Coaching Cooking

The house would smell of it for hours before it was ready. I only need to smell green onion, chicken blended with soy and oil to know that my mom is making steamed chicken. We would eat it with stir-fried bok choy and steamed rice and a green onion-salt sauce on the side. To me, there’s nothing simpler and better than a steamed chicken dinner. It represents one of the best Chinese meals and it represents comfort and family…Dad would go for the largest, juiciest pieces and I would dip the chicken in the green onion sauce again and again.

The recipe below is for white chop chicken and it is adapted from a great Chinese cookbook by Rhoda Yee entitled “Chinese Village Cookbook.” My family is also from the Cantonese region of China so the dishes in this cookbook are culinary memories. Enjoy!

White Chop Chicken

Ingredients:

1 3-lb fryer chicken
1 teaspoon of salt
3 green onions, sliced thinly
water (see recipe for amount)
1/4 salad oil

Sauces:
1/4 cup of oyster sauce (found in Asian supermarkets)
1/4 cup of hoisin sauce (found in Asian supermarkets)
Green onion sauce (see recipe following directions)

Directions:

Wash the chicken and pat dry. Place the chicken in a pot that fits perfectly with at least one inch clearance at the top. Place the chicken in the pot and cover it with water entirely. Remove the chicken and reserve on a plate. Add the salt and 1/3 of the green onion. Bring the water to a boil. Lower the chicken into the boiling water carefully (you can use tongs and one hand to steady the chicken). Cover the pot with its lid and remove the pot from the heat. Let the chicken steep in the hot water for one hour. Then drain the water and pat the chicken dry. Place the chicken on a large cutting board (preferably one used for cutting meat with large draining areas so the juices don’t run onto the counter).

Use a brush to cover the chicken with the salad oil. Use the remaining salad oil to make the green onion sauce. If you like, sprinkle extra salt on the chicken. Let the chicken cool then chop into small pieces.

Serve the chicken with steamed rice, hoisin and oyster sauces. The leftovers from this chicken also make a great addition to Chinese chicken salad.

Green Onion Sauce

Ingredients:
1/4 cup of salad oil (leftover from the chicken recipe plus extra to make the full amount)
2 green onions, thinly sliced (from the chicken recipe)
2 teaspoons of salt
1 tablespoon of rice wine (mirin or chinese rice wine)

Directions:

Combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl. Dip the white chop chicken into this sauce and serve with steamed rice.

Tonight was barbecue night. AB loves to grill burgers and we decided to add some chicken wings to the mix.

Here’s a quick recipe for chicken wings with an Asian marinade. It is light and tasty with a spicy tang.

Tuesday Night Chicken BBQ Marinade:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of dark soy sauce
3 tablespoons of Mae Ploy sweet chili sauce
2 teaspoons of sesame oil
3-4 dashes of Sriracha chili sauce

Directions:

Whisk the ingredients together and add the chicken wings. I marinated my chicken wings for about 30 minutes, but you can also prepare the marinade ahead of time and add the chicken wings. Keep the marinating chicken wings in the fridge until you’re ready to grill.

As you grill the chicken wings, brush the sauce over several times. Discard the remaining sauce.

Happy grilling!

I’ve wanted to make this dish for years and somehow today is the day for pasta carbonara. I love the idea of a creamy pasta with bacon (or pancetta), silky eggs, garlic or onion and parsley.

So, without further ado, Pasta Carbonara a la Jenny:

**Note**: This recipe includes raw eggs that will be cooked partially by hot pasta. If you are concerned about food safety please use pasteurized eggs or omit the eggs and use heavy cream and butter instead.

