Roasted Garlic Avocado Dip / Spread

Roasted Garlic Avocado Dip / Spread | Bakewell Junction

This weekend I had another graduation party – it’s that time of year.   I brought Slutty Brownies and Italian Rum Baba because I can’t show up without a little something.  Needless to say, they all disappeared.

With July 4tn around the corner, I thought it would be a great time to share my Roasted Garlic Avocado Dip.  This is similar to my Guacamole but the flavor is roasted garlic instead of onion.  I prefer the roasted garlic flavor with meat instead of chips. You might ask why roasted garlic instead of raw garlic?  Roasted garlic has a much milder flavor than raw garlic.  I love roasted garlic and adding it in this dip is wonderful.  Once the garlic is roasted and then crushed, it just melds into the dip.

If you’re grilling hamburgers, london broil, ribs or Italian sausage for July 4th, this dip is great.  I just place a large portion of this dip on the edge of my plate and dip steak, sausage or ribs into it before taking a bite – just delicious.  You can also use this dip as a spread on sandwiches instead of mayo or in addition to.

Enjoy.

Roasted Garlic Avocado Dip

Ingredients

• 3 Hass Avocados, ripe
• 4 to 5 roasted garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tablespoon lime juice or the juice from 1/2 lime or more to taste
• 1/2 – 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon sea salt or more to taste

Directions:

Step 1:  Using a sharp knife, cut the Avocados in half by starting at the top (the narrow end) and cutting down to the bottom (the wider end) on one side and up to the top on the other side.  Do not cut through the pit in the center.

Step 2:  Using a spoon scoop out the Avocados and place in a medium bowl.  Discard the skin and pit.  Crush the roasted garlic cloves into the bowl and mix into the Avocado.  Add juices and salt and mix thoroughly.

Step 3:  To store the Guacamole, cover with plastic wrap and ensure that the plastic wrap is placed directly on the mixture and that there are no or few air gaps; then chill in the refrigerator.  Fresh Guacamole doesn’t keep well, so it should be made only about an hour before it is served.

Roasted Garlic

Ingredients

• 1 head of garlic
• 1 to 2 teaspoons olive oil

Directions:

Step 1:  Remove all the white papery outer skin from the head of garlic.  Place the head of garlic in a pouch created by aluminum foil and drizzle uniformly with the olive oil.  Close up the pouch.

Step 2:  Place the pouch in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until the garlic becomes soft.  Remove garlic from the oven and let cool completely.  Remove the cloves from the skin and store in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!!!

Recipe adapted from my co-worker.

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Taco Beef Dip

Taco Beef Dip | Bakewell Junction

The big storm is over and I just finished shoveling snow for about four hours.  I’ve been trying to get this post written since the Super Bowl.  For Super Bowl, we planned to order pizza and not have a lot of work since there were only four and a half of us.  Now the story with the half person is that my friend and neighbor only stops in for a little while because her back doesn’t let her hang out and sit for long periods of time so she doesn’t eat very much.

I figured I would make a few things until we ordered pizza and some would be planned leftovers so I made my spinach dip, a double quacamole recipe, a few cut cheeses (pepper jack, cheddar and fontina), blue corn tortilla chips, pretzel sticks, pretzel crackers, two half trays of sausage and peppers, a double taco beef dip recipe, soft tortillas, my dried etna hot peppers (for the gutsy) and Venetians (recipe coming soon) for dessert.  As it turned out, we never ordered the pizza.  I know, it’s a lot of food but if I had planned to make a meal there would have been a lot more.

When I make this easy taco beef dip, I make it on the milder side and then those who want it spicy can make as spicy as they like.  Many years ago I used to get those recipe cards where they send you packets of a several every so often and I found this recipe on those cards.  I’ve been making this for many years and everyone loves it including me.  It works great in a sandwich or as a topping on chips.  So what did you make for Super Bowl?

Enjoy.

Taco Beef Dip

Ingredients

• 1 pound extra lean ground beef
• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 1 1/2 tablespoon chili powder (I use mild chili powder)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
• Hot pepper sauce, to taste
• 1 16 ounce can red kidney beans (I substitute a can of refried beens)
• Flour tortillas or tortilla chips

Garnish

• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, optional (I buy a block of cheddar and shred it myself for better taste)
• 1/2 cup stuffed green olives, chopped, optional (I skip this)
• 1/2 cup green onions, sliced, optional (I skip this)
• 1 tomato, diced, optional
• lettuce, chopped
• dried Etna peppers, optional

Directions:

Step 1:  Place chopped onions in the bottom of a large skillet and crumble beef on top.  Turn the heat to medium and cook until the beef begins to lose it’s color.  The onions will begin to soften.  Turn the meat so it cooks evenly.  Do not let beef become crisp.

Step 2:  Mix the ketchup, chili powder, salt and hot pepper sauce into the beef mixture.

Step 3:  Chop kidney beans and add to the beef mixture.  Alternatively add the refried beans to the beef mixture.  Continue heating until simmering for 10 minutes.

Step 4:  Serve in a heat safe bowl and top with garnishes as desired.  Supply additional garnishes for everyone to build their own tortillas or serve with tortilla chips.

This recipe stores well in the refrigerator and tastes just as good as left-overs.

Enjoy!!!

Recipe adapted from My Great Recipes.

My Favorite Guacamole

Especially during the summer I love having Guacamole.  A few years ago I got a recipe from my co-worker that I adapted to my tastes.  It’s quick and easy to make and everyone loves it.  I also use it as a dipping sauce for steak, pork, ribs, chicken and just about anything you can think of.  Just think how good it would be instead of mayo on a sandwich.  My husband just had some on an tomato guacamole salad sandwich.  You can’t name all the things this works with.

In a couple of weeks I’m having my family and my in-laws over for dinner (well it’s on a Sunday and it starts around noon and lasts most of the day) and this recipe is a regular on the menu for my get-togethers.  Normally there’s no leftovers.

The only problem I have I have with Avocados is that I have a hard time choosing ripe ones that aren’t overripe or starting to turn rotten.  If anyone has any tips, I’d love to hear them.

Enjoy.

Ready to start the mashing.

After grating the onion.

All mixed up and ready to eat.

Guacamole

Ingredients

• 3 Avocados, ripe
• 1/2 small onion or Vidalia onion to taste, grated
• 1 tablespoon lime juice or the juice from 1/2 lime or more to taste
• 1/2 – 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon sea salt or more to taste

Directions:

Step 1:  Using a sharp knife, cut the Avocados in half by starting at the top (the narrow end) and cutting down to the bottom (the wider end) on one side and up to the top on the other side.  Do not cut through the pit in the center.

Step 2:  Using a spoon scoop out the Avocados and place in a medium bowl.  Discard the skin and pit.  Grate the onion into the bowl and mix into Avocado.  Add juices and salt and mix thoroughly.

Step 3:  To store the Guacamole, cover with plastic wrap and ensure that the plastic wrap is placed directly on the mixture and that there are no or few air gaps; then chill in the refrigerator.  Fresh Guacamole doesn’t keep well, so it should be made only about an hour before it is served.

Enjoy!!!

Recipe adapted from my co-worker.