Last week was our anniversary and even though we had already celebrated a joint birthday, birthday, anniversary with dinner out at our favorite restaurant, the day of our anniversary TheHub called and suggested we go somewhere that cost less then our mortgage reasonable for dinner. I had planned to cook but I am not stupid enough to look a gift horse in the mouth. As fate would have it that same day we had an advertising mailer delivered for a restaurant we had never tried before. It offered a free appetizer with a meal purchase. I looked the menu up online and it was a very casual restaurant with modest prices, so off we went.
We do not normally get appetizers, unless we are going to have those as our meal, but hey, this was free so why not. We chose the Low Country Dip, mainly because we had never had it before and it looked better than any other one on the menu. In addition to the dip we decided to split the pimento cheese burger and a salad. The appetizer came first, naturally, and we decided right then that we should not have gotten the burger. The dip and salad would have been the perfect amount. It was wonderful with all it's cheesy, smoked sausage goodness, both in taste and texture. I kept taking small tastes with just my fork to try and deconstruct it. Below is my take on the dip
Low Country Dip
2 cups cheddar cheese
1 8 oz, pack of creamed cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
1/2 pound smoked sausage, chopped finely
1/2 can drained seasoned turnip greens
Mix the cheddar cheese and the cream cheese in a microwave sale bowl. Nuke until the cream cheese is soft. Remove from the microwave and stir to blend. Next in the mayo, sour cream and hot sauce and stir to blend well. Add the sausage and the turnip greens and stir to mix. Pour into an 8x8 oven safe pan and bake at 350 until it is bubbly and hot. Serve with sliced baguettes or tortilla chips. It is so incredible tasty and makes the perfect dish to gnosh on while watching a football game. I will be making this often. It makes a very full 8x8 pan and we had a lot of it leftover. Son2 and Girlfriend 2 had it the next morning for breakfast, and I still had a lot more left. The good news? It refrigerates nicely. To serve it again just put what you are going to eat in a ramekin and zap it about 35 seconds.
I cooked mine a little too long. I would suggest maybe 10 -15 minutes in a 350 oven. (I forgot about it and left mine in about 30 minutes. ) I will also use white cheddar, but that is purely an esthetic change, not a flavor one. Other than that I will leave it just this way. My mouth is watering just typing this.
Now the biggest problem I have with this is that I have a half pound of sausage left over and no cream cheese. A trip to the store, a football Saturday and I will be in business again.
Happy eating and Roll Tide!
It's got turnip greens, so it's got to be healthy, right?
ReplyDeleteOf course!
DeleteThat sounds good except for the turnip greens....I'd use collards.
ReplyDeleteIt would be equally good with collards as long as they were cooked super soft like the canned ones are.
DeleteOh, it is a low calorie dip I see. Looks delicious.
ReplyDeleteYep. The alternate name might need to be heart attack on a plate. It is incredibly rich and you really can't eat much but it does make the mouth happy.
Deletesounds amazing! we dont have turnip greens here, i think most people would substitute spinach
ReplyDeleteSpinach would work but would not have the bitter flavor of the greens.
DeleteMy vegie self could see this being a winner too (with some adaptation).
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary. And a meal out is a treat isn't it? Do I detect you will happily go back to that restaurant?
Some veggie sausage crumbles would work equally well, but you might need to add a drop or two of liquid smoke.
DeleteA meal out is great and I will go back. Right now we are trying to get out of our rut and try new places
Oh my goodness. My mouth was watering as I read the recipe. What was the name of the restaurant, if you don't mind sharing? I think exbf would like that dish for Iron Bowl game.
ReplyDeleteThe restaurant is Front Porch Ross Bridge in Hoover.
DeleteI will make it for the Iron Bowl too!
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DeleteI would love to make this but where in the he!! does one buy turnip greens? You southerners..... :)
ReplyDeleteEmail me your address and turnip greens can magically appear. Yeah I know about us, we throw away the vegetable and eat the weeds, right?
Deleteooh..... looks delicious? did you use turnip greens in a can? My family would def. eat this.
ReplyDeleteYes I bought seasoned turnip greens in a can.
DeleteI'm definitely making this...and of course I want to know the restaurant, too! :)
ReplyDeleteJill I used the hickory smoked conecuh and seasoned canned turnip greens. The restaurant is Front Porch in Ross Bridge. It is a very casual place, mostly burgers and salads but they do have a full bar which was a requirement. When we go back we will split the dip and split a salad and it will be enough for both of us.
DeleteAnne, I notice Roth Phallyka has commented blandly on 3 blogs in the last couple of days. I deleted her comment from mine. I may be wrong but I don't want someone with the name "phallyka" commenting on my blog. Anna
ReplyDeleteThanks Anna!
DeleteoH... THAT LOOKS GOOD!!!! Making a note of it.
ReplyDeleteIt really is good, Val!
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