and my jalapeños pickled, hence the difference in flavor here. I have been eating deviled ham since I was a child, so I consider myself a bit of an expert. I think this is the best recipe you’ll find. If, like me, you have some Easter, this is a way to put it to excellent use.

Deviled Ham Salad
Adapted from Lisa Fain

2 c. chopped ham
¼ c. diced Melissa’s Fire Roasted Red Peppers
¼ c. diced Melissa’s shallots
1 large dill pickle, diced
1 Melissa’s pickled jalapeño, seeded, stemmed, and diced
3 T. Duke’s mayonnaise
3 T. yellow mustard
1 t. pickle juice
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Place all ingredients into the work bowl of your food processor, and process until blended, but not smooth (you’re going to want a bit of texture). Taste and adjust any seasoning, or add more mayonnaise and mustard if you’d like. Keeps in the refrigerator for a few days.

 

White Queso

Despite my love of queso (and I really do love it), I had never tried white queso. To me, it just appeared bland and uninteresting. I was so happy to be wrong. After a friend told me that white queso was her favorite kind, I had to investigate, discovering this recipe in one of my favorite books Queso! by Lisa Fain, that I reviewed here.

This dip is as delicious as it is easy, and I mean stupidly easy, and who doesn’t like a recipe like that? I am never without cream cheese, and now I will never be without evaporated milk and green chilies, because these three ingredients are all it takes to put this wonderful dip together that you can enjoy on your own, or serve to company. I took this recipe over the top by chopping up Hatch Green Pecans to put on top. Oh, momma!

I tend to like less traditional dippers, and found my absolute favorite were wedges of apple. Dip whatever you like. Also feel free to take a cookie scoop, and pile a hefty mound on top of a freshly cooked burger. Sensational!

White Queso

From Queso!

1 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
2 5-oz. cans evaporated milk
1 5-oz. can chopped green chilies (mild or hot, your choice)
1 tsp. Kosher salt

In a medium saucepan over low-medium heat, whisk together the milk and cream cheese until smooth and creamy (about 5 minutes). Stir in green chilies and salt, and pour into a serving dish. Serve with chips or slices of apple.

This post contains affiliate links.

Tex-Mex Squash Casserole

Despite my rather impressive container garden, that is particularly lush this year, I have never had any luck growing zucchini. Other people complain about having way too many, I’ve always complained about having none at all. For those of you who have an abundance, or, for those of you who, like me, rely upon Melissa’s Produce for your supply, here is a recipe we all can enjoy.

I have fallen in love with baby squash. If you follow me on Facebook you will know that I roasted some for a snack during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Nothing is easier, and, dipped in your favorite sauce, it’s incredible! Because of their tender skin, no peeling is required. You just pop off the stems, and quarter them to use in casseroles like I did here.

I am a vegetable fan, so I had a hard time stopping myself from eating the entire pan. If you have meat eaters in your family, I would imagine that shredded chicken, or seasoned ground beef, would be an excellent addition to this, and make for a hearty, nutritious, crowd-pleasing meal. Personally, I thought it was perfect as it is.

Tex-Mex Squash Casserole
Adapted from Homesick Texan

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 cups cubed Melissa’s baby squash
1 3-oz. pkg. Melissa’s shallots
1 jalapeño, seeded and diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 can Ro-tel tomatoes, drained
1/2 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup chopped cilantro*
1 cup grated pepper jack cheese
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
2 cups crushed tortilla chips

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Lightly grease a 9” x 13” casserole dish; set aside.

Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. When butter is melted, add squash, shallots, and jalapeño, and sauté until the shallots are translucent and the squash is soft, about 10 minutes. Add garlic, cumin, chili powder, cayenne (if using), salt, pepper, and cook for a minute. Stir in flour and cook until a light brown paste forms, another minute.

Add broth and tomatoes and stir until the mixture thickens, 1-2 minutes. Add the half-and-half, sour cream, and cilantro, and turn off the heat. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Cover the bottom of the greased casserole dish with crushed tortilla chips. Pour the creamy squash mixture on top, and then cover the whole dish with the grated cheese. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes, or until the top is brown and bubbling.

