Carmelized Onion Dip

So I took a cooking class the other day. One of the recipes that they showcased was this recipe. While this one takes a little patience (caramelizing the onion), it is full of flavor and a great dip for everything from chips to veggies (raw and/or grilled).

Ingredients

2 tbsp Olive Oil

1 med white and/or yellow onion, any variety, chopped

1 tbsp Fresh Rosemary

Vinegar or Wine as needed

1 cup Sour Cream

1/4 cup Mayonnaise

2 Scallions or green onions, white and green parts, chopped

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions

• Over medium heat, heat the olive oil in a large skillet.
• Add the onions and chopped rosemary. Admittedly I didn't have fresh rosemary (because I am a jackass and went to the store to GET fresh rosemary and got home and realized that I did not actually buy the fresh rosemary that I needed) so I used dried rosemary and things turned out fine, although not quite as flavorful as the sample I had in the cooking class! Anywho...reduce heat to LOW and cook until onions are caramel colored and very soft, about 20-30 minutes. Stir occasionally to ensure onions get cooked evenly.
• If you find the onions are browning too quickly or starting to burn, reduce the heat a little and add a splash of vinegar (I used Red Wine vinegar) or wine. I also found that placing a piece of parchment paper tightly over the onions will trap their own moisture and ensure they don't cook too quickly or dry out in the pan.
• Remove onions from heat and let cool.
• In a food processor, combine the sour cream, mayonnaise, chopped scallions and caramelized onions in a food processor. Puree until smooth.
• Salt and pepper to taste and puree until combined thoroughly.
• Refrigerate until ready to serve.
• The recipe says it keeps for up to 4 days...mine is already half gone and I just made it tonight!

Serving Suggestions

• I just served this with some Sweet Potato Chips that I found at the grocery store and it was fabulous!
• This dip could easily be served with other veggies, raw or cooked. Some suggestions would be: grilled asparagus, grilled sweet potato sticks, sweet potato fries, french fries, carrots...
• It can also be served with tortilla chips.

Alternatives

• For a healthier version, you could easily substitute the soy versions of sour cream (Toffuti offers a sour cream alternative) and/or soy or canola mayo.

Roasted chicken with bacon brandy sauce, asparagus & mashed potatoes

Tonight I revisited this recipe. However this time I made it with a roasted chicken, asparagus and I added shallots to the sauce.

Bacon Brandy sauce
1/4 package bacon sliced into 1/2 pieces
1 package mushrooms chopped up
1/4 cup brandy
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup chicken broth
3 tbsp pepper
5 cloves garlic chopped
1 tsp garlic powder
3/4 shallot chopped

In large sauté pan sauté bacon until crisp over medium high heat. Add mushrooms and shallots into bacon grease and sauté until brown. Remove from heat and pour in brandy, light on fire. Wait for flame to die down and place back on heat. Reduce heat to medium low. Pour in cream, stock and garlic, pepper and garlic powder and simmer until thickened. Serve over steaming hot bowl of mashed potatoes.

Roasted Chicken
4 chicken thighs
1/4 cup chicken stock
1 tbsp salt
1.5 tbsp pepper
1 tsp red pepper flake
2 tsp ranch seasoning
3 tsp chicken & rib rub**

Preheat oven to 400. Season chicken on both sides. Pour stock into baking dish. Place chicken in baking dish skin side down. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Flip and bake for another 20 minutes skin side up. Uncover and broil on low for 10 minutes to crisp skin.

** Mine had salt, sugar, black pepper, paprika, nutmeg, sage, cayenne and crushed red pepper.

Roasted asparagus
1 bundle asparagus
Olive oil
2 cloves garlic sliced
1/4 shallot sliced
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt

Drizzle olive oil over asparagus and cover with garlic, shallot, salt & pepper. Roast uncovered on cookie sheet for about 30 minutes or until desired doneness.

**Tip I like to roast my asparagus on foil. That way if it is done before my chicken I can pull it out and wrap the foil around it to keep the heat in. Also this saves you from cleaning a dish.

Mashed Potoatoes
5-6 medium white potatoes or yukon gold
3 cloves garlic sliced
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp salt
2 tsp pepper

Boil potatoes until done. Drain and place on low heat for 1 minute to allow water to vaporize out. Add butter, salt and pepper and half of cream. Mash potatoes, add more cream if necessary. Keep on low heat until serving.

Your bacon should look like this before cooking. It will cut up easier if still cold.

This is the point you want to add your brandy

How it looks before thickening up

Finished product. Cook this for company everyone will think your awesome. I like to put a little extra of the sauce on the plate to dunk the chicken in.