Party Planning Day 2: Pan-Fried Onion Dip

February 18, 2005 | By | COMMENTS

There are three parts to every cooking experience:

1. The planning.

2. The cooking.

3. The result.

It is during the planning stages (1) that you anticipate the result (3). During my planning stages (1) for the Pan-Fried Onion dip (see title) I expected that it would come out tasty. In fact, the actual result (3) far surpassed my expectations during (1). Thus 3 > 1.

But first (2). The cooking. I took two onions, I sliced them, and then caramelized them in oil and butter using The Barefoot Contessa’s recipe. (I’m not going to share this recipe because I shared the other two and I feel like that’s generous enough. This poor Contessa’s gotta live, damn it! How else can she make payments on her BMW and her Hamptons estate?)

Here’s the onions cooking:

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[Hey, that worked! I was able to make the picture bigger by typing width=400 after entering the rest... thanks Andrea T and everyone else who offered their help on this matter!]

The onions were cooked with salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. After 30 minutes, I let them cool and then added them to the electric mixer with cream cheese, mayonnaise and sour cream. (Those last 3 products form the basis of many Barefoot Contessa dips.) Their union is miraculous. Behold the pan-fried onion dip:

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It’s salty, creamy, a little sweet and it has a nice little kick. It’s a winning dip. Which dip will be gone the quickest? Your choices are: pan-fried onion, hummus, eggplant spread, sun-dried tomato, and guacamole. Place your bets now!

Categories: Recipes, Snacks

  • jenn

    I’m betting on the pan-fried onion. It seems the most unique.

  • IU Emily

    I’m actually going for the pan fried onion dip for the opposite reason Jenn posted. Onion dip is a party staple and this one will blow them away.

  • Amanda K

    I’m going to bet on the hummus. Mainly because I love hummus and the one you made looks incredible.

    Btw, what will your guests be dipping with? You can make delicious chips by buying flavored tortillas, cutting, salting and baking them.

  • Amy

    I went to the Food Network site and unfortunately the onion dip recipe is no longer available. I would really love to try making this. I would really appreciate it if you could send it to me. I found your food blog and have read it from the very beginning. I now have it bookmarked and read it daily. It’s very entertaining.

  • http://raspberrysour.typepad.com raspberry sour

    my vote is for the guacamole. that little green nub always prevails.

  • http://jameskew.blogspot.com James Kew

    Amy: I couldn’t find the recipe either, but I winged it and it came out fine.