Category Archives: dips, sauces, and spreads

Apr 09 0 comments
dips, sauces, and spreads

Blackberry Chipotle Marinade


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I have talked to Megan Patrylick every day since I was 14.  I’m totally not exaggerating either.  Since we met in 9th grade biology we’ve run in different social circles, gone to different colleges, and ended up on opposite sides of the Southeast.  But seriously, I have talked to her at least pretty much everyday.  And sometimes multiple times a day.  As a result, I’m often influenced by the things she’s doing (though I will never not ever wear leopard print no matter how many matching bra and underwear sets she buys me).  Recently she’s been on a Whole Foods kick (something about their Greek salad), and last week found a chipotle blackberry marinade.  That Megan is marinading at all is a big deal seeing as in high school she broke her microwave by trying to dry her sneaker in it.

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I had been trying to figure out something to do to spice up our chicken and grilled chicken salad nights, and I thought that I would experiment with making my own blackberry chipotle marinade.  And it was SO delicious and SO easy.  My only issue with it was that the seeds from the blackberries made a disconcerting crunch while you were eating the chicken, but that’s really just a tactile issue.  I might press the blackberries through a fine grain strainer next time.  It was also pretty spicy, so I sweetened it with honey.  If you wanted to make it sweeter, you could just leave out the cayenne.  I leave you with one related Megan anecdote.  One time sitting at our dining room table, my brother Reid and I spent the better part of an hour trying to convince Megan that if you crossed the equator, you would not explode.  I have never seen Reid look so incredulous.  And that is why I love Megan and will continue to talk to her everyday.

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Blackberry Chipotle Marinade

1 package of fresh blackberries

1 tsp chipotle

1/2 tsp cayenne

1/2 lemon, juiced

2 tbsp honey

Salt & pepper

Rinse your blackberries.  Combine everything in a blender.  Use half of the sauce to marinade your meat for at least one hour, and then use the rest as a sauce.  If you want your sauce to be sweeter, add more honey.

Mar 20 1 comments
dips, sauces, and spreads

Pimento Cheese


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I have the luxury of having a July birthday.  When I was in elementary school this seemed like a tragedy at first.  Not having a birthday during the school year where everyone could celebrate me was horrible.  Until I realized the trick of it.  I learned that if I began celebrating my birthday in May, before school ended, I could continue celebrating all summer long.  And because my family is so spread out, as we made our summer travels to visit everyone, I could celebrate over and over again.  

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One of the nice things about birthdays is that you can ask people to do certain things for you, and because it’s your birthday, they always do.  The same concept applies once you’ve left the nest.  Everytime I visit home, my parents make my favorite foods, something that used to be confined to my birthday.  I ask for certain things from each person for my birthday (or now, visits home).  My mother makes me lemon chicken and her delicious mashed potatoes.  My father makes me brunswick stew, or chili, or oysters during the winter and a tomato sandwich from home grown tomatoes during the summer.  My grandmother used to make me two things.  First, she would make me a blueberry mountain pie.  Second, she would make me my very own tub of pimento cheese, that I didn’t have to share with anyone.

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Pimento cheese is one of those foods that is inherently southern.  The appeal is hard to explain to people who don’t grow up eating it, and a lot of the time people just don’t like it.  There are variations (and I beg you never to try the store bought stuff), but essentially it includes extra sharp cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, and pimentos.  Some people add garlic, horseradish, dill pickles, and even mustard.  But I’m a pimento purist.  

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When I was a kid, pimento cheese was also one of the things that I could help make.  These days a lot of people will throw the ingredients in a food processor and call it a day.  But making pimento cheese is an experience, like snapping green beans, that promotes relaxing and story telling.  My grandmother would combine the ingredients in a plastic bag and then let me sit on the counter and squish them with my fingers while we talked and she cooked other things.  Or while we sat on the front porch of the Swamphouse.  It’s a fool proof system, you can’t over-combine the ingredients.  And the benefits of passing on a tradition will completely outweigh the time saved with a food processor.