Ingredients:

1/4 lb. of lean bacon or pancetta, chopped into 1/4 inch pieces
2 cloves of garlic, chopped in a medium-dice
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1/2 cup of dry white wine (I used a sauvignon blanc with equally good results)
1/2 cup of chopped flat leaf parsley
2 eggs (or a 1/2 cup of heavy cream and 2-3 tablespoons of melted butter)
1/2 cup of freshly shredded parmesan plus extra shredded cheese for serving
1 pound of thin spaghetti

Directions:

Prepare all of the ingredients. Shred the parmesan and set aside:

Using a non-stick pan, heat the 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil and sautee the bacon or pancetta until browned. Then add the white wine and reduce this mixture by half. Add the garlic and saute for about one minute so all the flavors are combined.

Remove this mixture from the heat and set aside.

While the bacon-wine mixture reduces, put a large pot of water to boil and add a few generous pinches of salt when the water boils.
Prepare the egg mixture by beating the two eggs in a large bowl and then whisking in the parsley and 1/4 cup of the shredded parmesan cheese. Set the egg mixture aside.

Cook the pasta according to the box directions, but make sure the cooked pasta is al dente (with a little bite!). Drain the pasta well and immediately add to the egg mixture, tossing the pasta and egg mixture vigorously so all of the pasta is coated. Then add the bacon-wine mixture. Sprinkle the remaining parmesan and toss the pasta and ingredients together. Serve immediately with the extra parmesan cheese. This pasta goes very well with a roasted green vegetable such as brussel sprouts, broccoli, or asparagus. Buono appetito!

Leftovers Note**: This pasta carbonara reheats well on a low microwave setting (too high of a setting will cause the egg mixture to cook further and the pasta will taste tough). AB suggests reheating pasta carbonara, the next day, with a little water to replace the lost moisture from storing it in the fridge.

Being a foodie often involves the glorious discovery of new recipes. Sometimes I find recipes in the newspaper (or more recently while reading stories online).

Here are a few that I’m hoping to try once my bum shoulder fixes itself:

Nigella Lawson’s Sauternes custard

Alton Brown’s Ramen Shrimp Pouch: this is one recipe that I think will lend itself well to adaptation. I’d love to add tofu or sesame oil and cilantro to this recipe.

Anthony Bourdain’s boeuf bourgignon

AB bought me a new cookbook, a wonder of a book that is brimming with gorgeous pictures and glorious cooking ideas. So my latest addition to my cookbook library is Michel Richard’s “Happy in the Kitchen” which includes a foreword by Thomas Keller. In this foreword Keller refers to Richard’s culinary techniques as “incredibly original and ingenious.” I can only hope to gain just a fraction of said genius as I move through this book’s amazing catalog of recipes. I’m especially looking forward to making the lobster burger, the asparagus-stuffed salmon, the oxtail in pasta ring, and the chocolate popcorn.

So I urge you to take an active interest in cooking by reading more. There are so many recipes out there and sometimes it’s just serendipity that leads to the next great meal…

Here are a few great sites if you’re ready for a recipe search:

New York Times Dining and Wine Section

All Recipes.com

Chocolate and Zucchini–one of my all-time favorite blogs!

This has been going on for a while. Now you can go to a restaurant and eat a lot of little plates full of many different flavors and cuisines. Tapas bars have been going on in Spain and elsewhere and the craze hit the U.S. at least a few years ago. Other restaurants have also bought into this trend of offering small tastes of different dishes. To me, this trend makes perfect sense. I grew up in a family who strategized on the entrees and even the appetizer portions of any meal when we dined out. No one could order the same dish and it was mandatory that everyone offer and try everyone else’s dishes. As my friend Natasha puts it, being Chinese also means having the choice of lots of flavors. This struck me as hilarious, but also true for me and for my family’s habits. We love having a little sweet, a little salty and a little crunchy as the flavors and textures of our meals. There has to be a bit of meat and grains and vegetable in every feast and we always made sure to order a bit of everything.

