Artichoke Parmesan Pesto

Here’s a quick appetizer you can have on hand for unexpected guests. I have frozen this both when directed as well as the completely finished pesto (with the Parmesan), and it is good both ways. I serve this in a bowl, and let everyone help themselves, but you can also pre-spread the pesto onto toast or bread.

I’m hoping for leftovers, as I’d love to try this mixed in pasta with a little olive oil and red pepper flakes, or stuffed in a chicken breast. If you beat me to it, be sure to let me know how you liked it!

Artichoke Parmesan Pesto

Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients (Before Freezing):

  • 1-8 oz. pack of frozen artichoke hearts, thawed
  • 1 c. fresh parsley
  • 1/2 c. chopped toasted walnuts
  • 1 lemon, zested and juiced
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
  • 1/2 tsp. black pepper
  • 1/2 c. olive oil

More Ingredients (After Freezing):

  • 2/3 grated Parmesan
  • bread or cracker of your choice…. for grilling, toasting, or serving plain

Pre-Freezer Directions:

In a food processor, chop the artichokes, parsley, walnuts, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper, scraping the sides as necessary. With the food processor in, add the olive oil.

If freezing, transfer to an airtight container (or pre-portion into an ice cube tray and wrap tightly with plastic wrap). Freeze for up to 1 month.

Post-Freezer Directions:

Thaw pesto.

Mix in Parmesan cheese (2 tsp. per ice cube if you’re freezing it that way).

Serve as part of a platter of dips, breads, and crackers (including homemade pita toasts), and allowed everyone to help themselves. If you prefer, toast some bread, spread the pesto, and serve.

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Oreo Truffles

Instead of the traditional Christmas cookies, my mother-in-law makes Christmas candies – orange balls, Oreo truffles, peanut butter balls, turtles, coconut balls…  Since we won’t be home for the holidays this year, I decided to treat my husband to two of his favorites – the Oreo Truffles and Peanut Butter Balls for our annual holiday party.

Two notes about this recipe. First, I credit the recipe to my mother-in-law, as I used what she gave me. However, there are many Oreo truffle recipes out there, with slight variations – for example, Bakers Chocolate has a recipe on AllRecipes that uses Bakers Chocolate as the chocolate coating instead of candy-melts.

Secondly, although these have cream cheese in them, my mother-in-law never refrigerated them, but rather kept them at room temperature in an air tight container.

Anyway, this is the first time I’ve made truffles, or anything that involved dipping in chocolate, so they aren’t that pretty but they were good!

Dec 2009 Update: I tried making these with white chocolate instead of candy melts, and the white chocolate just did not work – it was way too think. However, we did use plain bittersweet chocolate, melted, and that worked just fine if you don’t have candy-melts on hand.

Oreo Truffles

Yields: About 6 dozen truffles

  • 1 package Oreos, crushed
  • 1 8-oz package cream cheese
  • 2 bags white-chocolate candy-melts

Line two baking sheets with wax paper or parchment paper.

Microwave cream cheese for 30 seconds or so, until soft enough to stir.

Using a wooden spoon, combine Oreos and cream cheese. If your Oreos were in larger chunks, you should be able to crush them with the spoon, so that the cream cheese and cookies are well blended.

Roll into balls, slightly smaller than a golf ball and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Melt white chocolate in microwave, stirring until completely melted.

Dip Oreo balls in white chocolate and place back on wax paper to solidify again.

Keep the Oreos in an air-tight container in a cool place or refrigerate until serving.

Homemade Onion Dip

Caramelized onions infuse a traditional sour cream & mayonnaise combo to create a sweet homemade onion dip, a delicious accompaniment for fresh vegetables or salted potato chips.

Caramelized onions infuse a traditional sour cream & mayonnaise combo to create a sweet homemade onion dip, a delicious accompaniment for fresh vegetables or salted potato chips.

Want to know a secret? While mixing up a packet of seasoning is a quick way to make onion dip, there’s a better option. Homemade onion dip is way better and it’s not hard. It takes about 30 minutes of prep and cook time and BAM! You have a flavorful and sweeter dip, and guess what? You know every single ingredient that goes into it!

Caramelized onions infuse a traditional sour cream & mayonnaise combo to create a sweet homemade onion dip, a delicious accompaniment for fresh vegetables or salted potato chips.

See, I had always had onion dip that came from a packet, or some store-bought version, and I was never a bit fan. It was just too… oniony. Too processed. And then a friend brought a homemade version to our house one day and I totally changed my tune. This is sweet and fresh. I couldn’t stop eating it.

Caramelized onions infuse a traditional sour cream & mayonnaise combo to create a sweet homemade onion dip, a delicious accompaniment for fresh vegetables or salted potato chips.

An added bonus is that this dip is definitely a recipe to make ahead. The longer it sits, the longer the flavors infuse into the sour cream and mayo. Serve with veggies, crackers, or chips.

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Caramelized onions infuse a traditional sour cream & mayonnaise combo to create a sweet homemade onion dip, a delicious accompaniment for fresh vegetables or salted potato chips.