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Pimento Cheese

2-3 cups extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

4 ounces diced pimentos (in a jar)

2 tbsp mayonnaise (or light mayo)

Begin by grating your cheese.  I recommend a medium size grate, not the smallest, but not the big chunks.  Start with two cups of cheese, and add the last cup as you mix it, depending on what you like.  I like my spread cheesy, so I use the full three cups.  It’s really your preference.  After you’ve shredded your cheese, dump into a gallon ziplock bag.

Partially drain the pimentos and add them to the bag.  Scoop in the mayonnaise and zip the bag- make sure you get as much air out as possible.

Use your hands to roll the ingredients between your fingers until it’s totally incorporated.  Add in extra cheese as you need it.  

When you’re done, snip the corner off the bag and squeeze the spread out like it’s icing in a pastry bag.  Serve with crackers, on a sandwich, or on cold uncooked veggies.

Mar 09 2 comments
captain james cooks, dips, sauces, and spreads, seafood

Smoked Kingfish Dip


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This weekend Dan and I went down to Morehead City to meet with the caterers and the florists for our September wedding.  It was an incredibly successful and relaxing weekend away, exactly what I needed.  For those that are not familiar with the area, Morehead is located in the southern Outer Banks, in Carteret County or the “Crystal Coast.”  The nearest lighthouse is Cape Lookout, which sits on the Cape Lookout National Seashore, which is the longest expanse of protected, unsettled banks in the chain.

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The reason we decided to get married in Carteret County is because it’s the sort of place where you feel completely at peace.  I’ve been going down there my whole life and as soon as I cross through Havelock I start feeling giddy.  It’s the sort of place that that inspires you to scheme up ways to make a life down there (something my parents are figuring out how to do).  Dan and I spent the entire seven hour drive home developing a business plan for a waterfront coffee shop (something Morehead desperately needs).  We think we’ll be a big hit.

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Carteret County is known for a lot of things.  The charm, the amazing diving, the beautiful scenery, and fresh, delicious seafood.  I guess it goes without saying that seafood in a fishing town is bound to be good.  If there is one thing that people Down East know, it’s seafood.  One of my favorite things to do while we’re down there has always been to go to the fresh seafood market with my parents and sisters, pick a selection of the catch of the day, and have a feast back at the house.  There’s nothing like sitting on the back porch looking out over a marsh with a stomach full of tuna or dolphin or mackerel.  That’s the closest I think I can get to being completely content.

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This trip down was a brief one so there was no trip to the fresh fish market, though my father did surprise me with two of my favorites, brunswick stew and kingfish dip.  His kingfish dip is delicious, and I always love when he makes it, so I was even more excited when he offered to share the recipe.  Kingfish, or king mackerel, are a fish that migrate with the gulf stream.  My father makes the dip with smoked kingfish.  You can find smoked mackerel at specialty grocery stores, vacuum sealed, and also at some fish markets.  Or, if you’re interested in learning the art of smoking fish, there’s an informative site here.

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Smoked Kingfish Dip
Source: Captain James Rosemond

Flaked smoked kingfish

1/2 cup milk

1 tbsp real mayonaisse

4 ounces light cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup finely minced onion

1 stalk finely chopped celery

1 tbsp finely minced parsley

3 tsps finely chopped dill pickle

1/2 tsp lemon juice

3 shakes hot sauce

Cayenne pepper

Salt & pepper

With a fork, flake the smoked fish off the filet.  You can flake it finely or coarsely depending on your preference.  Discard the darker meats that you find in the center of the filet.  Put the smoked fish in a medium bowl and pour milk over it.  Cover and soak in the refrigerator for thirty minutes.  Drain the milk using a fine strainer and place the fish back in the bowl.

Stir in remaining ingredients.

Cover and chill 2-3 hours to allow flavors to blend.  Serve with crackers or fresh vegetables.