*Use it if you like it, if not, don’t

PRINT RECIPE

This post contains affiliate links.

Lisa Fain’s Carrot Soufflé Texas Style

First of all, do not be put off by my pictures that make this wonderful soufflé look as flat as a pancake. I cut the recipe in half, because, hey, it’s just me, and kept debating which pan to use to bake it. It seemed like too much for my 8-inch pan, but not quite enough for my 10-inch pan. So I said to myself, “Pattie, go for the larger pan, you don’t want to use the smaller pan and have this overflow in your oven the week before Thanksgiving.” I had to agree with myself, so that’s what I did.

This recipe is from the wonderful Lisa Fain of Homesick Texan book and blog fame, and author of the book Queso, that I reviewed here. This dish is perfect for the holiday season. It is quick and easy to put together, utilizes ingredients that you probably already have on hand, is inexpensive to make, will please everyone at your gathering, and is light, airy, fluffy, and like sinking your teeth into a spicy carrot cloud. I cannot say enough about this dish. Given the proper spoon, I think I could have easily inhaled this entire pan full, it is that good!

While my Thanksgiving menu is already planned, I think this would pair marvelously with baked ham, so I’ll be serving it at Christmas. Wonderful!

Lisa Fain’s Carrot Soufflé Texas Style

1 pound baby carrots

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

¼ cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 large eggs, beaten

Place the carrots in a pot, cover with water, bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to medium and cook until fork tender, about 20 minutes. Drain the carrots and place half in a blender or food processor. Place butter on top of the carrots, and then top with the remaining carrots.

Preheat the oven to 350°F and lightly grease a 2-quart baking dish or cast-iron skillet.

When the butter has melted and the carrots have stopped steaming, add the flour, baking powder, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, salt, nutmeg, vanilla, and eggs. Puree all the ingredients until fluffy and smooth; pour into the prepared dish.

Bake uncovered for 50-55 minutes or until the casserole is puffed and the top is lightly browned. Serve warm, though it’s also good at room temperature or even cold.

PRINT RECIPE

If you prefer your carrots on the cold side, this Fresh Carrot Dip is phenomenal!

This post is linked to:

Happiness is Homemade Sunday

What’s for Dinner Sunday

Smells Good Sunday

Dishing It & Digging It

This post contains affiliate links.

Indian Queso with Jalapeno Chutney

Last week I reviewed Lisa Fain’s wonderful new book called QUESO! When I did, I promised that I would share a recipe from the book with you this week. I chose carefully, looking for an unusual combination of tastes rather than what I had previously experienced. This one certainly filled the bill. You don't have to be a fan of Indian food to love this queso. You do, however, have to be flexible when it comes to pasteurized processed cheese food, and you all know that I'm talking about Velveeta. You can turn your nose up at it if you like, but my guess is that you, like me, were first introduced to the wonders of queso by way of Velveeta mixed with a can of Rotel tomatoes and green chilis. Am I right? And didn't you love that? I figured as much.

This is easy and creamy, with a bold smoky taste; the jalapeno chutney takes it over the top, and gives it this unique swirled appearance.

(While the picture above shows my favorite Wickedly Prime Sweet Potato Tortilla Chips as dippers for this unique queso, I largely used apple wedges that I found to be the perfect pairing. I also told myself that using apple wedges would make queso healthy. If you've never tried dipping apple wedges into any type of queso, you absolutely must, you are going to love it.)

Indian Queso with Jalapeno Chutney

from QUESO! by Lisa Fain

Chutney
2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon Melissa’s unsweetened flaked coconut
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Pinch of ground ginger

Queso
1 pound brick processed cheese, cubed
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne

Cilantro leaves, for garnish
Tortilla chips, for serving

To make chutney, place the jalapenos, garlic, cilantro, olive oil, lime juice, coconut, cumin, salt, and ginger in a food processor or blender. Purée until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasonings, if you like.