This becomes particularly clear to me when I eat at Chinese restaurants with my family. We have to order a seafood dish and a beef dish. There has to be a green vegetable which invariably shifts between dry sauteed string beans or quick sauteed pea shoot greens with garlic or asparagus with beef. A soup is usually ordered as part of the meal and this must either be hot and sour soup or chicken with corn soup or, on special occasions, shark fin’s soup. Then we order a whole fish or prawns with honeyed walnuts or both. Plus the quintessential part of the meal: steamed rice. We might also order sweet and sour pork (my little sis’ favorite) or a specialty dish such as cornish hens stuffed with sticky rice and Chinese sausage. Everyone picked their favorite dish and we always had such a perfect balance of flavors. I always remember feeling sated at the end of these meals because of the array of choices and the great variety of dishes.

The concept of small plates drifts back in my mind to those dinners at Chinese restaurants with my family. We always had such a great variety of dishes. Dining at restaurants with small plates allows diners to sample such a great selection of foods. Recently I celebrated with AB at Cascal in Mountain View. We ate crab and shrimp tostaditos with guacamole and pico de gallo. Our mouths watered at the sight of the pancetta-wrapped dates stuffed with Cabrales (a Spanish blue cheese). We savored a delicious Spanish-style cassoulet with garbanzo beans and spicy sausage. Although all the flavors were translated from Spanish dishes, we enjoyed the ability to pick several dishes with different flavors (rich, spicy, sweet, citrusy). AB always picks the best desserts so we finished the meal with a perfect carmelized plantain dessert and vanilla bean ice cream.

The small plates trend could easily extend to home entertaining. Pick four to six dishes that can be divided into small plates or that can be served in bite-sized pieces. Pick a few wines to enjoy or mix some great cocktails. Have a great cd playing tunes in the background and set out small plates and napkins. This type of eating makes for a great, casual party or a fun evening with a few friends.

Stay tuned tomorrow when I post an example of a great small plates menu.

As a kid, I remember walking down long streets in San Francisco towards Golden Gate Park. We would walk past the withered city trees and I would watch my mom’s long, 70s hair swing in the wind. Sometimes, on weekends, we would go to a tiny Russian bakery near Irving Street, the street where we lived. This bakery has becomed a blurred image in my mind, but the one thing that I remember is the piroshkis. These savory, doughy treats had ground beef, cheese and spices encased in a savory, puffy doughnut-like confection. This piroshki stands out in my child’s mind as one of the glorious ends to a great day walking around in the city. We’d eat the piroshki as it steamed and the slight crunch of the bread created a perfect contrast to the rich, meaty filling.

I rediscovered these piroshki of my childhood a few weekends ago at the Mountain View farmers’ market (which has become my new foodie mecca…I will tell you about the fresh oysters a bit later). It’s so rare to find something that tastes of childhood with the sweetness of memories past. That will always be piroshki for me.

Check out these piroshki recipes:

Taylor’s Piroshki
Piroshki II from Cooks.com (not sure what happened to Piroshki I)
This recipe from Lesley Chamberlain that includes three fillings (meat, spinach and kasha)

Random thunder aside, this day has turned into just the perfect blustery day for chicken soup. My roast chicken snafu lends itself perfectly to some good heart-warming soup.

Jenny’s Chicken Snafu Soup

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of baby carrots, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 small onion, chopped into a small dice
2-3 cloves of garlic, smashed
1/2 cup of fresh parsley leaves, coarsely chopped
1 cup of zucchini, cut into thin rounds
1/2 teaspoon of dried marjoram
1 teaspoon of the Spice House’s Greektown “Billygoat” Seasoning (thanks, Clare!)
1 large dried bay leaf
1 roast chicken carcass
3 tablespoons of olive oil
32 ounces (1 quart) of chicken broth, divided
4-5 cups of water (enough to cover the chicken carcass in the pot)

Directions:

Heat a dutch oven or large soup pot on high heat. Add the olive oil, onion, garlic (smash with a large knife so the garlic is crushed, but not separated into pieces), and carrot. Saute these ingredients on medium-high heat for about 5-7 minutes until the onion is tender and lightly browned. Add the “Billygoat” seasoning and 1 bay leaf (torn in half). Sautee the ingredients for a few more minutes to combine the flavors.