Feb 08 2 comments
dips, sauces, and spreads, vegetables

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus


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Dan and I are always looking for things that we would usually spend a lot of money at the store on that we could make at home for a lot less money (soon I’ll share the  Irish Cream recipe).  Things like pesto, spiced and flavored olive oil, and as of today, hummus.  Last weekend Food Network aired two back to back episodes of Unwrapped  about dips, and after an hour of watching giant machines make hummus, I decided I could do it at home.

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I spent a few days looking at recipe books and blogs, trying to get a good idea of the approximate proportions ratio- how much tahini to use with a certain amount of chickpeas, etc.  I decided to start with roasted red pepper hummus, because, frankly, that’s my favorite flavor to buy.  The only tricky part in the recipe was locating tahini, the grocery store didn’t have it, so I ended up going to the local co-op.  There I had the option to buy it in a can or scoop out my desired amount from big vats.  The scoop-your-own-nut-butters area was very crowded (Sunday afternoon food shopping hazard), so I bought it in a jar.

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Roasting vegetables, for those who have never done it, is very easy.  Just drizzle some olive oil over the pepper and throw it in a 400* oven for twenty to thirty minutes.  The benefit is that the olive oil is flavored after the vegetables are roasted, and you can use that in your hummus.  When roasting tomatoes and peppers, the way to tell that it is done is if the skin starts to bubble off the core of the vegetable.  Also, it smells heavenly.

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My only other advice for hummus making is that after you’ve finished blending it, you let it cool in the refrigerator for a few hours.  This not only brings the temperature down, it also allows it to flatten down a little.  The blending really fluffs it up, so settling in the fridge makes it better dipping.

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Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

15 ounces of canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans)

2 garlic cloves, diced

1 red pepper, roasted

2 tbsp tahini

6 tbsp olive oil

Salt, pepper, red pepper flakes

Core your red pepper.  Place in a baking pan and drizzle with 4 tbsps of oil.  Roast in a 400* oven for thirty minutes, or until the skin has bubbled off the pulp of the pepper.

Dice your garlic and combine it in a food processor with garbanzo beans, tahini, spices, and the remaining olive oil.  When the peppers are done, dice them and add them to the processor, along with the oil left over in the pan.

Grind  in the processor for about three minutes, or until it’s smooth.  Taste it to make sure you have enough pepper, and then cover and refrigerate for an hour.  Serve with pita chips.

Nov 21 0 comments
dips, sauces, and spreads, soups, grits, stews, and meat pies

Fresh Cranberry Sauce

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When I was a kid, I was completely horrified by cranberry sauce.  Mostly because I associated all cranberry sauces with what comes out of a can.  Which, is horrifying.  I don’t trust the way jello-like things move.  It weirds me out.  But, in adulthood, I’ve come to appreciate the made fresh cranberry sauce.  It’s tart, flavorful, and the perfect gravy substitute for turkey-topping.

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This particular recipe, adapted from the back of the Ocean Spray bag, is sooooo easy.  And, it can be made in advance, so it’s one less thing you have to worry about Thanksgiving morning.  My strategy this year for our Sunday Thanksgiving is to have everything premade by Saturday except the turkey and the stuffing.  That way, I just heat up the casseroles Sunday right before we eat, and voila, Thanksgiving!

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I will admit that I made a bit of a mess making this.  For photographic purposes I used a smaller pot, which backfired when the cranberries boiled over.  Now my kitchen smells vaguely of caramelized cranberries.  Which is okay with me.

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Cranberry Sauce

1 pack of whole fresh cranberries

1 cup of water

1 cup white sugar (substitute dark brown sugar for a richer, deeper taste)

Orange zest

Fresh squeezed orange juice from one orange

Bring water and sugar to a boil.  Add cranberries and zest, and return to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for fifteen minutes or so, stirring every once in a while, until the cranberries burst.  Squeeze in orange juice.  Remove from heat, cover, and cool completely at room temperature.  Refrigerate before serving.


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