Cooking Grand with Joanne Carr

Super Super Bowl dip recipes

Grand Island Dispatch, January 12, 2007
Lewiston Porter Sentinel, January 13, 2007

When the whole Carr clan meets, it is not unusual to find that we have a handful of good cooks in the group, and the skills are not limited to the distaff side of the family.

The family may have had its culinary start at Bob’s grandmother’s hand. Bertha Mackie Carr labored over a wood-fired cook stove to produce wonderful meals, right down to the pies and cakes she was noted for. Bertha’s reputation challenged me to be the very best that I could be.

What Bertha likely could not comprehend is how menus have evolved since her times. She surely would have been puzzled if offered a tortilla chip, a crudite or finger food. Well, maybe a potato chip. Then, too, she never watched a Super Bowl on television, though she did know of TV.

This is leading somewhere, isn’t it? Oh, yes, to some delicious, irresistible Carr-tested dips.

Bob’s favorite (He hasn’t evolved that far from Bertha’s era) – French onion dip. Just the ticket for the non-cooks out there. It is in the open cooler at your local supermarket. Open. Dip. Enjoy!

To accommodate Bob’s shyness about eating modern – or exotic – food, I asked him what would be the best option, just in case he would break down and actually eat some dip. He looked thoughtful and answered, “How about a flavored cracker?” On our next trip to the supermarket, I found a garlic and herb cracker at a holiday price. Bob ate dip on Christmas Day! For Super Bowl Sunday, you may want to get a bit more adventurous with some of these recipes gleaned from the Carrs’ recipe files.

Texas Bean Dip

2 15-oz. cans garbanzo beans, drained
1 clove crushed garlic juice of one lime
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt

Put all ingredients in a blender or food processor and process well. Serve at room temperature.
Or, call it hummus, as my daughter’s friend, Steve, does.

Blender Hummus

Put into blender:

1 pound chick peas (garbanzo beans) (fresh or canned), drain
1 to 2 cloves of garlic, minced fine
1/2 cup lemon juice (fresh)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup sesame tahini
1 tablespoon mint leaves (dried is fine)

Blend. Let set for one day in refrigerator and serve at room temperature. Good with pita wedges.

One of our family favorites from friend Bruce is this good dip.

Mushroom Dip

1 onion, finely chopped
1 pound of mushrooms, finely chopped
8 oz. cream cheese
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons butter or margarine

Saute onions in approximately 2 tablespoons butter until clear (not brown!) Add mushrooms and sauté slowly until color changes. Add cream cheese (best cut into pieces) and sauté until melted. Add Worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper.

Bake in moderate oven (300 degrees) for about 30 minutes.

Serve with Bob’s favorite cracker, chips or pita wedges.

Texas Style Guacamole

2 avocados, chopped fine
1 fresh tomato, chopped fine
1 small onion, chopped fine or grated (include juice)
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Salt and coarsely ground pepper to taste

Mash all ingredients until creamy. Refrigerate for at least an hour. Serve with corn chips.

I don’t mess with the TV or even walk by during Super Bowl time. Although, as a novice at hostessing an early Super Bowl party, I suggested at halftime that there was some yard work that could be done by the five or six fellows sitting in our living room and they could make short work of the clutter.

All I got from my request was blank stares. I never messed with any requests on subsequent Super Bowl Sundays.

Good luck, ladies and gentlemen. I hope the snacks are super.