RECIPE: CHUNKY BLUE CHEESE and YOGURT DIP

Blue Cheese always reminds me of my mom. We never had blue cheese at home because she was the only one who liked it... but on the rare occasion that we'd get to go out to a restaurant, mom would always order a salad with bleu cheese dressing. Over the years, I've come to love it and I'm especially in love with the Smokey Blue Cheese from Rogue Creamery in Central Point, Oregon. You can usually find it at most Whole Foods locations. It runs about $9 for about 4 ounces. Yes, a little expensive for a dip but whoa... it is good. You can use whatever blue cheese you like- this is the best all-purpose, non-Ranch dip I know for chicken wings, veggies, and crackers.

My chunky blue cheese dip is the perfect dip for chicken wings, veggies, or crackers... this is even good spread on a slice of bread and toasted under the broiler!

CHUNKY BLUE CHEESE DIP

Difficulty: Easy    Category: Party Food

Prep Time: 5 minutes    Cook Time: non-cook recipe

INGREDIENTS 

½ cup chopped shallots

2 teaspoons minced garlic

3 Tablespoon lemon juice

¼ teaspoon lemon zest

2 cups Greek yogurt (you can sub sour cream if you don't like yogurt)

8 ounces (1 cup) Blue Cheese (okay to use crumbles)

2 teaspoons kosher salt

½ teaspoon cracked black pepper

1Tablespoon minced chives

 DIRECTIONS:

Add everything but chives to food processor. Pulse to combine. Pour into a bowl. Garnish with chives. Serve with veggies, chicken wings, chips, or crackers.

Yield: 2 cups

RECIPE: BAKED PITA CHIPS AND CHARRED ONION DIP

To me, there’s nothing that says party like chips and dip. Take the typical chips and dip to a new level with smoky baked pita chips and my charred three onion dip. Better make a double batch! I like making this recipe for Super Bowl Sunday or game days in front of the TV because you can make it in advance and it tastes even better. Plus, it is easy to double or tripe for a big crowd. Note: Instead of putting out a huge bowl, I recommend using smaller serving bowls. Fill 2-3 bowls and cover with plastic wrap. Keep chilled until you need to replenish.

BAKED PITA CHIPS WITH THREE ONION DIP

Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 20 minutes plus 30 minutes chill time

Cook Time: 10 minutes

INGREDIENTS

3 tablespoons olive oil

½ teaspoon smoked paprika

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon kosher salt-divided

¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper

8 pita bread rounds

 DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Combine all of the ingredients except ½ tablespoon of the salt in a small bowl. Whisk together. Brush on the first pita, stack the next one and repeat until you have 4 pitas. Repeat, making a second stack. Use a knife to cut the stack into eight wedges. Repeat with the second stack. Arrange the chips in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden and toasted.

Sprinkle the chips with the remaining salt as soon as you remove them from the oven.

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CHARRED ONION DIP

INGREDIENTS

1 small red onion

6 scallions, save some of the green tops for garnish

1 cup Mascarpone cheese

2 cups sour cream

1 teaspoon chives

1 teaspoon onion powder

¼ tablespoon fresh lemon juice

½ tablespoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper

1 ½ teaspoons Worcestershire

Dash Tabasco

 DIRECTIONS:

Slice the onion into 4 wedges. Heat and  very lightly oil a grill pan. Cook the onions and scallions until they are softened and the outside is nice and charred. Cool. Using a food processor, mince the scallions and onion. Add the remaining ingredients and mix together. Chill for at least 30 minutes before serving. This one tastes best 4-8 hours after you mix it up so the flavors can fully develop.

Yield: 3 cups

RECIPE: TRADITIONAL SOUTHERN FRIED CHICKEN

People usually associate Southern cooking with three things: Biscuits, BBQ, and Fried Chicken. I probably need to get my passport revoked because I have not until today, put up a single blog post or recipe on fried chicken. Fried chicken is a lot like BBQ sauce or potato salad. Every Southern cook has their own version and usually, a couple of good stories to go with it. Here's mine...

My mom grew up in a children's home in Troy, Alabama during very hard times. The kids all had to have a job and my mom always preferred to be in the kitchen. Once a week there would be fried chicken and they would have to go out in the yard and catch the chicken, kill it, clean it and then help cook it. Ugh. Hard to imagine. Mom taught me how to cut up a whole chicken and her techniques for frying. The big secret is the buttermilk. Don't skip that step... makes the chicken so juicy.  Here is my mom's recipe. I still use her cast iron skillet when I make it.

I don't often make fried chicken these days but when I do, it is always the star of the party.

TRADITIONAL BUTTERMILK SOUTHERN FRIED CHICKEN

INGREDIENTS

1 whole chicken with skin, cut up (about 3 pounds)

2 cups buttermilk

1 tablespoon kosher salt + 1 teaspoon

1 teaspoon black pepper + ½ teaspoon

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1 teaspoon paprika

3 cups self-rising flour

6-8 cups Canola oil for frying based on the size of your skillet or Dutch oven

Special equipment: Thermometer for frying and a meat thermometer

DIRECTIONS:

Put the chicken pieces in a large zip top bag. Pour the buttermilk over it and close. Toss to coat all of the chicken. Put the bag in a bowl and place it in the refrigerator for 8-24 hours to soak, turning the bag occasionally.

When you are ready to fry, fit a deep cast iron skillet or Dutch oven with a thermometer. Pour in the oil about 1 ½ to 2’ deep. Over medium high heat, bring the oil up to 360 degrees. You want to try to keep the oil at 360 during frying process. It will drop as you put in the chicken but let it come back to 360 degrees before adding more.

Combine the 1 tablespoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, cayenne, and paprika. Remove the chicken from the buttermilk and discard the buttermilk. Season the chicken liberally with the spice mixture on all sides.  

Put the flour plus 1 teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper in a zip top bag. (Back in the day, we used a brown paper bag.) Take the chicken, one or two pieces at a time and put into the flour mixture. Shake well to coat. Lightly shake off excess. Put on the baking rack after you have coated each piece.

When the oil is up to temperature, use the tongs to carefully put the coated pieces of chicken into the hot oil. Do this in batches, taking care not to overcrowd or put too many pieces in the pan at one time. You will lower the oil temperature and the skin will not be crispy. Cook the chicken for 15-20 minutes, turning occasionally until the chicken is deep golden brown and delicious. Remove one piece of chicken and check the temperature with a meat thermometer at the thickest part of the breast or thigh but away from the bone. Chicken should be cooked to 165 degrees F. Drain on a rack covered with a brown paper bag. You may want to lightly sprinkle the hot chicken with a little salt. That’s how my mom did it. Hope you like it as much as I love remembering those days standing by the stove with my mom, on chicken duty.