Toffee Apple Dip

I have kind of a complex about people coming over to my house. When we have guests over I don’t really care if the house is spotless or if my spaz of a dog is under control, but what I do freak out over is ---no surprise here--food. I need to feed people, plain and simple. So when Mike called me last week to tell me that friends were coming over for a Jazz game at 5:00 that night, my mind immediately went into panic mode thinking that I had no time to make anything for dinner.

Mike quickly reassured me that, since it was an early game, we could all go to dinner afterward and not worry about eating at our house. That seemed reasonable to me, so I went about my day fully planning on providing our guests only with a space to socialize and enjoy each other’s company without plying them with food the way I usually do.

However, the moment I walked in the door from work this sensible plan flew right out of my head, and was replaced by my characteristically dramatic stream of crazy thoughts: “What if people are hungry? What if they come straight over from work and need a snack? What if they don’t feel comfortable enough to ask for something to eat so they spend the game starving and never want to come back to our house again? What if we become known as the people that never feed anyone and everyone hates us?!” So I made this apple dip.

This dip is a funny thing to watch people eat for the first time. They usually take a bite and immediately say “what is this?” then marvel at the fact that something that is essentially just cream cheese and sugar could taste this good. Definitely a crowd-pleaser. And yet I still worried that there might be someone without a sweet tooth present so I went ahead and made nachos at half-time. Did I mention I have issues?

Toffee Apple Dip (from the Ivory Favorites cookbook)

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
About half of an 11 oz. bag of Heath or Skor bits (just add to your liking)

1) Beat cream cheese and sugar until fluffy.
2) Stir in vanilla and toffee bits.

Tzatziki

Any picky eater can tell you that food is about more than just flavor. Some can’t handle tomatoes because of their wet texture, others hate the stringiness produced by melted cheese, etc. I am far from a picky eater (I can count the number of things I absolutely will not eat on one hand), but I too realize that the experience of eating can be as much about how a food feels as how it tastes. For example, one of my favorite culinary sensations is that interplay of hot and cold that occurs when you take a hot food and pair it with a cool, creamy condiment. Think nachos topped with sour cream, buffalo wings dipped in blue cheese dressing, or apple pie served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Apparently the Greeks also recognized the genius of this pairing, as evidenced by tzatziki. This Greek cucumber yogurt dip can be eaten in a variety of ways, but my favorite is as a sauce for gyros or as an accompaniment to souvlaki. The cool notes of cucumber, dill, and mint, along with the tang of yogurt and vinegar, marry perfectly with the smoky taste of grilled meat and warm pita bread. Eat it on a sun-drenched patio to kick the Mediterranean experience up a notch.

I’m sure there are plenty of recipes out there for preparing your own authentic gyro meat, but so far I haven’t felt the need to go there. Instead I made a “light gyro” of sorts by marinating chicken tenders in a mixture of olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, lemon pepper, and garlic, then grilling them over medium-high heat until done. I threw that onto a grilled pita with some tomatoes and cucumbers and topped it with the tzatziki. Delish.

Tzatziki
(adapted slightly from The Gourmet Cookbook)


3 cups plain yogurt (or Greek yogurt if you can swing it. I like fage brand best.)
1 seedless cucumber (those plastic-wrapped ones also called English or Hothouse cucumbers), peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
2 small garlic cloves, minced
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
¾ Tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill
½ Tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint
½ Tablespoon white wine vinegar
½ teaspoon salt

1) Put yogurt in a large sieve or colander lined with a double thickness of cheesecloth and set over a large bowl. Let drain for 24 hours (skip this step if using Greek yogurt).
2) Transfer yogurt to a clean bowl; discard the liquid collected in the bowl used to strain yogurt.
3) Stir in remaining ingredients and refrigerate, covered, for at least 4 hours.

Hummus

My husband and I are definitely not a match made in culinary heaven. He grew up on hamburger helper and standard “meat and potatoes” fare, while I was raised in a vegetarian household where borscht and homemade sushi made regular appearances on the dinner table.

Our brief courtship was an exercise in compromise. Mike helped me discover a dormant love of barbecue ribs, while I encouraged him to do crazy things like add tomatoes to his turkey sandwiches. Still, after deciding to get married I honestly wondered if his picky eating habits and my love of gastronomical experimentation would ever mesh into a coherent dinner menu.

The turning point came one afternoon shortly after Mike and I got engaged. We were on our way to a Utah football game with friends and stopped at the grocery store for some gametime snacks, one of the selections being a tub of hummus and pita bread. I thought there was no way Mike would touch the stuff with a ten-foot pole, but not five minutes later the guy who won’t eat cream cheese or onions was proclaiming his love for Middle Eastern chickpea spread. Since then he’s been converted to sushi, margherita pizza, curry, and a number of other foods that were previously on the WILL NOT EAT list. Apparently hummus is one heck of a gateway drug.

Hummus


This is a very basic recipe for hummus. I’ve kept the seasoning amounts to a minimum, since you can always put more spices in but you can’t take them out. So just start with these amounts and adjust at the end. This recipe would also be terrific with the addition of some sundried tomatoes or other colorful ingredients. I see a roasted red pepper and kalamata olive variation in my future.

1 (15 oz.) can garbanzo beans
¼ cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 garlic clove, pressed
½ tsp. ground cumin
Salt and pepper to taste

1) Drain garbanzo beans, reserving the liquid.
2) Blend beans, 2 tablespoons of the reserved liquid, and remaining ingredients until smooth. (I used my immersion blender, but you could use a regular blender or food processor)
3) Add liquid until desired consistency is reached.
4) Adjust seasonings to taste.
5) Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of paprika, if desired.