New uses for a tired dip

Though it baffles me, I know people are gearing up for Super Bowl watch parties, planning extravagant spreads of snacks and dips. And you can bet artichoke/spinach dip will be on many cocktail tables. It’s everywhere and has been for years. In fact, some might be getting a bit tired of it.

Recipes abound on the internet, but basically it’s fresh spinach, wilted, canned artichoke hearts, a bit of garlic, Parmesan, cream cheese or sour cream or both. And it’s baked and served warm with crackers or tortilla chips. Hellman’s has a recipe that features, you know, their mayo, and the Hidden Valley folks have a recipe that uses ranch dressing mix. I don’t suppose it makes a whole lot of difference which recipe you choose. They’re all quick and easy to do, and like the classic French onion sour cream dip, everyone loves it.

But recently I’ve found some recipes that give that old dog new life. It makes a couple of great vegetarian entrees. Easiest: a baked pasta dish. Cook pasta—rotini or shells or fusilli, something with a bit of heft, in boiling water per directions, but pull it off the stove and quickly drain about three or four minutes shy of the al dente stage. Mix it with a tub of prepared spinach/artichoke dip, cover the whole thing generously with fresh Parmesan or Pecorino, and bake, probably at 350 for 20 minutes. Watch how it browns. Theoretically, the pasta will finish cooking, and the sauce will thicken. A rich but good main dish.

Want to make your own sauce? Here’s a rough idea: Sauté a couple of cloves of minced garlic in olive oil. Add spinach to the skillet, in small bunches, and cook until it is wilted. Stir in one can drained, chopped artichoke hearts—or chop them yourself if need be. Not hard.  Stir in 4 oz. cream cheese, softened, ¼ cup sour cream,  and 1/3 cup mozzarella. Stir to blend and pile it into a casserole dish. Cover generously with grated Parmesan or Pecorino.

Recently, Jordan, my friend Jean, and I were having a girls’ night supper. I had found a recipe for open-faced sandwiches using this mix. It seems one mom of young kids and picky eaters was trying hard to find something they’d eat. Spinach/artichoke dip on toasted sourdough bread was a hit. We liked it too, and I regret not taking a picture.

Ingredients

1 bunch fresh spinach

½ tsp. salt

1 can chopped artichoke hearts

¼ cup Parmesan

2 Tbsp. mayonnaise

Juice of a lemon

Pepper to taste

2 oz. cream cheese cut into ½” pieces – leave the cheese chilled to do this, and it’s still a mess. Comes as close to ½” as you can and don’t worry about it. It will melt in during cooking.

4 slices sourdough

Just a bit of olive oil

6 slices provolone

            Toast the bread and brush one side with olive oil. Set aside.

Bring a little water, maybe ¼ cup, to boil in a large skillet. Add salt, and working in small bunches, wilt the spinach. Drain, cool, and  squeeze out all the liquid you can. Then chop the spinach. (You could probably use one package frozen chopped spinach at this point but be sure to drain it well.)

Press water out of artichokes and chop if necessary. Mix spinach and artichokes and then blend in Parmesan, mayonnaise, lemon juice, pepper. Gently stir in cream cheese, taking care not to break up small bits. Add more salt if needed.

Put toast slices on foil-or parchment-lined pan with sides. Pile spinach/artichoke mixture on, spreading to the edges of the toast. Otherwise those edges will burn. Top each toast with provolone, again covering the entire mixture.

Broil until cheese melts and browns in spots. It can get too brown before you know it, so watch carefully. I split this recipe and did it in my toaster oven in two batches.  Worked fine. Let slices cool just a bit before serving.

In both recipes, if you like a tang of hotness,  you can add dried red pepper to taste. I’m not a fan of spicy.

Blue cheese—love it or hate it?

Some people love it, others detest it. There’s no in-between with this strong-flavored cheese. But blue cheese is a generic term for any cheese with blue veins in it. These veins are caused by the mold or fungus, penicillium--sometimes infused into the cheese, other times from the soil in the area where the cheese is produced. The cheese is often said to be an anti-inflammatory.

This generic terms encompasses several kinds of cheeses, and they come from several countries. Some of the most common you may have heard of are Gorgonzola, Stilton, and Roquefort. Gorgonzola is from northern Italy and is made from unskimmed cow’s milk—it tends to be buttery, salty, and can be crumbly or firm. Some people believe that it is milder than, say, Roquefort. I know a man who detests blue cheese but will eat Gorgonzola—go figure!

Stilton is the English contribution to the blue cheese world. Only cheese made in three counties in England can be labeled Stilton—Derbyshire, Leicestershire, and Nottinghamshire. It typically has a strong taste and is crumbly. It is made by piercing holes in the rind of a cylinder of cheese and allowing the air in.

Roquefort, made from sheep’s milk, is France’s contribution to the label. True Roquefort must be aged in the caves of the Roquefort area of France, where there is penicillium in the soil. It is tangy, crumbly, and slightly moist.

In our supermarkets, particularly upscale, we see a dizzying variety of blue cheese, many domestic. One of my favorites is Maytag—yes, the people who make washing machines. Another popular one is Point Reyes. But you simply must experiment until you find the one whose taste most pleases you. You usually can buy a block of cheese or crumbles—I much prefer the block, which will keep longer. I don’t know this, but I suspect crumbles are what’s left from cutting blocks or wedges out of the original wheel. With crumbles, you are usually offered only a generic blue cheese.

There are countless ways to use blue cheese:

Crumbled in a salad

Put a dab of honey on an apple or pear slice topped by a small piece of blue cheese

Melt a small chunk top of a steak or lamb chop us before serving

Stir a modest amount into your next chicken salad

Make a post-Thanksgiving sandwich of turkey, lettuce, mayo, and blue cheese

Use as the base for a good stuffing for a chicken breast or hamburger.

Here’s a simple dressing that’s great for a wedge salad or a tossed salad—or used as a dip.

Creamy blue cheese salad dressing

2 Tbsp. each mayonnaise, sour cream, and buttermilk

            Note: you can substitute plain Greek yogurt for sour cream

1 tsp. lemon juice (or lime juice)

¼ tsp. pepper

¼ tsp. Kosher salt

1 anchovy filet, mashed (optional)

Blue cheese – crumbled, 2-3 Tbsp. to taste

1 finely chopped scallion

Diced tomato (for garnish)

Crumbled bacon (for garnish)

Mix mayonnaise, sour cream, buttermilk, lemon juice, anchovy, salt and pepper adding cheese last. If dressing is too thick, sparingly add more buttermilk. For wedge salad, reserve the green onion. Top a lettuce wedge—or layers of lettuce—with the dressing and garnish with crumbled bacon, diced tomato, and green onion

Creamy blue cheese dip

To use the recipe above as a dip, simply add more buttermilk to reach the consistency you want. You may not need any additional thinning. Don’t let it get too runny, so that it drips off the chip. Mash the blue cheese crumbles with a fork so that they blend into the dip, rather than remaining unmanageable chunks.

Top with green onion which serves as garnish and adds a nice, crisp zing but is still easy to manage with a potato chip. Serve with crudities or good potato chips—I really like Trader Joe’s potato chips.