Rosie Makes A Festive Layered Dip.

 Here's a festive, layered, Mexican-inspired dip

just in time for your Fourth of July picnic.

The bottom layer is a seasoned black bean purée.

Next is a layer of corn

followed by a zesty guacamole tier

and the topping is doctored sour cream

along with black olives, roasted red peppers,

chopped tomatoes, sliced serrano chilis,

and grated cheddar cheese.

 

Let's start with the guacamole.

 Rosie's Guacamole

 1 avocado

1 tomato

juice of 1 lime

 1/4 cup chopped red onion

freshly ground salt and pepper

Juice the lime and add in the avocado,

mashing with a fork and

tossing to coat with the lime juice.

The acid will not only give flavor to the guac,

it also keeps the avocado from oxidizing and turning brown.

Peel, seed, and juice the tomato.

Chop the tomato and red onion.

Add to the mixture.

Season with freshly ground salt and pepper to taste.

 Hmmm.

Looks like ice cream.

Pistachio ice cream.

 

 Neither the skin nor the seeds is digestible.

I get rid of them and the juice.

I only want tomato pulp.

The juice waters everything down.

 

 Add the chopped tomatoes and ...

 ...  that much of a red onion ...

 ...  chopped.

 Mix and mash until you get the consistency you like.

 I prefer a bit of chunk in my guac.

 Cover with plastic wrap touching the surface

of the guacamole and refrigerate.

Next up, black bean purée.

 Black Bean Purée

1 cup cooked black beans

1/4 tsp adobo seasoning

1/4 tsp fajita seasoning

1/2 tsp chili powder

2 cloves garlic, peeled

1 jalapeno (Remove ribs and seeds if you don't want the heat.)

3 TB vegetable oil

1 tsp Texas Pete

1/2 tsp cider vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

For the record, I never use canned beans.

I do not like canned beans.

And I never soak my beans overnight 

like the instructions say to do.

I simply rinse them well,

then add them to boiling, unsalted water.

Mr. Hawthorne learned from Food Network

that salting makes the skins come off.

I simmer the beans for 20 minutes,

then pour out the water,

rinse the beans well,

until the water runs clean,

and return them to boiling water

and simmer for another 20 minutes or so until done.

Rinse and drain beans.

Give the garlic and jalapeno a coarse chop

and add to a processor along with the beans

and the rest of the ingredients.

Process away until you have a nice purée.

 

 Evenly spread the black bean purée

in a pie dish.

 Add a layer of corn.

 Spread on the guacamole.

Now, for the doctored sour cream.

 Seasoned Sour Cream

heaping cup of sour cream

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp cumin

salt and pepper, to taste

sprinkling of cayenne, to taste

 Mix all ingredients.

 I taste-tested and decided to add the cayenne for good measure.

 Spread the sour cream mixture over top of the guacamole.

 Now, for the toppings:

•  sliced serrano peppers

Remove the white part and the seeds

to get rid of the heat, if you want.

And please, be sure you wash your hands.

• peeled, seeded, juiced, and chopped tomato

• sliced black olives

•  chopped roasted red peppers

 Add black olives, tomatoes, roasted red peppers,

serranos, and scallions.

 Top with grated cheddar cheese.

Bake at 350° for 30 minutes, or until nice and bubbly.

 Scoopie scoopie.

This was gone in about an hour.
Mr. Hawthorne and my Little Hawthornelets love it.

Rosie Prepares For Mr. Hawthorne's Birthday Partay. Corn Bean Tortilla Pie And Pesto Sundried Tomato Cheese Loaf.

On Friday, while Mr. Hawthorne was at work, I started clandestine preparations for a surprise birthday party for Mr. Hawthorne. First up was my corn bean tortilla pie. I always make this for my get-togethers and for neighborhood block parties. And there are never leftovers. This is quite the crowd pleaser.

First, I cooked some black beans. Heat salted water to a boil, put the rinsed beans in, simmer for about 25 minutes. Rinse beans and add fresh water. Simmer for about 20 minutes or until the beans are the texture you like. I like mine al dente and not mushy. To the beans, I added a can of drained corn and a small chopped onion.

Mix all together.

Slice some black olives for the topping.

Pepper Jack, Monteray Jack, Mozzarella, and cheddar cheeses.

Then just start layering the tortillas with the bean mixture and cheeses until everything is used up. (Save some for the topping.) This pie used 5 tortillas.

Brush the top and sides with melted butter.

Sprinkle cayenne pepper around the edges and top with corn/bean mixture and black olives. This went into my fridge in the utility room to keep it hidden from Mr. Hawthorne. Sunday, the day of the party, I pulled it out and added some sliced green olives.

And more cheese. One can never have too much cheese.

For the party, I put it in a 375 degree oven for about 45 minutes until it was heated through and the cheese melted. Slice into wedges and serve.

Trust me on this one. Everybody loves it.

Also on Friday, I made a pesto/sundried tomato cheese loaf. First, the pesto.

I'm making a huge batch of pesto.

Part of it will go for the loaf, another part for a pesto pizza I'll make the day of the party, and the rest is to be frozen in ice cube trays for later use in the winter when I want a nice fresh taste of spring and summer.

I have about 8 cups of loosely packed, washed basil leaves, about a cup of parsley, 5 garlic cloves, about 4 cups of pecans,

about 6 ounces grated Parmesan cheese about 1 1/2 cups ELBOO (Extra Light Bertolli Olive Oil)

I processed all the dry ingredients then added in the olive oil, processing, until I got the nice consistency I wanted. Yield: about 4 cups pesto. Pesto is a thing of beauty.

Next, I poured boiling water over 10 sundried tomatoes and covered, letting them soften.

While the tomatoes were softening, I mixed my cheeses: 16 ounces cream cheese 8 ounces blue cheese

Now, I'm ready to assemble. Line a loaf pan with plastic wrap ...

... and add a first layer of cheese and chopped sundried tomatoes ...

... then add a layer of pesto and another layer of the cheese.

Another layer of sundried tomatoes.

Another layer of pesto.

And a top layer of cheese.

Cover and refrigerate. When you're ready to serve this, you invert the loaf and let sit for about 30 minutes at room temp to soften. Note to self: Work on those layers. Two appetizers down and now I'm ready to prepare for Ticky's visit. Stay tuned for our world famous Caesar salad and my equally famous homemade croutons and a pesto pizza, made especially for Ticky.