Roasted Garlic and Beer Dip

July 14, 2011 By Kait 2 Comments

Really Domestic | Roasted Garlic and Ale Dip
 My name is Kaitlin, and I’m a dip-aholic.

For all my foodie tendencies, there is no appetizer that gets my heart beating quite so fast as a creamy, savoury dip.

I love dip. I want dip. I need dip.

It clouds my vision in the kitchen. I can’t think of another appetizer to serve when I’ve got dip on the brain. So more often than not, I indulge my craving.

Sometimes that’s a bad, bad thing. Dips are meant to serve a crowd, but  I will often make a batch for dinner and polish most of it off between the two of us.

We serve it with baked whole wheat pitas. That’s kind of healthy, right? Right?

And now that we have Beecher, we go for multiple walks a day. So our hearts and waistlines can afford it, right? Right?

(Don’t judge.)

On the bright side, I’m now obsessed with creating my own dip recipes. Last night, when faced with a head of roasted garlic in need of using up and nary a clue what to do with it, I turned to my old faithful Mr. Dip.

Roasted garlic dip – that sounded pretty tasty. But roasted garlic and beer dip? Come here, you delicious bowl of pub-grubby goodness.

This dip is super rich and tangy and loaded with the sweet, caramelized flavour of roasted garlic. I could go on about how it marries with the beer, but I’ll just say this: beer makes everything better.

I recommend serving it with baked whole wheat pita chips. They’re really easy to make yourself – just cut a pocket-style pita in half so you’re left with two thin circles. Then cut or tear those thin circles into dippable shapes and place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Triangles are a pretty standard shape, but if you just want to eat, ripping the pitas into jagged, haphazard rectangles will get dinner on the table faster has a certain, uh, rustic charm. Repeat, repeat, repeat until all of the pitas are cut/torn tup. Dab olive oil on them, sprinkle them with salt and pepper, and bake them in a 350F oven for about 8 minutes. Easy peasy.

Are you a dip fanatic? Is there another food you’re obsessed with? Let me know in the comments!

Roasted Garlic and Beer Dip

Yields About 1 cup

A creamy, tangy roasted garlic dip with a touch of beer.

  • Cloves from 1 head roasted garlic (approximately 10 cloves)
  • 1/2 cup cream cheese (light or full-fat)
  • 1/2 cup sour cream (light or full-fat)
  • 1.5 tbsp beer (I used lager)
  • 2 tbsp milk (optional)
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  1. Add cloves from one head of roasted garlic, cream cheese, sour cream, and beer to the bowl of a food processor.
  2. Pulse on low speed until mixture is well combined and no big chunks of garlic remain, scraping down the sides of the processor with a spatula as necessary.
  3. If desired, thin mixture by pulsing in up to 2 tablespoons of milk.
  4. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with whole wheat pita chips (see post above for a quick recipe), nachos, or crudites.

 

 

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