Add 2 cups of the chicken broth and water and turn up the heat to high. When the water starts to boil turn the heat down to medium and simmer for an hour. Remove the chicken carcass and let cool for about 10 minutes. Keep the rest of the soup warm on the stove and turn the heat down to low. Remove the chicken meat from the bones and add the chicken meat back to the soup. Add the rest of the chicken broth plus the sliced zucchini and the chopped parsley. Cook the soup for a half an hour longer. Warm some crusty bread in the oven and serve the soup hot with plenty of butter for that great bread. Enjoy!

There are many things to love about Hawaii. It is beautiful in a way that is almost indescribable. The people are so friendly and I feel almost at home. As an Chinese-American, Hawaii feels like a second home (and a place where I don’t automatically feel like a minority). But I digress…the air in Hawaii often smells like fragrant flowers and then there’s the food: there are culinary delights around nearly every corner from ahi poke to the best shaved ice (here’s an aerial pic) ever to fresh seafood and juicy fresh fruit.

On the Big Island, one of my favorite treats is the local Korean barbeque joint called Kal-Bi’s. The island lunch plate at this restaurant (and many others) includes a scoop of steamed, white rice along with barbeque steak, sesame oil-slicked greens, and saimin noodles with shredded carrot and green onion.

One island treat that I have not yet sampled on the Big Island is the spam musubi. Spam is a big seller in Hawaii. It’s history is long and, like many other treats, disputed in terms of whether it is sushi or a Japanese snack unrelated to sushi. My first spam musubi actually occurred in California, but I’m hoping Hawaiians will forgive me the transgression. It was so delicious that I wished I had ordered another. We were dining at Lukoki in Mountain View and the spam musubi was made to order. It arrived with the rice still warm and the salty slices of spam complemented the nori (seaweed strips) and rice to make a lasting impression on me.

I found this great history of the spam musubi in addition to recipes and a history of spam right here.
I know it might be hard to get used to the idea (or the reality) of eating Spam. Trust me, spam musubi is the perfect combination of salty meat (it’s better if you don’t think about exactly WHAT type of meat…) plus soft, white rice and nori. Once you get past that, spam musubi is the really the ideal combination of sweet, salty and soft (plus the alliteration make s it so much catchier, non?).

Since I am an undisputed Bay Area girl, here are a few places where a local foodie who hungers for a taste of the spam musubi can feed their curiosity:

Lukoki: a great lunch or dinner place located in Mountain View
Hukilau: This restaurant, located in downtown Palo Alto, has a great selection of tropical drinks in addition to excellent spam musubi and generous platters of Hawaiian fare.

I am someone who loves to go out to eat. Yes, it might seem strange since I also like to cook. But, it’s pretty clear that it’s hard to enjoy a meal that you’ve made if you’ve been making it for several hours. Yes, there have been many wonderful, truly indulgent meals.

Still, this year (mostly due to budget cuts in my life), AB and I are making Valentine’s Day dinner together. There’s also something so homey and cozy about dinner at home when you can eat with abandon, spill food on your clothes (or anywhere else for that matter). Plus, when dinner is done and you’re feeling a bit sloshy and full: hey, you’re already home! And there’s no horrific bill to sign because you already paid for everything. Plus there’s a great big box of chocolates and maybe even a movie to commemorate the occasion (try “Singles” or “Annie Hall” or “Sex and Lucia”).

Here’s our Valentine’s Day 2007 menu: (the starred* items have recipes below)

Dungeness Crab cocktail
Prosciutto-wrapped asparagus*

Beef fondue with mushrooms and pea pods*
Roasted red potatoes with herbs
Red wine (help me out here, Farley)

See’s chocolates (you HAVE to try these some time…they’re no Maison du Chocolat, but they are really great)
Bonny Doon’s Framboise

Recipes and links:

Prosciutto-wrapped Asparagus

Ingredients:

1 bunch of asparagus, washed and stalks trimmed (the bottom few inches) to remove the tough outer leaves
1/4 lb. of prosciutto (AB recommends San Daniele brand prosciutto)
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup of good olive oil

Directions:

Blanch the asparagus in salted water for a few minutes until the asparagus are bright green, but not mushy. Drain asparagus and cool to room temperature. Mix the balsamic, olive oil and salt and pepper together in a small bowl. Wrap a thin slice of prosciutto around each asparagus stalk and arrange the wrapped asparagus on a platter. Serve with the balsamic dipping sauce. Feed to your lover….or to your loved ones!

