My mother doesn’t cook. It’s somewhat of a joke in our family and with friends. I did not get my love of cooking from her, though I like to think that my pasison for creating food is not unlike her passion for quilting – spending time to make things just right and giving to those around you. There are a few things that my mom does cook, however, and I will be posting them on my blog as I make them.
The first is a baked artichoke dip. I believe my mom was looking to bring an easy dish to a party and turned to my cousin for inspiration. Thus, her signature artichoke dip was born.
(Like the receipe cards? You can find them at the Etsy website.)
As you can see above, the recipe is quite simple and the ingredients are easily found at any grocery store. One important note, though, I’d like to make to the recipe above – regarding the two cups of mixed white cheeses. We used a mix of mozzarella, fontina, Parmesan, and asiago cheeses. This made the dip incredibly greasy. The best thing to do is use one cup of a low grease cheese – like mozzarella, and one cup of a greasier cheese - like Parmesan or asiago.
The dip is thick and can be easily spread into a pie pan and baked until brown at the edges and bubbly. The result is warm, fragrant, and incredibly delicious – especially on large, multigrain crackers. The garlic powder is optional and a variety of other ingredients could be included – hot peppers, onions, herbs, bacon, etc.
