BLUE CHEESE DIP & HOT CRAB DIP
Served with fresh Blue-Corn Tortilla Chips and Jicama Sticks
BLUE CHEESE DIP:
Tangy and rich, white and blue, this dip is there and then it’s gone.
Dip Ingredients:
1 cup plain Greek-style yogurt
1 cup blue cheese, crumbled
2 tablespoons fresh chives, minced
2 tablespoons shallots, finely chopped
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 dashes hot sauce
1 teaspoon fresh garlic, minced
½ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon white pepper
Directions:
Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender and pulse until smooth. Transfer to a serving bowl, cover and chill for at least 1 hour to allow the flavors to develop. Makes 2 ½ cups of dip.
Correspondences:
White creamy cheeses are usually of the element of water, but because this cheese is robust, has a mold within it and the cheese has been aged, it kicks this offering to that of the element of earth with its strong, pungent flavor. Yogurt and lemon juice are of water, and fresh chives, garlic, shallots, and white pepper are of fire. Hot sauce is a combination of chile pepper, vinegar and salt. All peppers are of fire, but since these peppers have been converted into a liquid, the mixture becomes water of fire.
HOT CRAB DIP:
There are well over 4,000 types of crab, so choices are only limited by what is available in the local seafood market. Some of the most popular include the Blue Crab and Jonah crab found on the east U.S. coast along with the Atlantic Rock crab. Dungeness crab is popular off the western U.S. Coast. The Edible crab is common off British shores, and there’s the Bairdi and Red King crab in the Bering Sea, the European Spider crab in the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Frog and Spider crab in Japanese waters, and the Southern King crab off South American shores. If one doesn’t live near a shore, canned white crab can be purchased year round.
Ingredients:
1 cup fresh or canned crabmeat
½ cup of mayonnaise
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
½ cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
¼ cup green onions, minced, plus a little for garnish
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Sea salt and white pepper to taste
Directions:
Mix together the cream cheese, mayonnaise, cheddar cheese, green onions and crab and season to taste with salt, lemon juice and white pepper. Fill an ovenproof bowl and bake in a 325ºF. (160ºC.) oven until bubbly. Makes almost 3 cups.
Correspondences:
Blue Crab lives at the edge of Nuit’s watery abyss, and as such is of water. The mayonnaise, cream cheese, and lemon juice, are also of water. The sharp cheddar cheese is of earth, and the green onions and white pepper are of fire.
BLUE-CORN TORTILLA CHIPS AND JICAMA STICKS:
Use both the chips and sliced jicama to scoop up bites of both dips.
Ingredients:
1 dozen fresh blue corn tortillas (or use store-bought blue corn tortilla chips)
1 cup coconut oil
1 jicama, peeled and cut ½” thick and 3″ long sticks
½ teaspoon sea salt
Directions:
To make the tortilla chips cut each tortilla into six wedges and drop into the hot oil until crispy for about 1 minute. Remove from oil, drain on paper towels, and sprinkle with salt.
Correspondences:
Fresh corn is water of fire, and when ground and made into flour as with a tortilla becomes air of fire. The oil to fry the chips in is coconut oil and is fire of water. The jicama with its clean, slightly sweet watery crispness is of water.
