Artichoke Dip/Spread
Surprisingly, for me at least, this was one of the biggest or fastest “sellers” at the school buffet I did the other night. I have had artichoke dips/spreads before but was never really overwhelmed by them. But I needed variety and interesting flavors so I decided to include this in the buffet. There are several more precise recipes on the net so you can look them up there. However, the key ingredients are canned or bottled artichokes, mayonnaise, some spices and lots of grated parmesan cheese. I saw a 1.2+ kilo of marinated artichokes at S&R during the sale and since the price was very reasonable, I bought several bottles for the pantry (expiry date is two years from now). Then when I was planning the buffet menu, I decided to use about a kilo worth of the artichokes, drained off the oil/liquid it was bottled with, then chopped the artichokes somewhat finely though not overly small in size. I mixed in mayonnaise until damp but not swimming in mayonnaise, several cups of grated parmesan, some hot sauce pepper and garlic powder and placed the mixture in ovenproof ceramic dishes and baked for 35-40 minutes. Serve warm with toast points, backed bagel chips or other carbohydrate. I have to say, it was pretty good, super easy and a minimal amount of effort easily resulted in say 100 potential servings. Guests finished these three dishes worth in less than an hour…and there was a lot of other things on the buffet!
5 Comments Send this post to a friend
event was to run from 5-8 p.m. and about 150-200 guests were expected. Guess who got volunteered to do the food…yup, yours truly. I have been planning the menu on and off for the past two weeks…and you will see several of the things I made recently (guava cheese, mango jam, etc.) featured in the dishes served. Usually, at these events, everyone calls for a pizza or they do a pot luck, but this year I guess folks just wanted the ease of having someone else just coordinate it all, and the parents chipped in a contribution to help cover the costs… 
sugar was always good on toast with butter. I never once wondered how the pulpy and heavily seeded guava fruit turned into such a smooth, fragrant and delicious jelly. So when I came across some ripe “native” or smaller guavas that were pungent as heck, I thought I might experiment a bit. Back home, I decided I could try one of two possible recipes… first, a guava jelly similar to those sold in the groceries and which I recall from 20 years ago, or a more “sophisticated” and adult version of a guava jam or spread. Something more along the lines of a membrillo or quince paste; that would be closer to solid than liquid, a guava “cheese,” really. I wanted texture, parts of the pulp and a bit of bite to the resulting jam. I went for the latter this time around and these are the results of that effort. Note that I have NEVER made guava jam or jelly before.
the whim of a bee, the strength of the prevailing winds, the poop of a small foraging animal or the interference of humans in a college laboratory. I am not even sure if these attractive and unusual gourds are the result of such a genetic muttiness, but if they aren’t, they certainly should be. When I was studying in New England, 
weighing in at about 1 to 1.2 kilos per PIECE!, my curiosity was definitely peaked. I purchased two pieces, and at PHP80 a kilo, they cost roughly PHP80 a piece. I normally get 3 or more normal sized mangoes to a kilo so I was a bit skeptical about the value of these “hybrids” that appeared to have been weaned on steroids! The vendor said they were called “Millenium Mangoes” and that they were definitely eating mangoes… Turns out they were a hybrid brought in from Malaysia years back and now many of the trees planted locally are starting to bear fruit. Back at home, they seemed unripe so I left them out on the table for about 4 days until their skins started to yellow and they got softer and more fragrant. The stem ends started to blacken so I assumed they must be ready to eat. After a few hours in the fridge to chill them, I decided to try the larger specimen…
