Love Dip

[Cheese Head]

Well I screwed up, for block party across the street I made a double batch of homemade baked beans in crockpot using 2 lb/0.9 kg of dry navy beans. Problem was I didn't preboil them enough before putting into crock pot with other ingredients so they are "Al Dente", a little hard.

Darling wife says street kids won't eat them, run to local mega grocery store deli section and buy some Love Dip which everyone . . . for sake of a better word, loves!

So I did, USD6 per pound, ouch. I asked what is in it and after hearing simple ingredients I said I can make that and so the server printed me off an extra sticker receipt with ingredients, which from largest to smallest % are:

• Manufactured Cream Cheese made from: Pasteurized milk & cream, cultures, salt and carob bean, xanthan &/or guar gum for "stabilizers" (sounds more like viscosifiers).
• Tomatoes including salt and citric acid.
• Garlic.
• Tomato Paste.
• Love Seasoning: Onion powder, cayenne pepper, white pepper, & tarragon.
• Cilantro.
• Lemon Juice.
• Kosher Salt.

Consistency is shown in pictures below is at 1/2 fridge temp as just drove home from store, taste is good and with very strong garlic after kick .

Next time I'm making it.

[DeejayDebi]

Sounds good but geeze! $6/lb for cream cheese dip? YE-OUCH!

[goatherdess]

Tomato, cilantro, garlic...that sounds good! I bet that would go well into a soft goat cheese. Hmm...have to try that. Thanks,John.

[smelly]

Hi John, did you end up making this???

[Cheese Head]

Nope, not yet.

[smelly]

Hi John!

I want to try this love dip.  Did you ever try it out?  Otherwise I will have to guess.

Jess

[jimato]

I think it's called "Love Dip" cuz they just LOVE to sell it ! Looks good actually, somebody needs to try & make it.

[moodock]

This sounds similar to a dip I make. Instead of tomatoes (and salt and citric acid), I use sun-tried tomato paste, which is saltier and more acidic than tomatoes. I do not use cayenne pepper, but rather dried and ground tepin peppers from the garden. Another difference is that I do not add white pepper.

As for the stabilizer, I assure you it is xanthan gum. I use this is all my hot sauces, salad dressings, and some BBQ sauces. It is natural, an kind of the opposite of corn starch. While it is a thickener, when exposed to sheer forces it becomes more liquid rather than more solid. This makes it perfect for sauces and dressings- shake the bottle, it comes out easy, then thickens and sticks to the food. In the case of this dip, the addition on xanthan gum makes it easier to process in a blender yet still remain a thick dip.

I'll dig out my recipe and mess around with it a bit. I have never tasted the dip, but perhaps I cam help you recreate it.

[Tomer1]

I really dont like the way it looks and the use of texture modifiers,
Sounds like they bulk up the volume and at that price they really shouldnt.

I would start with a good goat cream-cheese (30% is nice),this can be mixed with leaner cheese if you wish to keep fat down.
Fried onions should replace the onion powder, The garlic can be cooked along if you want to mild it down.
Tomatos-blench and peel the skins, Discard seeds to minimize moisture.
Finely dice and mix with salt following a strainer to remove additional liquide,once they look like they lost most of their liquid you can put them in the food processor or as is if you want some chunkiness.
Dont over do the tomato paste its just to give it a red tint.


Spices: use fresh herbs! taragon is strong so dont over do, use coriander leaves (cilantro) to your liking.
I would replace or enhance heat with some hot red papers finely choped.
Correct seasoning with lemon juice ,freshly ground black paper and salt.