Beef Fondue:

Here’s a link to basic ingredients for beef fondue plus sauces. I also recommend using an electic wok for greater surface area (so more people can cook the beef cubes). Beef fondue also goes great with some dipping sauces including:

**horseradish cream
**soy sauce, sesame oil, and chopped green onions
**barbeque sauce (one of my favorites is this one from Stonewall Kitchen)
**worchestershire sauce
**okay, some people out there like ketchup. It tastes great with the cheaper cuts of beef. If you’re serving filet mignon, I have to say no. Find a fancier sauce.

Serve beef fondue with fresh vegetables as these can also be cooked in the fondue or wok pots.

Beef fondue can also be cooked in chicken broth. Then serve it with cubes of tofu (cooked in the broth as well) and vegetables. After the fondue has been used for a while, the broth can then be served as a flavorful soup with udon noodles, tofu and thinly sliced (or quick-cooking) vegetables like napa cabbage, spinach or baby bok choy (thrown these in to cook for a few minutes). Fondue is so much fun to serve at a dinner party or just with the one you love (feeding each other is optional and probably best done only when the two of you are together and far away from the rest of the unsentimental world!).

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Here’s a picture of a great avocado that AB and I bought in Hawaii, on the Big Island, during our honeymoon:

It was the size of a canteloupe and it tasted perfectly of ripe, glorious avocado flavor. We proceeded to eat mass quantities of guacamole. I wish I’d had time to make an omelet with shredded Monterey Jack, sauteed onion and chopped avocado.

Avocados are delicate and difficult to keep for long periods of time. Here are a few tips about testing for ripeness and storing avocados.

Ripe avocados: Avocados are ripe when the flesh gives just slightly under pressure. Don’t wait to long to eat ripe avocados! Sometimes avocados feel very soft to the touch and that usually means the avocado has developed brown spots in its flesh. Ripe avocados look yellowish green and they do not taste overripe (overripe avocados have a dull, rotten taste). I usually buy avocados hard and ripen them slowly in a bowl for a few days.

Storing avocados: My suggestion is to use the avocado as soon as it is ripe. You can keep avocados overnight by covering the avocado flesh with lemon juice and wrapping tightly in plastic wrap (so it doesn’t brown when it’s exposed to air).

For more tips, see helpful information about buying and preparing avocados here and here.

Farley at Wine Outlook, mentioned a salad with avocado that she loves to cook. This salad reminds me of that classic avocado salad dressing, green goddess. To my surprise, the original green goddess dressing does not include avocados. Here’s a great recipe for the original green goddess. My suggestion is to add chopped avocado to this mix for a creamier, more delicious salad. Here’s a Paula Deen recipe from Food Network’s website for an avocado salad dressing with Worchestershire sauce.

Next time I will include my recipe for an Avocado Omelet with Monterey Jack and sauteed onions and mushrooms. Bon appetit!

The following recipe was given to me by Monique, my Asian partner in crime. We always talk about food and cooking. The other day she pointed me to an interesting dish (check it out) created by Alton Brown, the host of Food Network’s “Good Eats.”

Back to the cinnamon cookies. These are, hands down, the best cinnamon cookies I’ve ever had the honor to nosh on. They are very simple to make and make a great housewarming gift or a way to make your house smell homey.