To make the queso, in a medium saucepan, combine the cheese, milk, cumin, paprika, and cayenne. Cook over low heat, stirring, until the cheese has melted. Taste and adjust the seasonings, if you like.

Transfer the queso to a serving bowl, small cooker, or a chafing dish over a flame. Top with the chutney and garnish with cilantro leaves. Serve warm with tortilla chips.

PRINT RECIPE

This post contains affiliate links.

This post is linked to:

Homemaking Party Thursday

Home and Garden Thursday
Home Sweet Home
Weekend Linky Party
Grace at Home

Friday at the Fire Station
Foodie Friday & Everything Else

Create, Bake, Grow and Gather
Share Your Style

Simple Saturday Blog Hop

A Bouquet of Talent

Paula's No Rules Weekend Blog Party

Queso! by Lisa Fain, a Review

I have been aware of Lisa Fane ever since I first stumbled upon her blog at the end of 2005. Ever since then, I have been one of her biggest fans, pre-ordering both of her wonderful cookbooks, The Homesick Texan Cookbook and The Homesick Texan's Family Table Cookbook, finding these two among the most well used in my massive collection. She's a seventh generation Texan, transplanted to New York, with a chatty writing style, and delicious recipes that captured my Tex-Mex loving heart.

Her latest book, Queso seems as though it was written just for me (I have long been campaigning to make queso another food group). It is impossible not to like, and the kind of book that makes queso lovers like me weep. Who, after all, doesn't like queso? Is it sheer genius to come out with a book full of nothing but queso recipes? What, after all, can be more comforting, than a dish of melted cheese and something to dip into it?

Well researched and comprehensive, this collection of more than 55 recipes contains not just Historic 1887 Chiles Poblano, but also classics like Austin Diner Style Queso and Chili Parlor Queso. I was particularly drawn to the chapter on Quirky Quesos, and immediately dug into making Indian Queso with Jalapeno Chutney (You'll find this recipe on the blog next week.), cumin lover that I am. I was not disappointed; it was delicious! Finding the recipe for El Paso Style Huevos Rancheros made me swoon, just knowing that it's acceptable to have queso for breakfast.

It's easy to get sucked right into this book, and read it like a novel. Each section is preceded with a nice, conversational introduction by Fane, each recipe the same. It's as if you're sitting down to a table with a bowl of chips and your best friend, talking about how much you love what you're about to dig into.

In addition to recipes for queso there are also recipes for tasty must-have accompaniments such as guacamole, pico de gallo, pickled jalapenos, and the like. I had never pickled jalapenos before reading this book, and now I don't seem to be able to stop.

If one of your friends or acquaintances claims to not be a fan of queso, well, first of all they're lying, second, you can direct them to the chapter on Queso in the Wild where it is used as a topper or ingredient for mouthwatering dishes such as Macaroni and Cheese with Green Chili Queso Blanco, Bacon Green Chili Queso Burger, Chicken Fried Steak with Queso Gravy (I tried this – wonderful!), or something simple like Frito Wedge Salad with Queso Dressing. Try this and you will never eat a wedge of lettuce again without topping it with a handful of Fritos and smothering it with melted cheese.

I can't say enough about this book. It is fun to read, the pictures are mouthwatering, the recipes are phenomenal, and it's just the right size as to be easy to handle and more importantly, store. This is a must have, no doubt about it. With the holidays coming up you need to stock up on this book, it would make a great gift for the cook or the queso eater in your life, as well as a very much appreciated hostess gift.

Highly recommended.

 Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.

This post contains affiliate links.

Coffee-Chipotle Pork Chops

I love reading books where I feel an instant rapport with the author. Such was the case with Lisa Fain, accomplished food blogger and author of The Homesick Texan Family Table cookbook. According to Fain, if you ask a Texan about their most memorable meal, it will not be one consumed at a fancy restaurant, but rather one enjoyed at the family table. I don't think I ever really thought about my most memorable meal until I read this book. I've dined along the canals in Venice, in the shadow of Notre Dame, had an omelet at 2:00 in the morning at a restaurant on London's Southhampton Row, but my most memorable, and enjoyable meals have been around a big table with family present. This, she says, is what her cookbook is all about, “making memories at the table with those whom we love.”  What is not to love about a premise like that?

