Taco Dip

It's taco dip. It's great for parties, never ceases to impress guests and never fails to completely disappear. MAKE IT.  For reference, you can easily swap out the full fat sour cream and cream cheese for reduced fat or fat free versions with no loss of consistency, flavor or texture.

Taco Dip

16 oz. sour cream

16 oz. cream cheese

2 - 3 packets Ortega Hot and Spicy taco seasoning

Crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

Shredded lettuce

Sargento 4-Cheese Mexican Blend

Scallions, sliced thinly

Beefsteak tomato, jelly and seeds removed, and diced

Sliced black olives

Make sure the cream cheese is completely at room temperature before you even begin. When ready to prepare, combine the sour cream, cream cheese and taco seasoning in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or use a hand mixer. Cream cheese has a tendency to be slightly lumpy even when at room temperature, so be sure to whip everything up as thoroughly as possible for a smooth consistency.

Scoop the seasoned mixture into a 13 x 9" pan. Smooth it out evenly, then liberally sprinkle crushed red pepper flakes over the top (optional). Evenly layer in this order:  lettuce, cheese, scallions, tomatoes and olives. 

Refrigerate until ready to serve. If serving the next day, make the base and sprinkle with the pepper flakes. Refrigerate it, then assemble the rest of the layers before serving.

Serve with sturdy tortilla chips for scooping and with a good beer to quell the fire!

Serves A LOT

BBQ Rubbed Pork Chops

Summer's not over yet, so there's still plenty of time to enjoy barbecued foods. This easy and quick recipe is highly flavorful, easy to make and can be on the table in less than 30 minutes. Rich, savory spices slightly blacken on the pork chops to create a bit of a crust, which is every bit as delicious as the rest of the chops. Serve with sides of your choice - suggestions include steamed vegetables and mashed potatoes (as shown in the photograph). You can swap out the bone-in chops for boneless ones, but keep in mind it is very easy to turn them into shoe leather through overcooking. Watch them like a hawk and you will still be rewarded with moist, delicious chops. This recipe is naturally gluten-free; if you want to make it refined sugar-free, you could always substitute the light brown sugar with an equivalent amount of dark agave syrup.

BBQ Rubbed Pork Chops

1 tbsp. light brown sugar

1 tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. chili powder

¾ tsp. garlic powder

¾ tsp. ground cumin

¼ tsp. dry mustard

1/8 tsp. ground allspice

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

4 (6 oz.) bone-in, center cut loin pork chops, trimmed (about ½" thick)

Combine all the seasonings and rub over all sides of the chops.

Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat the pan with cooking spray. Add the pork and cook for 2 minutes on each side. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 8 minutes or until done, turning occasionally. Note that if you are using boneless pork chops, you most likely will have to cook the chops for less than 8 minutes in order to avoid drying them out. Remove the chops from the pan and let stand for 5 minutes to let the juices redistribute. Serve immediately with sides of your choice.

Serves 4

Blueberry Crumb Cake

Cakes do not have to be something fanciful in order to taste good. In fact, it's my opinion that the fancy decorated cakes more often than not are only average in taste, but almost outright "yuck." Okay, so that makes me a snob...so be it. This simple recipe will be sure to wow your family and friends, and it takes just minutes to prepare. It is excellent paired with coffee, and if desired, you can serve it warm from the oven with a scoop of good vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt instead of serving it completely cooled, as the recipe suggests. Since there is no nutritional value to sour cream (which was listed in the original recipe), I used Greek yogurt instead - you get a boost of lean, healthful protein, the very slight tang, and of course, the moistness. If you want to cut down on the fat and cholesterol content a little, you can use egg substitute with no loss of texture or flavor. I also reduced the sugar a little by substituting Truvia for some of the refined sugar in both the streusel and cake.

Blueberry Crumb Cake

Cake:

6 tbsp. unsalted butter

½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup Truvia (6 packets)

2 extra large eggs

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

½ tsp. grated lemon zest

2/3 cup fat free plain Greek yogurt

1¼ cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. kosher salt

1 cup fresh blueberries

Confectioners sugar, for sprinkling

Streusel:

¼ cup Truvia (6 packets)

1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

1 1/3 cups flour

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9" round baking pan.

To make the streusel, combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter and then the flour. Mix well and set aside. The mixture will be very crumbly; this is normal. The crumbles shouldn't be overly large, but should not be too fine, either.

To make the cake, cream the butter and sugar on high speed for 4 - 5 in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment - just until it's light and fluffy. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla, lemon zest and Greek yogurt. 

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Dredge the blueberries with a little flour to make sure that they don't sink to the bottom of the pan. Fold in the blueberries by hand with a spatula, stirring gently until the batter is completely mixed.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out with a knife or thin spatula. Using your fingers, crumble the streusel evenly over the batter. Bake for 40 - 50 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. If baking with convection, start checking the cake at around 25 - 30 minutes.  When the cake is done, cool it completely in the pan. When ready to serve, sprinkle confectioners sugar over the top, then slice and eat.

Serves 6 - 8