Let's start with the name. The name of the recipe I wanted to follow is "California Cheesy Black Bean Dip." It calls for things like "California mozzarella" or "California feta" or "California Oaxaca" or "California Cotija" (you get a lot of choices in your cheese selection), but by the time I finished making all of the substitutions (or "compromises," since most subbing was done because Mike has preferences about things), I decided the recipe now had a Nevada bias. With lots of compromises. So, behold - Nevada Compromise Dip:
This is how it begins:
- 2T vegetable oil
- 1c diced yellow onion (not white, because Mike likes yellow)
- 1T smushed garlic (not finely chopped, because then I couldn't use my garlic press)
- 1 chopped serrano (not a tablespoon of canned jalapeno, because I had serranos on hand, and why would someone living in the southwest use a canned chili anyway?)
- 1 can pinto beans (not black beans, because Mike doesn't like black beans, the heathen)
- 1.5 cups of Oaxaca cheese (yes, from California, because Cacique is what all of the non-specialty grocery stores carry here when it comes to Mexican-style cheese)
- 1/2 cup sour cream (I got organic because it's cheap at F&E. Also, I know I'm mixing fractions with decimals, but I always hate the way .5 looks on its own in ingredient lists.)
- 1/2t ground cumin
- NOT 1/4t cayenne pepper (because we were out of it, but I'd add it next time)
- 1/2c crumbled Cotija cheese (again, Cacique)
First, chop the onion and pepper and smoosh the garlic. The ladle (another casino gift - woot!) will be important. Stay tuned!
Saute for about five minutes, then add the can of beans:
You're supposed to use the back of the ladle to squish the beans. I guess you're not supposed to use a cheap-o casino ladle, because that didn't work at all. I used a spoon. Squish squish squish.
Shredding Oaxaca cheese is interesting. Coil-y. But I like the grater, and the way it guides the cheese right into a bowl that comes with an airtight lid. (IKEA, again. Casino gift, again.)
Stir the cheese into the bean mixture, then add the sour cream:
Stir stir stir. Stretch stretch stretch.
Oh, by the way, squish the beans over medium heat. If you don't, when you sprinkle the Cotija cheese on top, it will just sit there, dry and unmelted, like this:
(In one of the free casino mixing bowls, of course. It's a good thing I dropped a soup bowl last night, smashing it on the kitchen floor and necessitating the purchase of a new one with our own money, or I'd start feeling like a kept woman. A kept woman who kept playing 100-hand video poker to be kept this way. And who is now keeping two Band-aids on her foot abrasions. Ow.)
It's a homely dip. It's as pale and dry as the Nevada desert can be. But it is also delicious, and it didn't last 24 hours. A++++ Will make again!
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