Jalepeno Dip
(1) 16oz. tub of sour cream
(2) Tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice
(2) Teaspoons onion salt
(1) Tablespoon Hungarian Hot Paprika(Available at Tom Thumb)
(3-4) small cloves fresh garlic, chop it up. 4 cloves might be a little on the heavy side, but that's what I use,
I prefer a somewhat significant garlic flavor.
I recommend fresh garlic only, do not substitute pre-minced garlic unless you plan to make a 2nd-rate dip.
(6-12) fresh jalapenos, depending on size. Also, you may substitute 1-3 habaneros for jalapenos, i.e. 5 jalapenos and 3 habaneros, 8 jalapenos and 1 habanero, etc....It's all a matter of how hot you want to make the dip. About 12 medium size jalapenos is a good starting point.
Now, the most important step is smoking the peppers. (WARNING: Wear surgical gloves, or protect your hands from the peppers in some way, or you'll be sorry! Also, be careful if you gut the peppers under running water, as it seems to cause me to cough and my nose to burn.) Just gut the seeds out of the peppers and lay them on a sheet of tin foil on the grill. You will need to get woodchips and soak them for at least half an hour for use in the smoking process (mesquite or hickory woodchips work great for me). 30 minutes is a good time to smoke the peppers, once you get some good smoke going on the grill. I get plenty of smoke flavor from the peppers in 30 minutes of smoking, going past that time runs the risk of drying out the peppers. After smoking the peppers, just chop them into pieces and put them in a food processor with the garlic you chopped up, the lemon juice, onion salt, and Hugarian hot paprika. Blend together in the processor. Beware
this makes a highly concentrated paste that looks like a deep red thick salsa. Scoop the sour cream out into a bowl and add the processed pepper mix to it and stir it in thoroughly. I usually then dump the dip back into the sour cream tub and put it back in the fridge, it leaves a little leftover in the bowl so you can taste your work.
*Note*: normally, right after you make the dip and try it out of the bowl, it may not taste quite as hot as you planned. Don't worry, after it sits overnight in the fridge, it usually "gains" some heat and you'll notice an improvement the next day.
Needless to say, practice makes perfect. You can be your own judge and
develop it over time. Also, you can double the recipe, but I wouldn't
recommend it until you've perfected the original.
(2) Tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice
(2) Teaspoons onion salt
(1) Tablespoon Hungarian Hot Paprika(Available at Tom Thumb)
(3-4) small cloves fresh garlic, chop it up. 4 cloves might be a little on the heavy side, but that's what I use,
I prefer a somewhat significant garlic flavor.
I recommend fresh garlic only, do not substitute pre-minced garlic unless you plan to make a 2nd-rate dip.
(6-12) fresh jalapenos, depending on size. Also, you may substitute 1-3 habaneros for jalapenos, i.e. 5 jalapenos and 3 habaneros, 8 jalapenos and 1 habanero, etc....It's all a matter of how hot you want to make the dip. About 12 medium size jalapenos is a good starting point.
Now, the most important step is smoking the peppers. (WARNING: Wear surgical gloves, or protect your hands from the peppers in some way, or you'll be sorry! Also, be careful if you gut the peppers under running water, as it seems to cause me to cough and my nose to burn.) Just gut the seeds out of the peppers and lay them on a sheet of tin foil on the grill. You will need to get woodchips and soak them for at least half an hour for use in the smoking process (mesquite or hickory woodchips work great for me). 30 minutes is a good time to smoke the peppers, once you get some good smoke going on the grill. I get plenty of smoke flavor from the peppers in 30 minutes of smoking, going past that time runs the risk of drying out the peppers. After smoking the peppers, just chop them into pieces and put them in a food processor with the garlic you chopped up, the lemon juice, onion salt, and Hugarian hot paprika. Blend together in the processor. Beware
this makes a highly concentrated paste that looks like a deep red thick salsa. Scoop the sour cream out into a bowl and add the processed pepper mix to it and stir it in thoroughly. I usually then dump the dip back into the sour cream tub and put it back in the fridge, it leaves a little leftover in the bowl so you can taste your work.*Note*: normally, right after you make the dip and try it out of the bowl, it may not taste quite as hot as you planned. Don't worry, after it sits overnight in the fridge, it usually "gains" some heat and you'll notice an improvement the next day.
Needless to say, practice makes perfect. You can be your own judge and
develop it over time. Also, you can double the recipe, but I wouldn't
recommend it until you've perfected the original.
Comment