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The Food Maven Diary
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01/27/2000 Archived Entry: "Football Food"
Is it Super Bowl, or Superbowl, one word or two. You can see, I don’t know much about football. However, I do know that the following Tex-Mex dip will be the most eaten dish in the country this Sunday. I was told this several years ago by a Houston food editor who knows about such things. She tried to track down the origins of this recipe, too, but finally came to the conclusion that it is what we call a grass roots recipe. In other words, some home cook somewhere made it up and it just got around. I don’t know. I still think it must have been created by a home economist in a food company’s test kitchen. You know, the mandate was to create recipes with canned refried beans, or with taco seasoning mix, or maybe things to go with corn chips. There are many versions of it that make the rounds, and it goes by various names. It even got into the latest, totally revised edition of the Joy of Cooking. That certainly makes it a classic.
Also in today’s diary is the Chinese ginger-scallion dip that someone asked me about on the radio recently. It is served with so-called salt-baked chicken in Chinese restaurants. I say ‘so-called” because what we get these days is really salt-boiled chicken. The bird never gets near an oven. I like it with any boiled chicken, but my nephew, Brian Alexander, discovered that it is also great for boiled shrimp. Boil up a mess of shrimp in their shells, and put this out for your Super Bowl crew. Peeling, dipping and eating will keep their hands and mouths very busy.
Manly Meatballs is another terrific nibble to put out for the game. You can find it in Favorite Radio Recipes, or just by plugging the word “manly” in the search box at the top of the red band on the left.
Seven-Layer Dip
Some people make this entirely with convenience products – canned refried beans, frozen guacamole, canned tomatoes. And some people build the dip in a baking dish so they can put it under the broiler briefly and melt the cheese. I prefer it when at least a couple of the layers are fresh – like the avocado and the tomatoes – and I hate it when it is put under the broiler because the melted cheese cools quickly and becomes far less appealing than unmelted shredded cheese. Do whatever … . Obviously, you don’t have to take the proportions too seriously either. Super Bowl watchers don’t notice anything but the game anyway.
1 16-ounce can refried beans (or equivalent amount of homemade)
3 large avocados
3 tablespoons lime or lemon juice
2 cups sour cream
1 1-ounce package taco seasoning
1/4 cup (or more) chopped green chili peppers, pickled jalapenos or diced, fresh jalapenos
1 cup sliced, pitted black olives
1 cup chopped canned plum tomatoes, or finely diced fresh cherry tomatoes
2 cups grated Cheddar or jack cheese
1/2 cup chopped scallions, white and green
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro (coriander)
Spread the refried beans on the bottom of a glass serving dish (so you can see the layers) or a deep platter.
Peel and pit the avocados, then, with a table fork, in a mixing bowl, mash them with the lime or lemon juice into a slightly coarse paste. Spread the paste over the beans.
Mix the sour cream with the taco seasoning and spread it over the avocado.
Distribute the chiles over the sour cream, then the olives, then the tomatoes.
Make a top layer of cheese, then sprinkle with the scallions and cilantro.
Serve with corn chips for dipping.
Chinese Ginger-Scallion Dipping Sauce
Makes about 1/2 cup
2 rounded teaspoons very finely minced fresh ginger root
3 rounded tablespoons very finely minced scallion (white only)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons corn or peanut oil
In a small, heatproof bowl, combine the ginger, scallions and soy sauce.
In a small pot (a butter warmer or Turkish coffee pot is perfect), heat the oil, pulling it off the heat just before smoking.
Pour the oil over the ginger-scallion mixture. It will sizzle violently. Let the sauce stand at least 10 minutes before serving.
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