The Starving Musician Recipes
Benedictine (Dip or Sandwiches)
Benedictine was made famous at Benedict's restaurant in
Louisville in the 1900's, and it's traditional to have it at Kentucky Derby
time. Benedictine is great with crudités (pronounced CREW-dih-tay; foodie
slang for raw veggies served with dip), or as a filling for tea
sandwiches...something every guy should know when he really wants to impress
his significant other, mom, or grandma.
Makes approx. 1 1/3 cups.
1 large English or Hothouse seedless cucumber, washed, peeled, grated, and
drained in fine mesh strainer (These are the long cucumbers that are often
sold individually wrapped.)
8 oz cream cheese, softened (can use low fat--see below)
1 1/2-2 Tablespoons grated onion (2 if low fat ingredients are used)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon mayonnaise (can use low fat, but not non-fat)
1-2 drops green food coloring, optional
2 Tablespoons sour cream, optional (can use low fat--see below). Use sour
cream if Benedictine is to be used as a dip with crudités.
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh dill, optional (use if low-fat ingredients are
used)
Extra cucumber and dill for garnish
If serving with crudités: Fresh vegetables such as carrots, radishes,
celery, broccoli florets, jicama, cherry tomatoes, or Belgian endive,
washed, trimmed and cut as necessary for serving. Canned baby corn (rinse,
drain, and chill) or sugar snap peas, trimmed and blanched, are also great
(blanched= boiled for two minutes in rapidly boiling water, then plunged
into an ice water bath to set the color and shock them into being crisp
again).
If serving as canapés: Triscuits, Club crackers, or other crackers, plus
thin cucumber slices and dill for garnish. If serving as small sandwiches:
cocktail rye or very thin bread, crusts removed.
In medium bowl combine cucumber, cream cheese,
onion, salt, and mayonnaise. Mix well. (If you have a food processor, this
is excellent for this. A hand mixer also works well. Failing that, soften
the cream cheese well and put a some muscle into it.) If you've used low-fat
cream cheese and mayo, add dill. If Benedictine will be used as a dip for
fresh vegetables, add the sour cream or low-fat sour cream. Add 1-2 drops
food coloring to color a light green color, if desired. Chill at least one
hour to allow flavors to blend. (Can make a day ahead.) Garnish with
cucumber slice or dill. Serve.
If serving as canapés or sandwiches, spread crackers or bread with
Benedictine, top with second slice of bread if desired; cut larger bread
into small triangles or rectangles. Garnish with thin slices of cucumber and
a tiny sprig of fresh dill, using frilled cocktail toothpicks to secure to
sandwiches. to vary the presentation of open-face sandwiches or canapés,
chop some of the dill and garnish half with tiny sprigs of dill, half with
chopped dill. (Yes, it's a little girly. But the women attending your party
will be impressed with your attention to detail. The guys will too, but
they'll pretend not to be.)
To make cucumber garnish: Wash cucumber. Take a dinner fork and run the
tines down the cucumber, pressing firmly. Do the same to the opposite side.
(You can stop here, or do the other two sides as well.) Slice thinly and use
slices for garnish. What to do with leftover cucumber: Add slices to a
salad, or mix thinly sliced cucumber with rice vinegar, a little celery
seed, and a tiny pinch of sugar and let stand overnight. Especially great
with grilled salmon.
Recipes ©2004 Randi Reed
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