LOST Snack-Plate Review

While the entire PortlyDyke household agreed that last night's LOST was OMG!-arific, my home-made onion dip also got rave reviews.

I thought I'd give you a partial picture of the snack layout for last night, (recipes below).

I'm thinking of renaming this onion dip recipe to:

What-A-Mind-Fuck Onion Dip



Portly's What-A-Mind-Fuck Onion Dip

1 cup sour cream (we use Nancy's Organic)
1/3 cup (or so) finely diced onion (coarser if you like it that way)
Pinch (or more to taste) Garlic powder
Salt and Pepper to taste (start with 1/8 teaspoon if you need a jumping off point -- I prefer lots of pepper)
Balsamic Vinegar

Brown the diced onions in a medium hot skillet (in butter or a dash of oil) -- be sure to brown them until they are quite tender and getting a little brown color throughout.

Blend with sour cream, add garlic powder, salt, pepper, and vinegar. (I usually blend the spices in first, then add the vinegar to taste dash by dash until the tart balances the sweetness of the cream. I also depend on the color to know if I've got the vinegar balance right (it gets that slight brownish creamy color).

(Note: Even better the next day)

Portly's Let's-Watch-It-Again Deviled Eggs

12 Eggs
1/4 cup very finely diced celery
1/4 cup very finely diced shallot
3 tablespoons Mayo or Vegenaise
1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish
salt and pepper (to taste)
chili oil
paprika

Hard-boil eggs (use whatever method you like, but make sure the yolks get hard enough to pop them out easily) -- cool eggs (I keep them in cold water for at least 30 minutes). Peel eggs and cut them in half. Pop the yolks out into a bowl.

Add celery, shallot, mayo, and relish to yolks, mix thoroughly until it's smooth and fluffy. Add salt and pepper to taste, then chili oil to taste (careful with that stuff -- a drop or three goes a long way -- but if you're daring, they're pretty good spicy!).

Fill the egg halves with the yolk filling, sprinkle with paprika. You can also garnish them with a sprig of fresh parsley or cilantro on top.

Before serving, wrap Dharma beer labels around drinking glasses.