Monique’s Cinnamon Cookies

Ingredients:

3 1/4 cups of white flour (trust me on the white flour…whole wheat will weigh the cookies down like rocks)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt

2 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter
1 cup of sugar

1 egg
3 tablespoons of cinnamon syrup
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon powder
1/2 teaspoon of milk
2 tablespoon of honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Make sure the unsalted butter is at room temperature before mixing together the cookie ingredients.

Mix the first three ingredients in a separate bowl. Cream the next two ingredients in another large bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture. Then, gradually mix in the flour mixture until all ingredients are well-combined.

The cookie dough can be placed on cookie sheets (use a small spoon to form the cookie dough into small pieces) or the cookie dough can be placed on wax paper and rolled to form a log. Then refridgerate the dough for about an hour until the dough is firm. Then cut the log into 1/2 inch rounds with a sharp knife. Cookies should take about 9 to 10 minutes to bake in the oven. Adjust this time by doing a test run with the first batch.

Enjoy with a cold glass of milk or some Good Earth Original tea (for those of you not worried about od-ing on cinnamon..trust me, this tea is awesome!).

Hiccups are something that everyone goes through. I usually get them in response to a food that I am desperately eating at a breakneck pace (like potato chips or pretzels). I got them again today after quickly consuming on of the new Dole juices (orange-peach-mango).

So, for all of you foodies (or hiccup-prone people) out there, here are a few remedies:

The 30-second Hiccup Cure: I actually road-tested this one myself and it seems to work. Plus you get that great, zen, New-Agey feeling that comes with deep breathing.

Wikihow has a few home remedies that may or may not work. I didn’t try any of them because the 30-second Cure really worked on me. But, it might be fun to try the Swallow-Ear Pop Method (if only so you can say you actually USED a method with such a crazy name). Have fun with these remedies.

Okay, on to a tasty treat:

This recipe is for a treat that I just began making a few years ago. It’s completely delicious and totally unhealthy. That’s what makes it so great for kids, people who don’t hate themselves and lovers of all ingredients that make s’mores.

S’mores Bars

Ingredients:

2 ½ packages of graham crackers (from 1 box)
1 bag of mini marshmallows
1 bag of chocolate chips (semi-sweet or whatever type you like)
3 tablespoons of butter or margarine

Directions:

Grease a 13�x9� pan with margarine or Crisco. Set aside for later.

Break up the graham crackers into small pieces (nickel-sized).

Melt the 3 tablespoons of butter on the stove in a large pot. Add 10 ounces of marshmallows and heat in the pot until melted while stirring constantly to ensure even melting.

Toss the graham cracker pieces into the pot and stir until the crackers are coated evenly with the marshmallows. Then lightly press this mixture into the 13�x9� pan and sprinkle on a generous cup of chocolate chips (or more if you like). Press the chocolate chips into the graham cracker mixture using a piece of wax paper the same size as the pan. Refridgerate the s’mores bars for 20 minutes before cutting into bars.

Enjoy with a cold glass of milk!

I mentioned in my post yesterday that Carrie and Aidan could eat, during their fabulous and casual date, an exotic dessert that has lychee fruit and almond jello.

If you’ve ever been to dim sum at a Chinese restaurant, you might have seen almond jello served in tiny cups with that classic 1950s fruit cocktail (cherries, pears, peaches and pineapple).

This dessert conjures up such great childhood memories for me. I can see the grim waitresses with their rolling carts and hear my father barking in Cantonese as he orders one after another of delicious shrimp dumplings, pork buns and Hong Kong-style noodles. I almost never had the chance to order the almond jello because we ate so many great dim sum dishes and I was always too full, But, every once in a while, my mom would make it for a special occasion. I love that something as simple and pedestrian as almond-flavored jello and canned cocktail fruit can delight one’s senses.

Here are a few links to recipes for almond jello. It’s very easy and I like to add canned lychee fruit for extra exotic delight.

Almond Jello with Fruit Cocktail

An Australian almond jello recipe

And one more time, for the cheap seats in the back…

Serve the almond jello and canned fruit in something fun, like a martini glass or those new stemless wine glasses that are all the rage. This dessert compliments jasmine tea or genmaicha (brown rice tea) perfectly.

