Guest Author - Deborah Adams
With Valentine's Day coming up and SuperBowl parties over I got to thinking about how much the people in my house love to have good foods and great dipping sauces to go with them. For instance one of my daughters loves my coconut shrimp and pinacolada dipping sauce and asks for it frequently. I love mild wings with a Bleu cheese dipping sauce and we all love our cheese dipping sauce with chicken strips or chips! You can do so many things with dipping sauces. Batter fried banana chunks dipped into strawberry dessert sauce or apple slices in caramel dipping sauce! YUM!
I've shared several different kinds of dipping sauces for you to try out in your own homes. Experiment on how you serve them and what to serve them with. I've used individual serving bowls for each guest at times and at others I've used scooped out fruit bowls such as pineapples, coconut shells, and even bell peppers for cheese dip! For instance the lemon dessert dipping sauce is great drizzled over ice cream or cobblers as well as dipping strawberries and bananas into. Happy cooking! Deborah
Bleu Cheese Dipping Sauce
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup heavy cream
16 ounces blue cheese
2 tsp hot red pepper sauce
1 tsp Worcestershire
1 tsp salt
Place all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and process on high speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Pour into a nice serving bowl with ladle or individual bowls for each guest.
Caramel Dipping Sauce
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
In a smaller saucepan, combine the first four ingredients and bring to a boil. Do not overcook. Cook only to a softball stage and use a candy thermometer for best results. Remove from heat and the vanilla. Cool and serve with apples for dipping or with your favorite dessert or ice cream. You can vary the recipe by adding a flavoring such as 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1 Tbsp brewed coffee, 1 Tbsp baking chocolate or 1 Tbsp brandy.
Cheese Dipping Sauce
2 Tbsps oil
1 cup chopped onions
1 tsp Emeril Essence or other Creole seasoning
1 cup chopped seeded tomatoes
1 tsp minced garlic
8 ounces white cheddar cheese, shredded
8 ounces monterey jack cheese, shredded
1 cup canned chopped mild green chilies
3 Tbsp sour cream
1 tsp white pepper
Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium high heat until hot, about 1 minute.
Add onion and Emeril's and cook, stirring, until soft, about 5 minutes.
Stir in the tomato and garlic and cook, stirring, for another 2 minutes.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the cheeses and chiles.
Cook, stirring constantly, until the cheese melts, about 2 minutes.
Stir in the sour cream and white pepper and serve warm.
Chocolate Dipping Sauce
1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips or pieces
10 caramels
3/4 cup evaporated milk
Combine chocolate, caramels and evaporated milk in medium heavy-duty saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until morsels and caramels are melted and mixture is smooth. This is great with strawberries and many other fruits and desserts.
Lemon Dipping Sauce
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch
pinch salt
1 cup water
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp finely grated lemon peel
2 Tbsps fresh lemon juice
In heavy saucepan combine sugar, cornstarch and salt. Stir in water and cook over medium low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils. Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients. Stir until butter is melted and mixture is well blended. This is great served as a sauce over desserts or ice cream or for dipping with your favorite fruit.
Peanut Honey Dipping Sauce
1/2 c. honey
1/3 c. peanut butter (chunky if you like pieces of peanut in your sauce)
Soy sauce to taste
Garlic powder to taste
Crushed red pepper to taste
Blend all ingredients. This is a great dipping sauce for chicken pieces or wings anytime!
PinaColada Dipping Sauce
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup pina colada nonalcoholic drink mix
1/4 cup crushed pineapple (canned)
2 Tbsps granulated sugar
2 tsp shredded coconut
Combine first four ingredients well. Place in serving bowl and sprinkle coconut on top. Chill until serving. Great with coconut shrimp or coconut chicken and also for dipping wings and other foods in.
Seafood Dipping Sauce
2 bottles Heinz chili sauce
3 heaping tsp. prepared horseradish
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1/3 cup lemon juice
Empty both bottles chili sauce into mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Using a funnel pour the sauce back into the jars carefully. (Pour any remaining sauce into a small covered bowl). Replace the lids, label with your own made label so you know that it's the cocktail sauce and refrigerate. This is a great coctail sauce for any seafood!
Strawberry Dipping Sauce
1 package (16 ounces) frozen sweetened strawberries, thawed
2 teaspoons cornstarch
In a medium saucepan, combine juice from strawberries and cornstarch. Cook over, medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens. Cook 2 minutes longer. Add strawberries and just heat to serving temperature. I love this as a dip for batter fried banana chunks YUM! This is also great over icecream or cakes and other desserts.
