Category Entertaining

Parties That Cook’s Winter Weather Must-Have: Mexican Hot Chocolate Recipe

0 comments By The Kitchen Whisperer Filed in Entertaining, General, Menus & Recipes Tagged with , , , , , , February 17th, 2011 @ 3:28 pm

Winter weather has finally hit the San Francisco Bay Area. Rain and scarily strong winds have folks in hiding this week. Make hibernation more enjoyable with this Parties That Cook Winter Recipe for rich and delicious Mexican Hot Chocolate! If you like, you can make it a party (or fiesta!) with these beer & pretzel marshmallows – a great way to participate in San Francisco’s Beer Week without even leaving your house!

*No need to feel left out: For the few cities (ahem, Chicago) experiencing oddly warm weather for this time of year, a previous blog entry is NOW applicable!*

Mexican Hot Chocolate
This recipe can also be found in our Holiday Recipes Section!

Ingredients
8 cups milk
3 disks of Mexican chocolate
3 oz of Scharffen Berger dark chocolate
1 vanilla bean pod, split lengthwise

Methods/Steps
Prep: Chop the chocolates coarsely. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add the seeds and bean to the milk.
Heat: Warm the milk, chopped chocolate, vanilla bean seeds and pod in a pot over medium heat.
Execute: While warming, constantly whisk the milk. Do not let it boil over. Keep whisking until the chocolate is melted and the mixture begins to produce steam. Remove vanilla bean pod and serve in mugs.

Serves/Makes
Makes 8 drinks

Parties That Cook’s Super Easy Super Bowl Recipe: Real Deal French Onion Dip with Sourdough Bread

0 comments By The Kitchen Whisperer Filed in Entertaining, General, Menus & Recipes Tagged with , , , , , , , , February 3rd, 2011 @ 11:45 am

This Super Bowl Sunday, don’t stress out over what to feed your fellow football fanatics. Be the MVP of your Super Bowl Party with this SUPER easy recipe for the Real Deal French Onion Dip with Warm Sourdough Bread! So good it may just warrant that victory dance you’ve been secretly practicing all year -just don’t spike the dip bowl when you’re done.

Real Deal French Onion Dip with Warm Sourdough Bread
This recipe and other game day bites can also be found in our Appetizer Recipe Library!

Ingredients
French Onion Dip:
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter
¼ cup olive oil
4 large yellow onions, cut into small dice
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup sour cream
½ cup mayonnaise
2 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Warm Sourdough Nuggets:
2 sourdough baguettes
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ cup chopped parsley

Methods/Steps
Preheat the oven to 450°

Caramelize Onions: In large sauté pan, combine the butter, oil, onions, cayenne, and salt. Cook over medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the onions are caramelized, about 15 more minutes. Let the onions cool. Start on the warm sourdough nuggets.

Blend Dip: In the bowl of a large food processor, mix the cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, garlic, Dijon mustard and lemon juice until smooth. Add the onions and pulse until combined.  Taste, adjust with more salt and pepper if needed. Transfer mixture to a decorative baking dish and bake until bubbling, about 10-15 minutes.

Cut Bread: Cut baguette in half lengthwise. Cut each half into 11/2 inch chunks or nuggets. Place the bread nuggets into a large bowl and toss well with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Transfer nuggets onto a sheet pan and place into the oven until golden, about 5-7 minutes.  When the nuggets come out of the oven, toss them with the chopped parsley.

Recipe adapted by Parties That Cook® www.PartiesThatCook.com from Michelle Mah of The Brixton.

Serves/Makes
Serves 24

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