Why the name? Well, there’s a cheeseburger in Paradise Dip. Don’t you just love that! Now that my son is home from LA, he’s started a back yard construction project – building a Gazebo. Weird, I know, but now we’ll have somewhere to drink our mint juleps. Boy is that a relief! A bunch of his friends are participating, which means at least 4 or 5 hungry guys are here almost all the time. This is my idea of heaven. Not everyone would agree, but these guys seriously love to eat and I seriously like to feed people. They get here pretty early and come find me to check the daily menu. Everybody has favorites, but so far Paradise Dip for lunch has been a major crowd pleaser. It’s worth sharing.
Here’s the deal – on any given day I can ask my family what they want to eat and the answer will invariably be pizza, tacos, or cheeseburgers. This used to hurt my feelings, but it’s just the way guy’s brains operate. It doesn’t mean they don’t want something like bacon wrapped maple glazed scallops, they just haven’t thought of it.
In an effort to please, I already make a mean Taco Dip and our Pizza Dip with bread sticks made from pizza dough is a perennial favorite, so I thought – why not experiment with a cheeseburger dip. It wasn’t hard to imagine, I just started with the idea of using everything I like about cheeseburgers – ground beef, caramelized onions, bacon, and of course cheese. My first batch wasn’t creamy enough plus I added tomatoes and they got a little mushy, so I gave it another shot. The second try was a wonderful thing. I added extra creaminess with a bit of cream cheese- a squirt of ketchup replaced the tomatoes, and I left out the mustard, it was just kind of weird. It was more fun to let everyone add their own condiments – mustard, pickles, lettuce, onion, tomatoes –let your imagination run wild. I hadn’t really given a lot of thought about what to serve Paradise Dip with beyond some toasted French bread, but a kitchen check revealed leftover cornbread (turned out to be a favorite!) and I baked some corn tortillas as well. In retrospect some really thick cut potato chips would be fabulous too. For a vaguely healthier sampling you could even eat it in a lettuce leaf – California Style – or so I’m told! Bottom line, the guys just adored it and asked when I’d make it again as they were scraping the last bit from the casserole.
I’m getting ready for another day of construction and cooking. The sound of hammering and sawing with a background of Mariachi music punctuated by the loud gobbling of our numerous neighborhood turkeys is a pretty fun way to start the summer. Maybe today the guys will mix it up with a little Jimmy Buffet. Definitely give Paradise Dip a try and start your summer of with a big hit!
Ingredients
1 lb lean ground beef
8 slices bacon
1 onion, chopped
½ cup sour cream
½ cup mayonnaise
6 oz cream cheese
1 ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
½ cup mozzarella cheese
1 Tbsp soy sauce
4 Tbsp ketchup
Optional, several shakes of hot sauce
½ tsp salt
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray a large casserole dish with cooking spray.
In a large skillet or Dutch oven, cook ground beef over medium high heat. Remove cooked beef from the skillet and drain any grease.
Cook bacon in the same pan. Remove bacon, reserving about 1 Tbsp of bacon grease. Crumble bacon.
Add chopped onion to the pan and sauté until soft and slightly caramelized, about 5 minutes.
Return beef and bacon to the skillet.
Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
Pour dip into prepared casserole and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until everything is bubbly and yummy.
Serve with your choice of condiments and bread or chips.
* This was a nice thick dip. If you wanted to make it creamier you could always add a little extra cream cheese or mayo.
