It’s that time of the year again when holiday parties start to become a common event. Last night I went to my mom group’s annual Christmas party and I had to bring an appetizer. I wanted to make something that was simple, yet festive and tasty. What better dish to bring than this cranberry jalapeño dip. It has such a great presentation and just as Lindsey at Sparrows & Lily said, people will definitely be asking you for the recipe.
Now Lindsey says that you should chop the cranberries by hand because in a food processor, they become a bit juicy, but you have to drain the cranberry “salsa” mixture before putting it on top of the cream cheese anyway, so to save time, I chopped them in the food processor. My cranberries didn’t seem to juice up too much. I just gave them a couple of quick whirls and they were chopped perfectly. In fact, after I cut my jalapeño in half and removed the seeds, I chopped that in my food processor as well to save me from having to wear any type of gloves to protect against burning fingers from jalapeño juice. I then gave them a quick additional chop on my cutting board and voila! Perfectly chopped jalapeño.
I received many compliments on this dish. You have a little bit of sweet with a little bit of spicy and then the cream cheese comes in and cools it down a bit. Absolutely tasty! This is seriously a great appetizer to add to your holiday repertoire and it’s really simple to put together. I can’t wait to make it again.
CRANBERRY JALAPEÑO DIP
Prep Time: 20 min
Total Time: 1 day, 20 min
Serves: 32
INGREDIENTS:
- 12 oz fresh, uncooked cranberries
- 1/4 cup green onion
- 1-2 fresh jalapeño peppers
- 2 Tbsp. cilantro (optional)
- 1 Cup sugar
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juce
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 16 oz. cream cheese (whipped)
DIRECTIONS:
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Chop cranberries, green onion, jalapeño peppers and cilantro and gently mix together in a medium sized bowl.
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Add sugar, lemon juice, and salt on top of cranberry mixture and stir gently until blended.
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Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for several hours or overnight.
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Take cranberry mixture out of the refrigerator and strain in a colander with small holes.
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Whip softened cream cheese with hand mixer until smooth (about 2 minutes) and spread cream cheese over bottom of a pie plate or 9×9 inch dish.
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Pour cranberry mixture atop cream cheese and keep in refrigerator until ready to serve.
Note: This dip serves well with a Ritz type cracker.
Recipe from Sparrows & Lily
Disholicious 