Caramelized Onion and Cheddar Dip

I still have one more cookie to bake, but I had to take a break. I did cut down and made only made 7 things this year. We’ll see how it pans out.

The sale of alcohol is controlled by the Government in Ontario. The LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) is the single largest alcohol buyer in the world! Crazy, but true. Recently, the Auditor General conducted a study (see article in the Toronto Star) that found Ontarian’s pay too way much for booze since the LCBO is the single largest purchaser in the world! We’ll see what happens with that! The LCBO has an enormous marketing budget and they produce some very classy promotional material. One such promo is their Food & Drink magazine. This magazine promotes booze, of course, but it also contains a huge number of recipes that are exceptionally beautifully photographed.

Entertaining season is in full swing and I always like to have a quick something that I can easily serve in case friends drop by; the recipe below is a delicious dip of sharp cheddar, caramelized onion and goats cheese. I noticed our local grocer had old cheddar bricks on sale, so I stocked up (I usually grate the cheese and freeze in a zip-lock baggy — it’s great for baking and cooking). Click here for the original recipe.

Freezing the dips in the shape of the ramekin for later use

Makes about 3 3.5 oz ramekins or one really big one!

Ingredients:

• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp (25 mL) cider vinegar or beer
• 1 tsp (5 mL) butter
• ¼ tsp (1 mL) freshly ground black pepper
• 4 oz (125 g) goats cheese, softened
• 1 1/2 cup (250 mL) shredded aged cheddar cheese
• ½ tsp (2 mL) dry mustard or Dijon
• 1 tbsp low fat mayo
• 1 tsp (5 mL) chopped fresh thyme, or ¼ tsp (1 mL) dried
• Thick pretzels or crackers, for dipping

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450ºF (230ºC) or barbecue to medium-high.
2. Combine onion, vinegar, butter and pepper in a shallow baking pan (for oven) or in a foil pan (for barbecue). Roast, stirring twice, for 15 to 20 minutes or until soft, translucent and starting to brown. Let cool slightly.
3. Mash softened cream cheese with the mayo, mustard and thyme in a bowl. Add onion mixture and cheddar cheese stirring until well blended. Pack into an ovenproof ramekin or serving dish or a foil pan. Cover and refrigerate. To freeze, line your individual ramekins with plastic wrap and freeze. Once frozen, remove the little package from the ramekin and store in a zip lock bag. The dip freezes in the shape of the ramekin and all I need to do is remove the plastic wrap and tuck back into the ramekin and it’s ready for baking. (Make sure you try to remove the folds in the plastic wrap, otherwise you may not be able to get it all off).
4. To serve, preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) or barbecue to medium-high.
5. Heat dip, uncovered, in oven or on grill, for about 15 minutes or until hot and bubbling around edges. Stir and serve with thick pretzels or crackers for dipping.

Of course, we had to have a wee taster. YUM!

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Christmas Baking 2011: Chewy Peanut Butter Bars

In the late 70’s my 10 year old brother (20 months my junior) gave me a cook book of cookies, candies and desserts for Christmas; he inscribed it with this sentiment: “This is really for me, in the long run!” And it was! The bad photography of that time didn’t stop me from making so many things from it, and one of the family favourites were Chewy Peanut Butter Bars. Being of European decent and first generation Canadians, peanut butter was not a standard staple in our household (you’d more than likely find Nutella in our pantry — a chocolate hazelnut spread). But we were somehow, now long forgotten introduced to the nutty, buttery spread. My brother loved it on toast, I just liked baking with it. We tried all the commercial varieties; Skippy was just too salty, and what up with that lonely peanut on top? Kraft had even less peanut taste, and too sweet! We ended up with a store brand of Just Peanuts without preservatives; now we grind our own in our local health food store. Just peanuts and nothing else. I’m a little skeptical of products that need not be refrigerated, like Kraft PB! How come it doesn’t go rancid, with all that fat in it?
Sadly, during our 2007 Reno I must have really purged because I can no longer find this beloved cook book (it might be at the cottage) so I’ve had to go by memory on the recipe and find a recipe that seems to be similar (my memory ain’t what it used to be). They were chewy, like brownies, but with PB and not chocolate, and they had a white chocolate and dark chocolate drizzle on top. Yum! I found this recipe at Cooks.com and it seems to fit the bill.

Chewy and peanut buttery goodness; you know you want one!

Chewy Peanut Butter Bars

Makes 3 dozen (1 1/2 to 2 inch) bars

Ingredients:

• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 c. peanut butter, smooth or chunky
• 1/2 c. butter
• 1 1/2 c. firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp. vanilla
• 2/3 cup milk chocolate chips melted with about 2 tbsp butter
• 1 cup icing sugar with enough drops of cold water to make a liquidy icing (but one that will set well)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Grease and flour 13 x 9 x 2 baking pan.
3. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
4. Heat peanut butter and butter together until melted.
5. Stir in sugar, eggs and vanilla until well blended.
6. Add flour mixture and stir just until combined.
7. Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake 25 to 30 minutes.
8. Cool on wire rack.
9. When cool, spread the melted milk chocolate so that it coats the entire top. Working quickly, drizzle swirls of the white icing in a crazy pattern. Cut into 1-2″ square inch squares.

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