Sometimes, I just crave taco salads. I swear it’s a condition of living and growing up in California. I have to have some bastardized form of Mexican food at least once a week. Taco salads are great because they fulfill the need to have a minute amount of vegetables so one doesn’t feel guilty about piling on the sour cream, salsa and cheese.

Here’s a semi-quick version of taco salad:

Jenny’s Cravetastic Taco Salad**:

Ingredients:
1/2 small head of iceberge lettuce, shredded finely
(optional) 1/2 head of romaine, shredded finely (this is for extra nutrients and color)
3 green onions, chopped into 1/4 inch thick slices
(optional) sliced olives
Jar or container of salsa (I prefer pico de gallo in a plastic container, available near the deli section of the grocery store)
1 cup of cooked ground beef or turkey, cooked with seasonings that you like (I use cumin, garlic powder, cayenne pepper)
1 cup of shredded cheese (cheddar, Mexican blend)
1 cup of refried beans
1 1/2 cups of tortilla chips

Choose a large plate or shallow bowl for assembling this salad. Place the refried beans at the bottom then top with (in the following order): salsa, lettuce, ground beef or turkey, cheese, green onions and olives. Decorate the outside of the salad with the tortilla chips. Finally, top the salad with sour cream. This creates a nice makeshift nacho/salad dish because you can scoop up the salad ingredients with the chips.

Enjoy with an ice-cold beer, lemonade or margarita!

**for more on the cheesiness of the word “craveable,” catch the third episode of Top Chef entitled “Food For the People.” Personally, although I loathe this word, I think it accurately captures that dish that just settles into your mind and stomach and especially a dish that you, well, CRAVE without reservation.

Welcome to the first Tasty Treat Tuesday. Today I present a delicious and quick version of the 7-Layer Dip that graces many a football party, college party or party where an inauthentic, but delicious Mexican dish is an absolute must. This dip is best served the day it is made although it keeps pretty well for a few days (make the guacamole or chopped avocado the day that you serve it or it turns brown and looks unappealing!).

This recipe is easily doubled and the biggest tip that I can offer is to strain the salsa before adding it to the dip so the whole dip does not become a crazy mess.

Jenny’s 7-layer Dip:

Ingredients:

1 can of refried beans (I use Rosarita Original recipe in the 16-oz can)
Shredded Mexican three-cheese blend (in the plastic bag with the resealable zipper) or shredded Cheddar cheese
Salsa (I use the medium-spicy pico de gallo style with chopped tomatoes and cilantro)
Avocado diced or guacamole
Sour cream (16-ounces or less)
Shredded lettuce
Finely-chopped green onions (part of the green tops and the white parts of the green onions)

Optional:
Sliced olives
Cilantro leaves torn into bite-size pieces

Directions:

Find a large, shallow bowl or pretty serving bowl in which to place all the dip ingredients. Layer the ingredients starting with the beans first. Mash the beans in a separate bowl and heat for a few minutes (if you like the beans warm! I do…). Then spread the beans over the bottom of the bowl.

Next sprinkle the shredded cheese over the beans and grab a colander for the salsa. The cheese will melt a little over the warm beans while you prepare the salsa. Drain the salsa over the sink so that most of the liquid is removed. Carefully place the salsa over the beans and cheese in the serving bowl.

Top the salsa with chopped avocado or guacamole. Then spoon the sour cream over the avocado or guacamole layer. I find that it is easier to stir the sour cream until it is combined and a little lighter before placing the sour cream as the next bean dip layer.

Then sprinkle the chopped green onions over the sour cream layer and finish with the shredded lettuce spread evenly over the whole dip. I also like to add olives around the outer edge of the dip for color (and so people who don’t like olives can avoid them). This dip also looks great with a few thin slices of avocado fanned out in the middle of the bean dip (sort of a 1950s homage to random, but edible garnish).

Enjoy!