Dip

Hummus may come and go, but warm spinach cheese dip, with its highly satiating qualities and homey familiarity, is still and always will be an excellent choice for casual parties involving cocktails. Broiler-charred jalapeños are our spin to bump this old classic into flavor advanced placement. As with any creamy cheese spread, R. B. will find any leftovers, no matter how buried in Min’s fridge, to plop on open-faced burgers.

This simple starter always brings me back to Provence, where I trained as a young chef. There, we served this sea-salty dip with scallions and red bell peppers, but now fennel is my favorite. This dip is so good, it works with any combination of vegetables; pick from my suggestions below. And if you think you don’t like anchovies, you have to try this. The milk mellows the intensity of the fish and the garlic and makes the dip incredibly creamy.

Sure, you want this as a quick and simple sauce for the Reuben Balls (page 29), but it is also great as a dipping sauce for shrimp, tortilla chips, or veggies. Don’t skip the caraway seeds. Their distinctive aroma elevates this above and beyond store-bought dressing. This dressing will keep for up to a week in the fridge.

When we make guacamole, we make it to order. It’s one of those dishes that doesn’t improve with age. The avocados have to be perfectly ripe, giving gently when pressed, and then mixed with just the right balance of other ingredients. We serve our guacamole with warm, crisp tostones, a Cuban specialty made from fried plantains. You can make the tostones ahead of time and then refry them right before serving.

What’s great about this salad is that it only involves opening a few cans and layering the veggies with shredded cheese. It’s simple, healthy, and looks pretty in a glass bowl to boot!

A pimiento cheese sandwich made on very fresh white bread is a true southern staple. Nothing goes better with Gwen’s Fried Chicken (page 93). Mama slices the crusts off the sandwiches and cuts them in half for family reunions—very southern belle!

Spinach artichoke dips seem to be on every restaurant’s appetizer list these days, and I like them okay but have never been a big spinach fan. Feta cheese, on the other hand, is something I’m very fond of, so I was excited to find this recipe. It’s also one of those really easy recipes that tastes like it must have been really hard to make. You gotta love those!

I’m sort of a snob when it comes to trying new recipes. I just seem to like my old tried and true ones best, and it takes a lot for something new to grab my attention. I had to have the recipe for this dip after I tried it on Super Bowl Sunday 2006. Garth is a die-hard Steelers fan, so it was an exciting day. Everybody always brings something for the party, and this was my friend Kim’s contribution. Being a good southern girl, I love anything with black-eyed peas in it, but for you folks who are right now turning up your noses at the idea of eating black-eyed peas, all I can say is just try it. In fact, maybe I should name it something else for those skeptics. How about Pea Dippy?

The best image we have of bagna càuda is in the Time-Life Book, Cooking of Italy: a few stocky men and their elegant wives, towels around their necks, are sitting solemnly around a table in a brick vault. You would think they are about to eat ortolans or monkey brains, but no, they are enjoying long sticks of celery dipped in a warm butter-oil-anchovy bath. It’s a strange image, and we were inexplicably inspired by it. Bagna càuda is peasant yet elegant—the essence of Italian food. We love the flavor and the process of trimming the vegetables, and we (bittersweetly) think most people like bagna càuda because it tastes like Caesar salad. We serve our bagna càuda with a dip or aioli and have provided both options below.

No offense to salsa, but come on, who doesn't love a gooey, cheesy bean dip, bubbling hot like lava from the broiler? If you're a chile head, you'll probably want to up the number of chiles and leave the seeds in. If your friends are more, ahem, delicate, then stick with one chile and remove the seeds and ribs.

Pickled red onion adds crunch and punch. Serve with crudités.

This is one of my favorite ways to showcase the fresh and delicate flavors of spring: sweet peas, tender green garlic, and mint. Serve with crostini or fresh spring veggies as a dip (pictured), or spread it on sandwiches. You can also use fava beans in place of the peas, or use a combination. Truffle pecorino would also work well in this recipe.

Good hummus is hard to find; I find that most lack the acid needed to balance the nutty richness of tahini and olive oil, making it fall flat on your tongue. A little extra lemon juice completely transforms hummus to something much brighter in flavor. That’s why the best hummus is homemade—besides, nothing could be simpler or more satisfying. I firmly believe that my mother’s hummus is the benchmark for all other hummus out there. She personally taught our chef Eddy how to make it, and he in turn has trained all of our crew to make exceptionally delicious hummus. I keep a blend of ground toasted cumin and coriander in my spice set; it’s a great addition to Middle Eastern and Mexican dishes. I usually toast 2 tablespoons each of the whole spices in a sauté pan on low heat until aromatic and lightly toasted, about 2 minutes. Once cooled, I grind in a coffee grinder reserved for spices; a mortar and pestle also works.

Serve this rich, velvety dip with crostini (page 365), breadsticks, or crackers. Or try it as a delectable accompaniment for roast chicken or pork.

This dip is a favorite among Everyday Food editors. Double the recipe to make extra, as it will keep, covered and refrigerated, up to three days. Navy beans can be used in place of cannellini.

THIS RECIPE WAS CREATED TO GO WITH the Red, White, and Green Vegetable “Lasagne” (page 163), but it can be used just as you would any pesto—in omelets, tossed with pasta, or as a savory dip.

THIS RECIPE BEGAN AS A MARINADE for poached chicken, but it was so delicious we now sell it as a dip. Poured over a wedge of soft Brie cheese or served in a flat-bottomed bowl alongside bread, it makes an easy starter to any meal. A mix of golden and Thompson seedless raisins provides a sweet contrast. See photograph on page 237.

MAKING MAYONNAISE FROM SCRATCH is easy and worth the effort; the flavors are much more intense than in store-bought mayonnaise. If you don’t have time to make your own, look for a brand that is free of hydrogenated oils. Mayonnaise easily takes on new flavors, and adding ingredients, such as pesto and wasabi, makes unusual and savory sandwich spreads and vegetable dips.