I make a very good potato salad. The recipe is secret, but I can tell you that it involves potatoes. And tobasco sauce at the end.
It's a big expensive so I don't make it often, but I have a shrimp alfredo recipe. Alfredo sauce made from scratch. At least, what I'd consider to be scratch. I don't milk the cow that I get the cream from, or use onions from my garden (that I don't have) so some might not consider it scratch, but it's about as close to scratch as I can get!
I make a very good 7 layer Mexican dip, and the recipe is
not secret
and I can tell you
all the ingredients. And cilantro at the end.
It's a bit expensive so I don't make it often, and it's a bit caloric as
well. So you're not going to lose weight with this around. It's made
from scratch, with the exception of the salsa and the cheese and
the olives and the beans and............ okay, it's not from scratch!!
HAHAHAHAHA
7-Layer Dip24 oz. refried beans (pinto is standard)
5 or 6 Haas avocadoes - ripe but not "too" ripe!
3 or 4 Serrano chiles (
Eee-jole!!)
1/4 oz onion powder
1/16 oz garlic powder
3 lbs. Hampshire sour cream (or 1 or 2 lbs Crema Mexicana
or Crema Salvadoreno - they're more potent!)
Tall container of Pace Chunky Salsa (mild, medium or hot)
8 oz. package (or more) of 4-cheese Mexican blend, shredded
3 or 4 dry oz. wt. can of sliced black olives (option whole or chopped)
one bundle (1") of fresh cilantro leaves-on-the-stems
juice of one fresh lemon or lime for guacamole stabilizer
1 oz pepitas (pumpkin seeds) if desired, for crunchiness
dash of paprika for garnish if desired
[7: Beans, guacamole, sour cream, salsa, cheese, olives, cliantro]
Note on cilantro: use a whole bunch of it for this recipe, about
a 1" bundle at the stems. Prepare the cilantro first, by getting a
6-quart pot with 3 quarts of fresh water, and let the cilantro
soak in it. After about 10 minutes, you can start to strip the
leaves off the stems - the stems being discarded (unless you
have a juicer!) and the SAND GRAINS removed. They grow this
stuff in sandy soil and there is ALWAYS sand on fresh cilantro.
As mentioned below, I like to set aside 30 or so of the best-
looking leaves to use last as garnish. This really makes it happen.
I like to use a 9" x 13" x 2" roasting pan to serve about 10 people.
If you've got a bigger crowd you could go with two of these, or
even go to a larger size pan, whatever that is - half sheet? Full
sheet? This is ALWAYS a big hit. Be prepared for
serious compliments.
Start with a 1/2" layer of refried beans - about 1-1/2 lbs.
Spread it evenly on the bottom of the pan. (Pinto beans)
Next, 1/4" of guacamole - takes about 5 medium Haas avocados,
likewise spread evenly over the layer of beans. Guacamole is
essentially mushed avocados and diced Serrano chiles mixed
together, perhaps with onion powder and a bit of garlic powder.
Be most careful with adding any salt. I don't recommend pepper.
And please
forget the MSG - which is what you get too often
when you go lazy and use the stupid FLAVOR PACKETS.
Then, 3/8" of Hampshire Sour Cream, most of a 3# tub - you can
also use Crema Mexicana or the like, but that's more expensive.
On the other hand, you get what you pay for! Use dollops spooned
onto the guacamole and spread it carefully so as not to mix the
white into the green layer. You want it to mix AS it's eaten, and
not BEFORE. Important: cover the guacamole ASAP with the
cream, so the guac doesn't start to oxidize, which happens after
about 15 minutes. You can retard oxidation by adding lemon
juice or lime juice, but as throughout this whole recipe, it's best
to keep liquids to a MINIMUM, so that you don't get the runny
puddles forming as the dip is used. If liquid does form during use,
you can scoop it out so it doesn't adversely affect the look of
the whole dish.
Follow this with the salsa. I like to use Pace Picante Chunky style,
but it's about 90% more money. You can save by getting the
more watery, cheaper regular salsa (not "chunky") and add some:
one medium finely diced Serrano chile and a small can of Tomato
Paste, which costs about $1 and turns a $3 salsa into a $6 salsa
- a little money-saving tip! Also, I like to add finely chopped
cilantro to the salsa and also some chopped black olives. If the
salsa is not spicy enough for you, it's easy to 'crank it up' by
adding finely diced Serrano chiles. Be careful, though, for it's easy
to go overboard and there's no turning back! The Serrano hotness
tends to ooze out overnight so the next day your product might
be actually spicier than it was when you first made it. If you want
to make your own, I'd suggest a Pico de Gallo base with some
added tomato paste and DRAIN OFF THE JUICE. I actually drink
the juice for a beverage. It's great!
Also, some sliced black olives are nice here - you should set aside
the best-looking ones for garnish on top of the cheese layer though,
and use the seconds and broken pieces mixed into the salsa. You
can substitute chopped olives, for the same flavor, but they won't
give the same texture as larger slices or even WHOLE olives will.
Likewise, set aside the best-looking cliantro leaves for garnish
and chop up the seconds into a fine pile to mix into the salsa for
flavor. I like to use about 20 or 30 nice leaves for garnish, and
save 4 stems with 3 leaf-groups for each of the corners of the
finished presentation. It's very impressive that way. People stop
and stare, almost afraid to touch it.
Now, you have a red, white and green dip (colors of Mexico) on a
brown base (sort of background as it were).
Top this with cheese - the best is shredded 4 kind Mexican blend:
monterey jack, mild cheddar, queso quesadilla and asadero. Don't
skimp on the cheese. It's okay if all you see is cheese on top. One
8-oz. package should be enough, but you might like more than that.
Pumpkin seeds can be placed on top of the SPARSELY sprinkled paprika,
if selected. (Pumpkin seeds with paprika on top of them? Hmmm...)
Finally, the best-looking sliced black olives get placed all over the
top, about 20 or 30 of them. And the finishing touch is the placement
of each cilantro leaf in its optimum position with respect to the olives.
Any short stems can be stuck into the salsa through the cheese layer,
so that they sort of 'stand up' for depth and surprise appearance.
(Paprika should be sprinkled before olives and cilantro leaves because
I don't like the look of olives and cilantro with red spots all over them,
which is what paprika does overnight in a humid environment like this.)
You can cover the whole tray with a sheet of plastic wrap, but to
make it stay put, it's smart to apply a thin coating of honey to the
top edge of the tray first, then lay the plastic over that. The dip
is ready immediately, but ideally, it can be kept overnight in the
refrigerator, so the flavors have a chance to blend a bit. The
guacamole will not turn brown since it's buried under sour cream
and salsa, but once you start to scoop out servings, the exposed
guacamole layer will be the first thing to start 'turning' - therefore,
if you think you'll be keeping this for a few days, you ought to add
the juice of one lemon/lime to the guacamole mix, which retards the
oxidation rate. (Another helpful secret of presentation!)
Topic: Favorite Recipe (Read 7260 times)