Warm Gruyère, Roasted Garlic & Thyme Dip

It is about 21°F this morning. The cold always me makes me crave crave warm, cozy dishes. This gruyère, roasted garlic and thyme dip  is just the thing to take to a New Years Eve cocktail party, or simply enjoy on the sofa after a long day, with your feet kicked up (build a fire in that fireplace, while you’re at it!).

I went to a cocktail party this fall (potluck style), and there were at least three different spinach and artichoke dips! Tasting and comparing them all was fun, but really? Three versions? Seems everyone was on the same page that night. I LOVE spinach artichoke dip, and this dip hits the same craving but mixes it up a bit.

The first step in this recipe is to roast a whole head of garlic. Have you roasted garlic before? YUM. It becomes golden and soft and spreadable. I roasted an extra head of garlic while I was making the one for this dip just so we could have it. It makes the best garlic garlic bread or compound butter. You may as well make the most of having the oven on!

Surprisingly, even with a whole head of garlic in this dip, it’s a subtle flavor — not a “I’m going to be breathing garlic for the rest of the night,” flavor. The gruyère and cream cheese soften it. Thyme adds an herbaceous note. The leftovers (if you have leftovers — in the realm of cheese that’s a rare story) do well as a sandwich spread or tucked inside of an omelette with sautéd mushrooms.

The new year is almost here! Wishing everyone a joyful 2019!

Warm Gruyère, Roasted Garlic & Thyme Dip

Published December 7, 2018 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 6   |    Active Time: 75 minutes

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Ingredients:

1 head of garlic

1 teaspoon olive oil or avocado oil

8 ounces sour cream, at room temperature

2 ounces cream cheese

2 ounces gruyère, finely grated, plus 2 tablespoons for topping

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

1 tablespoon minced parsley for garnish

For serving: crudités, crackers, crusty bread, etc.

Directions:

1. First, roast the garlic: preheat oven to 350° F. Chop the very top off of the head of garlic. Place on a baking sheet and drizzle with the olive/avocado oil. Place in oven and roast 45 minutes, until cloves are golden and soft.
2. Allow garlic to cool until you can easily touch it without burning your hands, about 15 minutes. Squeeze garlic cloves into a medium-sized mixing bowl, discarding of the garlic papers. Mash garlic.
3. Add sour cream, cream cheese, 2 ounces gruyère, salt, black pepper, and thyme to bowl. Use a fork to mix until well combined.
4. Spread cheese mixture in a ramekin or cocotte dish. Do not over fill—make sure there is at least 1/4-inch of extra room in the dish to avoid bubbling over. Top with remaining 2 tablespoons gruyère, and place in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until cheese is bubbling and just starting to brown in spots on the top.
5. Remove from oven and allow to cool 10 minutes before sprinkling with minced parsley and serving with crudités, crackers, or crusty bread.
6. Leftovers? Eat them cold as a spread on toast, sandwiches, etc, or re-warm the dip in the microwave for 30-second intervals or in an oven until warmed through.

Green Chile Smother Sauce

This green chile smother sauce was created for a good friend after we went to a Mexican restaurant and fell in love with their smother sauce. The Mexican restaurant is a little hole in the wall across the street from the DMV. You wouldn’t think much of that little restaurant if you were just driving by, but those that know it love it. The burritos come stuffed full of ingredients, making them bigger than anyone person could ever really need. And key to this story, each burrito gets coated in smother sauce.

What is smother sauce, you ask? Well, it’s a sauce, for smothering. But it can be used in a kajillion ways (I’ll share some ideas later in this post). Mostly, it’s a spicy sauce that you can pour over burritos, tacos, eggs—really anything. 

This green chili sauce is really similar to what you would use in my Pork Chile Verde. It is the sauce to smother every burrito, tamale, and taco with. Basically, it is everything. Still need ideas for how to use it? 

• Green enchilada sauce (do you have leftover turkey still? Enchiladas are the answer)

• Green eggs in purgatory

• A hot sauce for your breakfast (fried eggs or omellete)

• Serve as a salsa

• Slow Cooker Pork Chile Verde (use this sauce in place of the tomatillo, onion, garlic blend that the recipe calls for: they are pretty much the same thing)

• A starter for guacamole

• A smother sauce for burritos

...just to name a few.

Green Chile Smother Sauce

Published November 21, 2017 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 6   |    Total Time: 20 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 8 medium sized tomatillos
• 4 cloves garlic 
• 1 yellow onion
• 1 tablespoon avocado oil
• 2 cans hatch green chiles (I use the hot ones, but feel free to use mild if you prefer)
• 1/2 cup cilantro 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• Juice of 1 lime 
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano

Directions:

1. Preheat your over to 475°F. Peel the papery outer skins from the tomatillos, wash them, and slice them in half. Cut the onion into 4 to 6 large wedges. Arrange them all on a sheet pan along with the garlic cloves. Brush with 1 tablespoon avocado oil, and place in oven. Roast until the tops of the tomatillos are browned, 10-15 minutes.
2. Add roasted tomatillos, onions, and garlic to a blender along with canned green chiles, cilantro, lime, spices (cumin, coriander, oregano, and optional cayenne), salt, and pepper. Puree. Mixture should be similar to a less chunky salsa.
3. Store sauce in jars until ready to use. Stays good in fridge for 1 week.

Easy Food Processor Pesto

After posting my eleventh recipe that called for pesto to this blog (Pesto Zoodles with Fresh Peas and Bacon), I decided it was high time I actually post a recipe for pesto itself. Watch below or click here to watch the recipe video! Scroll past the video for some images and the full recipe. 

Pesto is a glorious, glorious thing. Ancient Romans were on to something when they started mashing herbs with garlic, cheese and oil. Can you imagine being the chef to first pull out your moral and pestle, fill it with herbs and nuts, only to yield a greenish glop that looks unlike any other sauce you'd seen? And then the first bite! What do you think they thought?

Of course, times have since changed dramatically. Basil wasn't the star of pesto sauce until 1863 (according to Wiki), and wasn't even popular in the US until the 1980s and 1990s. Which, I suppose, explains a lot: as a 90s kid, I was set up to love pesto from the beginning. And now here I am, making pesto in a food processor. (Many will tell you this is not the traditional way, and they are right: in ancient Rome they didn't have food processors... or electricity. This food processor method is the 21st century way. I've made many a batch of pesto in a mortar and pestle, but for a big batch, I always go for the food processor). 

When I have a fresh batch of pesto in the fridge, I fearless add it to every meal. A condiment for potatoes (a sauce for sweet potatoes, or just a dip for some roasted yukon golds). The creamy base for this chicken dish. Shmeared inside of a cheesy omelette. I even put the stuff straight on steamed broccoli, or stir a tablespoon of pesto with a tablespoon of lemon juice to make a vinaigrette. You get the picture. 

Easy Food Processor Pesto

Published July 11, 2017 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 4   |    Total Time: 10 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan
• Zest from 1/2 a lemon
• 6 cups basil
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Directions:

1. Pulse garlic in food processor with salt until minced.
2. Add pine nuts to food processor, and pulse three times. Add parmesan and lemon zest to food processor, and pulse until a meal forms.
3. Add basil and oil to the food processor and pulse until the basil and minced evenly. Scrape the sides with a spatula and pulse again briefly.
4. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge until ready to use. Will last up to 1 week in the fridge.

FOR NUT-FREE: Substitute 1/4 cup sunflower seeds for 1/4 cup pine nuts.

FOR DAIRY-FREE: Substitute 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast for 1/2 cup parmesan.