Herbed Garlic Cream Cheese

 

I don’t know about you, but I don’t do the entertaining that I used to. When the late Mr. O-P was still with us, we entertained every week. We didn’t always have big parties every week, but we did at least once a month. He was an avid cook, and did as much, if not more, of the cooking than I did, so it made entertaining a lot easier than it is for me today.

 

  Because I now host just one or two people at a time, I like to keep things on hand to serve with cocktails, or as a little evening snack. This includes crudités, fresh fruit, cornichons, a wide variety of olives (I have quite the collection), a wide variety of condiments (ask me about my mustard collection), crackers (they freeze beautifully, in case you were not aware), and this cream cheese spread.

Not only is this good with crudités and crackers, but it is also creamy enough to spread on a morning bagel, or use in a wrap-type sandwich. I often enjoy it on its own, using my made-for-one charcuterie board, a recent acquisition, and one that I absolutely love.

Herbed Garlic Cream Cheese

 1 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened

½ c. sour cream

3 T. grated Parmesan cheese

1 t. Melissa’s minced garlic

½ - 1 t. fresh lemon zest

1½ t. dried oregano

1 t. dried parsley

¼ t. dried thyme

¼ t. dried dill weed

¼ t. dried basil

¼ t. freshly ground black pepper

1/8 - ¼ t. Johnny’s Seasoning Salt

Place all ingredients into a medium bowl, and beat until creamy and well combined. Chill in refrigerator at least eight hours, preferably overnight to allow the flavors to meld. Keeps refrigerated for one week.

 

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Herbed Ranch Dressing

 

I’m not proud. I will gladly admit that I like ranch dressing. I also like a wedge salad. To me a wedge of iceberg lettuce, topped with ranch dressing, and a few crumbles of blue cheese (perhaps some crumbled bacon) is like heaven. I also like to keep ranch dressing on hand for crudités, crackers, and pretzels, because all of these things cry out for a dip. I like to tinker around with different recipes, and I think this quite possibly might be my favorite.

Herbed Ranch Dressing

½ c. Duke’s mayonnaise
½ c. sour cream
½ c. buttermilk
1 t. fresh lemon zest
1 t. dried minced onion
1½ t. dill weed
½ t. dried parsley
½ t. garlic powder

¼-½ t. Johnny’s Seasoning Salt
¼ t. freshly ground black pepper

  Place all ingredients into a medium bowl, and whisk until creamy. Refrigerate for at least eight hours or overnight to allow flavors to meld. This will keep in the refrigerator for 7 to 10 days. Before you ask, yes, you can use fresh herbs, but it will only keep for 3 to 4 days.

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Jalapeño Pimiento Cheese

 

There is something about summer that makes me want to stock the refrigerator with all sorts of dips and spreads in order to make snacking and sandwich making quick and easy. As you are well aware, if you have read this blog for any length of time, I am a bit of a pimiento cheese fan, am constantly trying new recipes, and tweaking existing ones. It occurred to me this morning when I was chopping vegetables for crudités that I had yet to make pimiento cheese with jalapeño added, so I did just that. This is spicy and delicious, so easy to gobble right up.Jalapeño Pimiento Cheese

2 c. freshly grated extra-sharp Cheddar cheese

4 oz. cream cheese, cut into 1” cubes, room temperature

4 oz. Melissa’s fire roasted red peppers, chopped

3 T. Duke’s mayonnaise

¼ t. garlic powder

¼ t. onion powder

¼ t. Slap Ya Mama 

1 Melissa’s pickled jalapeño pepper, ribs and seeds removed, minced

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

 Place all ingredients into a medium mixing bowl, and beat at medium speed with a handheld mixer until combined. Turn into a lidded container, and refrigerate for at least eight hours or overnight in order to allow flavors to meld. Keeps refrigerated for 7-10 days.

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Italian Cream Cheese Stuffed Celery

  

 It may sound strange, but stuffed celery is always something that I go for when it’s on a snack tray or a part of a buffet. There is something about the cool crispness of the celery combined with the pungency of the cheese that I find wonderfully satisfying. This recipe for Italian cream cheese stuffed celery is not my own, but one I just had to try for the ease if nothing else. It was lacking in freshly ground black pepper, so I added a hefty amount of that, and thought that made it absolutely perfect. With warm days ahead, this refreshing snack will be welcome.

