Basic Sour Cream Party Dip Recipe

¾ cup sour cream**

¼ cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon BITTERSWEET BLEND  of choice

     Gently mix all ingredients until smooth and blended. Let stand one hour plus for best flavour. Lightly stir again just before serving. 

Tip: The spicy/hotter flavours need time for the heat to develop. You can even make them the night before as the sour cream (or cream cheese) will keep well for over a week.

**You can substitute yoghurt, but if using yoghurt, initially stir seasoning into yoghurt gently and then stir gently again before serving. If you stir too viciously the yoghurt will separate and go thin.

Basic Cream Cheese Party Dip Recipe

¾ cup cream cheese

¼ cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon BITTERSWEET BLEND  of choice

     Mix all ingredients until smooth and blended. Let stand one hour plus for best flavour.

Tip: The spicy/hotter flavours need time for the heat to develop. You can even make them the night before as the cream cheese (or sour cream) will keep well for over a week.

 

Mexican Salsa

1 Tin (410g) plain crushed tomato(or 1½ cup fresh skinned, seeded and chopped tomato)
1 good tablespoon BITTERSWEET Mexican Salsa Plus Blend

     Mix well. Let stand one hour. Full heat/flavour achieved in 24 hours. ***You can also use Mexican Salsa Plus Blend for a white party dip by following the above “basic dip” recipes. 

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Salad Dressing

                                                                                 

Basic Vinaigrette
¼ cup vinegar
2 teaspoons Bittersweet Herb Blend of choice
¾ cup oil
salt and pepper to taste

     In a container with a tight sealing cap add Bittersweet Blend to vinegar. Shake 10 seconds. Add oil to taste. Shake at least fifteen seconds to emulsify…TIME THIS ACTION!
     You can add a teaspoon of Dijon Mustard, a splash of soy sauce and/or a good pinch of sugar to the above recipe for variation.

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According to a Spanish proverb, four persons are wanted to make a good dressing: A spendthrift for oil, A miser for vinegar, A counsellor for salt and A madman to shake it all up.

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Creamy Dressings
     Simply add cider vinegar or lemon juice to any Bittersweet party dip until it reaches the correct dressing consistency you desire. This will work with a base of plain sour cream, yoghurt, or even cream cheese as well as with the sour cream/mayonnaise party dip mixture. Creamy dressings are excellent on potato, rice, cabbage, or macaroni salads as well as your green salads.

Herbal Butter

• * Use Herbal Butter on a kiwi stick, torpedo roll or split pita bread and grill, or sprinkle grated cheese on top and grill.
• * Add herbal butters to your bread recipes instead of plain butter. This releases the herb flavour into the bread better than just adding dried herbs.
• * Begin white or cheese sauce with herbal butter for instant seasoning.
• * Begin any sauté situation with herbal butter.
• * Just serve on toast to turn plain into special.

Basic Recipe:
¼ cup butter (the "butter" spread you use), softened
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 - 1½ tablespoons Any Bittersweet Blend (to taste)

     Carefully mix lemon juice into butter spread and then add Bittersweet seasoning.  Keeps forever in refrigerator and is great to "have on hand".

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Variations:

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Herbal Onion Butter:    To the above Basic Recipe add a half of a red onion, diced very finely. As you mix in the onion the butter turns into more of a paste.  This onion butter shines as a garnish melting on top of a grilled beef or salmon steak.

Chili Orange Butter: Substitute 2 tablespoons Orange Juice for the one of lemon juice above, add 1 teaspoon of orange zest (finely chopped), and use ½ tablespoon of Bittersweet Heathen Chili Blend.

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Blue Butter:  To the above basic recipe add an equal amount of blue cheese, add 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise and substitute 1 tablespoon of rum for the lemon juice. Use a Bittersweet Blend like So Savoury, Zesty Garlic, Dill, Tarragon or Cajun.

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Garlic Ginger Butter:
An amazing cracker spread.
Top grilled steaks or chops as they come off the heat.
Make a different garlic toast.
Slather on corn on the cob.
Add to mashed potatoes (omit lemon juice) with a bit of milk.

70g softened butter
6g peeled, fresh ginger root, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
½ tablespoon Bittersweet Zesty Garlic, Tarragon, Savoury, Italian,
Chili, Cajun, Hickory Smoked Onion or Sundried Tomato
2 teaspoons lemon juice (optional)
1 tablespoon freshly chopped parsley (optional)

     In small food processor, or by hand, blend all ingredients until smooth.
Slightly bring to room temperature before serving.

Spiced "Vinegar

     Two choices here and both made the same way.  Spice your vinegar with Bittersweet Mulling Spices or with Bittersweet Mexican Blend - dramatically different results.  One is savoury/spicy and the other is spicy/spicy, but both are excellent.

Spiced Vinegar

1 cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon Bittersweet Mulling Spices or Mexican Blend

     Put both ingredients into a sterilized jar with tight fitting lid.  Shake every day for 10 days. Strain and re store in sterilized jar with tight fitting lid. Store in a dark pantry.

Herb Oil

     In sauté pan heat 2 – 3 tablespoons of olive oil, add 1 tablespoon Bittersweet Blend* of choice and sauté over low heat for 2 – 3 minutes. This quickly seasons you oil. From here you can toss vegetables for roasting with this oil (broccoli and Zesty Garlic oil or carrots with So Savoury oil) or drizzle on a kiwi stick for grilled herb bread, or drizzle on fish or chicken fillets and bake. Coat potato slices and sauté or bake.