I'm sorry I still haven't gotten better at the whole posting regularly thing, but I'm in the middle of organising my move (yes, I have found an apartment and yes, it's very pretty) while getting used to commuting for what seems like forever these days (that will change once I move) ok...an then I'm not really cooking or baking much these days. Perhaps I should just change this blog to 'what I had for lunch at the cafeteria today' but trust me, you'd want to look at the photos of that just as badly as I would want to take them. So bear with me for a few more weeks :)
That said, I went to a birthday party the other week and had to decide what to bring along. Funnily enough ABC Family made that decision for me - Kathryn on Switched at Birth was talking about her artichoke dip a few episodes ago and I spent the better part of a week waking up every morning thinking about artichoke dip. So when I had to decide what to bring for the party I couldn't really think of anything better.
I looked at a few recipes but the one I based mine on is Ree's Hot Olive & Artichoke Dip on Pioneer Woman for quantities.
I baked the dip at the party which is one of the best things about it - you can prepare it in advance (relatively, I wouldn't leave it sitting around at room temperature for too long) and bake it when you're ready or when you get to wherever you're going and then 25 minutes later you'll have to stop yourself from eating the entire thing alone.
I think the dip works the best with plain tortilla chips or pitta chips. The slightly burned ones to the left of the artichoke dip in the middle were the result of me not paying attention to the oven. I'll make some prettier ones this weekend and will post the recipe soon.
Baked Artichoke Dip
260g jar Artichoke Hearts (the kind in the 'herb sauce' that always seems to consist mostly of oil - I ended up with about 150g after draining them)
250g Cream Cheese
125ml Mayonnaise (my jar came in ml, no clue how many grams that was, but if you have cup measures, that is about 1/2 cup)
100g Parmesan, grated
1/2 Onion, finely diced
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
1 Egg
Salt, Pepper, Nutmeg, Chilli Flakes
If you are planning on baking the dip straight away, preheat your oven to 175˚C now (otherwise preheat whichever oven you're using before you plan to bake the dip).
Combine the cream cheese and mayonnaise and stir until you have a relatively smooth mixture, then add the parmesan and diced onion.
Puree the artichoke hearts and add the puree to the cream cheese mix. Season with the lemon juice, salt pepper, nutmeg, and if you want some heat some chilli flakes.
Once you're happy with the flavour, add the egg and stir until the egg is properly incorporated.
Spoon the mixture into a small baking dish and bake for 20-25 minutes.
Now work on the whole self-restraint thing and try not to eat all of the dip before the people around you have a chance to notice you have taken it out of the oven :)