Italian Cream Cheese Stuffed Celery

Slightly adapted from plainchicken.com

6 or 7 stalks of celery, rinsed and dried

1 (8-oz) block cream cheese, softened

1 (0.60-oz) package Italian dressing mix

½ c. Duke’s mayonnaise

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

 Cut each celery stalk into three pieces. Set aside.

Combine cream cheese, Italian dressing mix, mayonnaise, and mozzarella cheese. Stuff celery with cream cheese mixture.

 Garnish celery with dried parsley and paprika, if desired. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

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Cream Cheese Olive Dip

 

I have a thing for olives, I just cannot resist them. As a consequence, I have an entire shelf in one of my kitchen cabinets filled with a wide variety. While I do enjoy a pimento-stuffed olive, I particularly enjoy those stuffed with garlic, jalapeño, or blue cheese. I have black olives, Kalamata olives, queen olives, stuffed olives, olive medleys, and olives that have no filled centers at all. I like to use them in all kinds of recipes, and find they never let me down. I have added them to dressing that I have stuffed into a turkey, to a vinaigrette that I tossed with fresh lettuce, included them in the dough when I made biscuits, and when I found this recipe online, I had to make it. It made me wonder why I hadn’t thought of using olives in a vegetable dip before, but having now done so, will make it again and again.

 

 This is so tasty! Not just due to the olives, but the acidity of the lemon juice gives it excellent flavor as well. This would be great on your Super Bowl buffet, make a wonderful spring and summer snack,  or a light lunch by spreading it on toast points or crackers.

Cream Cheese Olive Dip

Slightly adapted from Hearth and Vine

 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

½ c. Duke’s mayonnaise

1 clove garlic

1 t. minced onion

½ t. dried thyme

½ t. kosher salt

2 T. fresh lemon juice

12 small olives

2 dashes Tabasco sauce

Combine all ingredients into a food processor. Pulse until well blended. Scrape down the sides and blend again. Spoon into a bowl and serve with a variety of fresh cut up vegetables.

 

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Olive Ham Salad

How did the holidays turn out for you? Ultimately, mine were reasonably good although they didn’t turn out entirely as anticipated. Due to illness, the dinner that I made for Christmas Eve was only enjoyed by my son and me. It was a pretty fancy dinner for just the two of us, but I think we really enjoyed not just the food, but the time that we spent together in such elegant surroundings.

 I sent him home with plenty of food, but I still had a good bit of ham left, as well as the ham bone. I set the bone aside to use in pea soup, used slices in casseroles and sandwiches, and decided to toss what was left into the food processor for ham salad. Generally, when I make ham salad I use sweet pickle relish, but because I had gotten a glazed ham that had a lot of its own sweetness, I decided to replace the sweet pickle relish for olives. It made a wonderful difference!

Olive Ham Salad

 ¾ lb. piece of baked ham, cut into chunks

1 rib celery, cut into fourths

1 scallion, cut in half

10 small pimiento-stuffed olives

1/3 c. Duke’s mayonnaise

1 t. Dijon mustard

Few gratings ground black pepper

Put all ingredients into the work bowl of a food processor, and pulse until. Cover and chill for at least a Cover and chill for at least an hour before serving to allow flavors to meld.

This will keep up to three days, covered and refrigerated.

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Carolina White Pimiento Cheese

 

By now, you, my faithful readers, are well aware that I am a big fan of pimiento cheese. Recently, I received a wonderful pimiento cheese bowl for my birthday. The bowl is from the fabulous Mud Pie, and I am totally in love with it (as I am with all of their products). Yes, I have tried the recipe illustrated on the side of the bowl, but today I was feeling a little spicy. I was interested in trying a white variety of pimiento cheese, which got me thinking about white barbecue sauce. So I combined ingredients that would normally be present in pimiento cheese along with a few other ingredients that would be found in white Carolina barbecue sauce, and thus Carolina White Pimiento Cheese was born. It’s a zesty winner!