Reading this book is like being at one of those meals. Fain is delightfully chatty and full of stories about family, friends, and great Texas food. My contention is that you can't get a bad meal in Texas, and this book proves it. Fain shares old family recipes from well-used recipe cards, regional specialties, Tex-Mex, coastal, all the varieties of food that encompass Texas cuisine. 

Displaced from Texas, she now makes her home in New York City, living in an apartment with a kitchen so small that, spreading her arms out, she can reach either side. There is one counter, a stove, small sink and refrigerator, but no dishwasher, no pantry, and no space for any utensil that doesn't have use, so has compiled a list of what she considers to be basic kitchen equipment at the beginning of the book to help aid new cooks in their selection. 

Shall we talk about the food?  If the fact that I am salivating as I write this is any indication, clearly I loved this book. I don't think I have ever found so many recipes that I intend to make in just one cookbook. Now I am partial to Texas cuisine, having lived in Austin for a brief time, so I may be a bit prejudiced here, but the variety of offerings, interesting combination of tastes, recipes that are, for the most part, easy to prepare, all had me champing at the bit to get cooking.  Each recipe has its own story and each is written in language that is easy to comprehend and follow. 

Breakfast is often a meal that leaves me stymied. Problem solved!  It turns out that Texans take their breakfasts seriously, and there are, seriously, a lot of wonderful recipes to start out your day.   I made the Dutch Baby pancake, Blueberry Granola, and Cranberry-Gruyere Scones, all winners. There is a recipe that I have yet to try, for homemade sausage, that sounds both easy and splendid. It will be on the breakfast table next week. 

Mouthwatering snacks abound, the zippy Bacon Jalapeño Cheese Ball and I-can't-stop-eating-them Orange-Cinnamon Candied Pecans were two of my favorites. 

The Coffee-Chipotle Pork Chops were on the dinner table this evening. Now, I did brine them for three hours before covering them with the rub (and, as such, cut way back on the called for salt), and I left them in the refrigerator for four hours past the suggested eight, but these were the most moist and flavorful chops that I think I have ever consumed. And easy, you bet!  I love a recipe that takes little effort and a minimum of equipment, yet yields a lot of taste. 

Clearly, Fain knows what she's talking about when it comes to food. I'd tell you much more, but I'm afraid that you're just going to have to buy the book yourself. 

Coffee-Chipotle Pork Chops 

2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon finely ground dark-roasted coffee beans (I used espresso powder)
1 tablespoon paprika
1-1/2 teaspoons chipotle chile powder
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

4 (5- to 6-ounce) bone-in pork chops, cut 3/4 to 1 inch thick (I used boneless, and brined them)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Mix together the salt, brown sugar, black pepper, ground coffee, paprika, chipotle powder, granulated garlic, cinnamon, cumin, and allspice. Coat each pork chop with the rub, covering both sides generously.  Reserve any leftover rub for another use. Place the pork chops in a plastic food-storage bag, and refrigerate for 8 hours. 

To cook the pork chops, remove them from the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature, about 30 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 350°F. 

In a large ovenproof skillet, heat the vegetable oil over medium-low heat, add the pork chops and cook on each side for 5 minutes. Place the skillet in the preheated oven and cook the pork chops for 15 minutes, uncovered, or until a meat thermometer reads 145°F. Allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving. 

Serves 4

Disclaimer:  I received a free digital copy of this book, prior to publication, from NetGalley. The opinions expressed, however, are entirely my own. 

This post is linked to:

Wow Us Wednesdays

Create It or Bake It

Full Plate Thursday

Be Inspired Friday

Foodie Friday

Show and Tell Friday