Homemade Onion Dip

Caramelized onions infuse a traditional sour cream & mayonnaise combo to create a sweet homemade onion dip, a delicious accompaniment for fresh vegetables or salted potato chips.

Course Appetizer
Cuisine American
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings 10
Calories 211 kcal
Author Liz

Ingredients

  • 2 Tbs. olive oil
  • 1 1/2 c. diced onions about 2 onions
  • 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
  • 1 1/2 c. sour cream
  • 3/4 c. mayonnaise
  • 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp. ground pepper preferably white
  • 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

Instructions

  1. Heat oil in a medium pan.
  2. Add onions and salt, cooking until onions are caramelized, about 20 minutes. Onions will be a deep brown.
  3. Set aside to cool.
  4. Once cooled, mix together all ingredients. Just before serving, stir and transfer to a serving bowl.

Recipe Notes

This recipe makes about 2 1/2 cups of dip. That's 10-1/4 cup servings, or 20-2 Tbs. servings.

If desired, you may reserve a tablespoon of caramelized onions to garnish the dip just before serving.

This recipe was adapted from Alton Brown.

Caramelized onions infuse a traditional sour cream & mayonnaise combo to create a sweet homemade onion dip, a delicious accompaniment for fresh vegetables or salted potato chips.

This post, one of the first on the blog, was updated with new photos and updated formatting in 2018. The old photos didn’t do the dip justice, trust me.

Book Review: My Life in France

Book Review: My Life in France

By Julia Child with Alex Prud’homme

I got this book while at an airport – I had finished the one I brought with me and was trying to choose something that I knew a relative or friend wouldn’t buy (because those usually get mailed to me!). Since I love cooking, am eagerly anticipating Julie & Julia from Netflix, and know nothing about Julia Child, I chose her book, My Life in France.

I went into this book with no expectations, and to be honest, didn’t want to put it down once I started reading. However, for some reason, I felt oddly unsatisfied when I finished the book… like I didn’t know what she talked about for 300 pages.

The first two-thirds of the book were when Child actually lived in France and was learning to cook. I enjoyed the bits and pieces about her cooking classes, I wish there had been a lot more about her trials and errors in the kitchen and her experimentation while working on her cookbook.  I did appreciate the glimpses into the 1950s – life in France at the time and the American diplomatic bureaucracy as the Cold War was just beginning. However, I wish there would have been more about Child’s experiences in the kitchen.

The end of the book really focused on the publication of Child’s cookbooks and her work doing tv cooking shows – she traveled back and forth between Norway, France and the U.S. Definitely more about cooking here. However, what I appreciated most about this section was the descriptions of working together with her husband, who was retired at the time and was an amateur photographer and artist. The descriptions of the two of them working together on recipes or the cookbook were just wonderful!

Recommendation? I would recommend this book for a glimpse into Julia Child’s life and into the time period, but if you’re expecting full stories about how she learned to cook or her lessons, I would probably skip this book, as I found that lacking.

Product Review: Boxed Wines

A couple years ago, I had read an article in Fine Cooking on boxed wines. Back then, I wasn’t a big wine drinker, but I knew that boxed wine didn’t have a great reputation. I decided to try it anyway – Fine Cooking had never steered me wrong; I didn’t drink or cook with wine often enough so wanted something that would keep for a while; and you can’t beat the price (most are under $20 for the equivalent of 4 regular 750 ml bottles).

I’ve only tried one of boxed wines recommended in FC and in a later issue of Food Network Magazine, not because I don’t want to, but because I haven’t been able to find all the brands or I forgot which ones were recommended. However, I wanted to share this list with you anyway.

If you’ve tried any of these, please leave a comment – both myself and future readers will thank you for your input! =)

Recommended White Wines:

Banrock Station Chardonnay, from Australia

Black Box Chardonnay, from Napa Valley

I have tried the chardonnay, pinot grigio, and shiraz and have enjoyed them all, although the pinot grigio is my favorite, with a nice light flavor.

DTour Chardonnay

Wine Block Chardonnay

Angel Juice Pinot Grigio

Also tried Bota Box Pinot Grigio (Dec. 2009) – it’s a sweeter pinot but still very good.

Recommended Red Wines:

Hardys Stamp of Australia Merlot

Delicator Shiraz, from California

Black Box Cabernet Sauvignon, from Paso Robles

I have tried the chardonnay, pinot grigio, and shiraz and have enjoyed them all, so I would recommend giving the cabernet sauvigon a shot (sadly shiraz is the only red wine I drink!)

Wine Block Cabernet Sauvignon

Banrock Station Merlot, from Australia

Boho Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon

Pinot Evil

Oct. 2010 Update: Since wring this, I have also tried various wines from Bota Box and Fish Eye Wine. Would recommend both.

Sources: Fine Cooking No. 79 (July 2006, p. 34-35)

Food Network Magazine (Nov/Dec 2008)

Photos compliments of Black Box and the Block Wines.