Carolina White Pimiento Cheese

 1 8-oz. block white cheddar cheese, grated

2 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

½ c. chopped Melissa’s Fire Roasted Red Peppers

3 T. Duke’s mayonnaise

1 T. apple cider vinegar

1 t. Worcestershire sauce

1 t. brown mustard

1 t. horseradish

1 t. fresh lemon juice

Pinch cayenne

Pinch paprika

Kosher salt, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

 Place above ingredients into a medium mixing bowl. Using a fork, combine ingredients thoroughly. Turn out into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and store in the refrigerator for at least four hours to meld flavors.

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Creamy Giardiniera Dip

 

This is the time of the year when I start thinking about holiday food — dips, snacks, side dishes, mains. I’m interested in trying things that I’ve never made before so that I can offer something fresh and new to my guests. I spotted this recipe in Bon Appétit. I was attracted to it by virtue of the fact that I had all of the ingredients on hand, including the giardiniera that I had bought during the summer to use in a sandwich recipe, and never used it again. Bon Appétit had you stirring together all of the ingredients with the exception of the giardiniera, using it on top, with the oil from the relish drizzled overall. That didn’t particularly appeal to me for two reasons. First of all, I didn’t like the idea of the oil drizzled on top. Ew. Second, once that top layer containing the giardiniera is eaten away, you end up with basically just cream cheese at the bottom. Seasoned cream cheese, sure, but cream cheese, nonetheless. So I decided to put everything into the food processor to ensure that the bold taste of the spicy relish was enjoyed in every bite. It worked! This is a snack that you can make one to two days ahead (maybe more, if I’m honest), and pull it out when you need it. After all, during the holidays, you just never know who’s going to happen by. It’s great on chips and crackers, even wavy potato chips work here because this tends to be on the creamy side. Me? I loved it with Fritos.

 Creamy Giardiniera Dip

Adapted from Bon Appétit

 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

½ c. finely grated Parmesan

½ c. sour cream 

Kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper

1 c. well drained, coarsely chopped, oil-based giardiniera

Process cream cheese, Parmesan, and sour cream in a food processor until combined and smooth; season with salt and pepper (to taste) and pulse until incorporated but dip is not completely smooth. Add giardiniera and pulse until combined.

 Transfer dip to a small bowl and serve with the dippers of your choice. This can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.

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Cheddar Ranch Dip

 

I’m not going to lie, now that I am an adult and can do what I want with never any scolding, there are times when I’ve had dip for dinner. Not just spooning it out of the bowl, mind you, but serving it with a nice array of freshly cut vegetables, as well as crackers, and the occasional bit of rolled salami — cigarette style — that I use as a dipper. Today I decided to use this dip as a topper for a baked potato. Why not? I mean, think about it. You top potatoes with sour cream, bacon bits, chopped scallions, and shredded cheese, why not combine all of that into one, making it so much easier to deal with, and far less messy. It's also amazingly delicious when dolloped on top of an omelet. Seriously, you cannot go wrong with this delicious dip that is suitable for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Cheddar Ranch Dip

16 oz. sour cream

3 T. (1 packet) Ranch dressing mix

1 3-oz. pkt. bacon bits

1 c. shredded Gouda cheese

2-3 scallions, chopped

 Whisk together sour cream and dressing mix in a medium bowl. Fold in remaining ingredients. Cover and store in the fridge overnight before serving.

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Fresh Corn Salsa

 

With all of the fresh vegetables available both in your garden and at local farm stands, now is the time to make this salsa when it will be the freshest it can possibly be. Not only does this make a wonderful salsa, but it also makes an excellent side dish. When you have a meal that looks a bit bland color wise, say fish and chips, shrimp and chips, or grilled chicken and baked potato, a side dish of this looks beautiful, and is wonderful with almost any meat. If you’re fond of salmon, grill some and top it with this colorful condiment. It’s super simple, but it makes you look like quite the chef.

Fresh Corn Salsa

 2 c. fresh corn, stripped from the cob

½ c. finely chopped red onion or scallions

½ c. finely chopped red, yellow or orange pepper

1 seeded jalapeño, minced

Juice of ½ lime

½ c. minced fresh cilantro

1 clove garlic, minced

½ t. salt, to taste

Toss all ingredients together in a medium bowl. Taste for seasoning. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour (2 to 3 is better) to allow flavors to meld. Serve in a colorful bowl with tortilla chips, as a side dish, or an accompaniment to fish. Adds zest to any meal.

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.

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