Monday, January 28, 2013

Rosie Makes A Layered Mexican Casserole Dip For Her Partay.

Rosie had a birthday partay Saturday evening.

One of the items on my menu
was a Mexican Three-Layer Casserole Dip.

The bottom layer is a red bean pesto.
The middle layer is a guacamole.
The third layer is deliciously seasoned sour cream.
The topping is chopped tomatoes, scallions,
black olives, and cheeses.


Let's start out with the first layer  -
a Red Bean Pesto.
Red Bean Pesto
5 ounces dried red kidney beans, cooked
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, sliced, ribbed, seeded, and rough-chopped
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup oil
1 1/2 tsp cider vinegar 
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp salt
a few shakes Texas Pete or Tabasco, to taste

Rinse beans and place in a saucepan.  Cover with cold water and bring to a boil.  Lower heat and simmer 20 minutes.  Drain and refresh with clean water.  Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, and cook about 20 - 25 more minutes until beans are tender.  Drain and cool completely.

Add in chopped garlic and jalapeno to processor.  Process until finely ground.  Add the beans.  With the motor running, process the beans while slowly pouring the water and oil through the feed tube.  Add remaining ingredients and process until smooth.  Adjust seasonings to taste.

First I gave the jalapeno and garlic a rough chop.

Add to processor and process.

Add in the beans and the rest of the ingredients.
Process until smooth.
Cover and set aside.

This red bean pesto would be perfect for a dip on its own.
With plenty of chips.

Continue to layer #2 - the guacamole.
Guacamole

2 ripe avocados
3 garlic cloves, rough chop
1 Roma tomato, peeled, seeded, juiced, and chopped
2 scallions, sliced
1 green jalapeno, rough chop
1/2 red jalapeno, rough chop
a little piece of orange serrano, rough chop
3 TB red onion, chopped
juice of one lime
1 tsp or so or more Texas Pete or Tabasco sauce
1/4 tsp freshly ground salt
1 tsp freshly ground pepper

In a small bowl, juice the lime.

Slice avocados in half.  Remove pit.  Scoop out avocado and drop into lime juice.  Chop and squish around a bit to coat avocado in the citrus to avoid oxidation.

Drop garlic and jalapeno in food processor.  Process until finely chopped.  Add 1 avocado and the lime juice or even more lime juice and process until smooth.  Transfer mixture to a bowl.

Add remaining avocado to the bowl and mash with a wooden spoon.  Add tomato, scallions, hot sauce, salt, and pepper.  Mix thoroughly.

Cover and refrigerate.

An avocado is a pretty fruit.
What a lovely, calming color.
This is the color of my upstairs bedroom.
It's called something radically different,
but it is truly avocado.

Squish the avocado into the lime juice.

I gave a coarse chop to the garlic.

Slice the jalapeno in half and ...

...   remove the white part and the seeds.


Ditto on the red jalapeno.

And ditto again on the orange serrano.

The peppers here aren't etched in stone.
I use what I have.
Mix and match.

Process away with the garlic and peppers.

Add one of the avocados and the lingering lime juice.


Process until very smooth.
Add more lime juice if you're a devotee like me.

Transfer to a bowl and mash in the remaining avocado
with a wooden spoon.

Chop the red onion and add to avocado mash.

I ALWAYS peel my tomatoes.
The skin is not digestible.
Nor are the seeds.

To seed and juice the tomato,
insert fingers into gel sacs, squeeze, and deftly extract.

Thusly.

Chop the tomatoes.

And add to the guac.

Chop the scallions and ...


add to the guacamole.


Taste test.
Season with freshly ground salt and pepper if needed.
 Cover and refrigerate.

On to layer #3 - seasoned sour cream.
Seasoned Sour Cream

1 1/2 cups sour cream
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper


Mix thoroughly.

Mix sour cream and spices.


Now, I'm ready to assemble my layered casserole.
I have my red bean pesto.
I have my guacamole.
And my seasoned sour cream.

Spread the bean pesto evenly in the bottom 
of an oven-proof 10-inch round glass baking dish.

Add the guacamole.
Spread evenly.

 
Add the seasoned sour cream and spread evenly.

For the toppings,
I'm using grated Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses,
3 scallions, 2 peeled, seeded, and juiced Roma tomatoes,
and some sliced black olives.

Grate the cheeses, slice the scallions and olives,
and chop the tomatoes.

Top the casserole with tomatoes and scallions.


Sliced black olives.

Top with the cheeses.


Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.

Serve with plenty of taco chips for dipping.

Excellent hors d'oeuvre.

Heavy on the flavors.

ALL GONE!

5 comments:

Kathy said...

What was that I saw? Had to go back & reread a couple things. Why, yes...I do believe I saw some SandySpeak happenin'. You feeling okay?

Rosie Hawthorne said...

SandySpeak? Where? I am feeling light-headed.

Anonymous said...

That dip looks heavenly! Maybe for the Super Bowl...

Kathy said...

"Add in chopped cloves and jalapeno to processor." (the processor had not yet been mentioned)

"In food processor drop in garlic and jalapeno."

Methinks the effects of the birthday festivities doth linger.

Rosie Hawthorne said...

NMOAC - Try it and let me know how you like it. I didn't have any leftovers.

Kathy - heh. I like lingering effects. They're the best kind.