Caramelized Onion Dip
and a make ahead, semi-store bought baby shower menu
Our 19 month old, Dean, is VERY into chips and dip right now. It’s kind of hilarious to watch a baby dip a chip. He’s been giving us a little bit of a hard time during dinner, nothing seems to be a win at the moment. For example, he had a bowl of vanilla ice cream as his Thanksgiving dinner. Oh, how I judged moms before I had one of my own. But dip, like any form of it, is highly interesting to him. My hunch is it’s his half Minnesotan blood plus watching his Dad. So tonight (it’s Wednesday as I write this) dinner is Caramelized Onion Dip with tortilla chips and some crispy tofu and chicken meatballs on the side on that off chance that those might strike his fancy. The dip won.
If you’ve been reading for a while you know I’m all about all food, but made from scratch. Just turn a container of onion dip around and read the ingredients and there’s my point. I was on a job that we needed to caramelize a bunch of onions, so I took some home in a container with the intention of making Dean some homemade dip. We’re all into some spice, so I drizzled some chili oil on top (hot sauce would be great too) but the heat is totally optional. Here’s what I came up with:
Caramelized Onion Dip
2 large onions, finely diced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 (16 ounce) container of sour cream
1 ½ teaspoons salt
small pinch of sugar
Dash of soy sauce or Worcestershire sauce
Chives to garnish
Caramelize the onions: Melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, salt and pinch of sugar. Cook, stirring often, for anywhere between 25-30 minutes. If they start to burn or turn brown too quickly just turn down the heat. You want them to be super soft, golden brown and almost “jammy”. Transfer to a bowl and let cool down a little bit before you mix in the sour cream.
Make the dip: Mix the onions, sour cream, and a dash of soy sauce or Worcestershire. Stir well and taste for salt, it might need more. If your dip is super thick you can thin it out a little with some cream or milk.
Serve it up: Place it in a bowl and garnish with chopped chives. I served mine with tortilla chips & cucumbers. Potato chips and any crispy raw vegetable would be amazing.
Baby Shower Menu:
I’m hosting a small baby shower brunch on Sunday at my house. Yeah, I know, I’m 8 months pregnant. What am I doing hosting and cooking all the food for a baby shower? Not sure haha. I actually really love doing things like this and the parents-to-be have been incredibly helpful to me over the last year when I needed it. I thought it might be helpful to someone out there to read the menu of what I’m making. I suspect that cooking for a shower would seem intimidating to some, but I’ve got a good mix of cooked from scratch, store-bought, and make ahead. My notes are below. My plan is to put a big beautiful spread out on my kitchen island and have people help themselves.
Quiche. I made the pie crust, rolled it out and lined the tart pan earlier in the week and kept it in the fridge. I’ll saute the veggies the day before, make the custard and bake that morning. But in theory you could bake the quiche the day before.
A platter of smoked salmon, creme fraiche, dill, capers, red onion, lemon and crisp breads. All store-bought. I’ll assemble it the morning of.
Pesto Eggs. This was what my mom made every Easter. It’s essentially deviled eggs but you mix the yolks with pesto. She always made it from scratch, but I bought Gotham Greens pesto. I’ll boil the eggs earlier in the week. Mix the yolks and pesto the day before (store in a piping bag or ziploc) and then fill the eggs the morning of.
Trader Joe’s Frozen Mini Croissants with jam. They’re SO good. And in the frozen section. I’ll put the jam in a cute little jar.
Puff Pastry Braid. I’m going to make this the day before. I got the idea from The Pioneer Woman, but I haven't decided if I’m going to go with her version of Nutella OR make a cream cheese filling with berries. If I went cream cheese filling I’d make that filling (Cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla) a few days before.
Thumbprint cookies. I got a new cookie cookbook and wanted to try out this recipe. I had a lot of leftover hazelnuts and jam from a recent job. I made the cookie dough earlier in the week. I’ll assemble and bake the cookies the day before.
A fruit platter. I’ll assemble this the morning of the shower. I’m thinking berries, apples (tossed in lemon), pears and mango.
Coffee
Iced Jasmine Green Tea
Lychee Lemonade (from a few newsletters ago)
Pretty Bottles of Italian Sparkling Water
What I’m Loving:
A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins: She wrote Girl On The Train, maybe you’ve read it or seen the movie? Also an excellent page turner. This is her new book and I read it very quickly over the Thanksgiving break. Well written , but also a mystery page turner. My favorite kind of book.
Trader Joe’s San Francisco Sourdough Bread: If I haven't written about this bread before I’d be shocked. This isn't new to me, but I think it would surprise people to know just how delicious it is. It is a staple in my weekly TJ’s shop. I suspect that it is naturally leavened, because there is no yeast in the ingredients. It’s the most traditional way of making sourdough bread and for good reason - it makes that delicious tang. At $2.99 and pre sliced, it’s perfect. I keep mine in the fridge and toast it.
@PastaGrannies on Instagram: This is my new favorite instagram account. It’s videos and photos of actual Nonnas in Italy making pasta from scratch. Simple concept. But for someone who is obsessed with all things from scratch and mesmerized by the simplicity of Italian cooking, this account is a delight. It’s baffling to me how Italian food in America consistently misses the mark on how simple the food actually is. It’s all about quality and you can see this through the posts showing off these grannies. It’s great!
Gingerbread house update:
I made my dough this morning and it is currently hanging out in my refrigerator. Subscribers will receive the recipe for the dough this morning. This way you can get a jump start on that. Make the dough, wrap it and fridge it. It can stay in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. My plan is to push out the rest of the tutorial this coming week. That’s where I’ll show you how to roll it out, bake, cut and assemble the houses. I also plan to include some video as well! We will see about the video… XO Liv