If there is a dip at a party then you cannot help but be happy. Whether it is a simple spinach dip, the latest whipper feta dip, or even a smores dip so you can never be bored with yourself especially if a bowl of the dip is right in front of you. Just feed those crackers and turn up the volume on your tunes!
I've made my fair share of dips, but until recently I had never heard of this one: Million Dollar Dip, Neiman Marcus Dip. The dip, which came from a restaurant at Neiman Marcus, is sort of like a quieted-down pimento cheese.
They have a base of cream cheese and mayonnaise (or sometimes just mayonnaise), and there's lots of shredded cheddar, bacon, green onions, and toasted slivered almonds. This is one of the simplest recipes and you will also find it very easy to devour. As you can guess by now, there is quite a lot of texture here and it really is a luxurious appetizer to bring to any event.
How Neiman Marcus' Million Dollar Dip started
In this story, was formulated in the 1950s by Helen Corbitt, the Zodiac Room waiter service eating place situated in a Neiman Marcus store in Dallas, Texas. Although I reached out to Neiman Marcus to clarify this, the company did not respond to me. It's most probably aptly named the 'Million Dollar Dip' given some of the ingredients to it, such as mayonnaise, bacon, cheese etc. Surprisingly, there is no original recipe on the internet but you will find plenty of pretend recipes.
How to make Million dollar dip
To make the dip you'll need:
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds
- 8 slices bacon
- There are 1 packages of 8 ounce cream cheese and the cream cheese is softened.
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 pk; shredded cheddar cheese, 8 oz; (about 2 cups)
- 4 scallions green, fine sliced and halved
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
Bake the slivered almonds in a pan with slightly open flame until it turns brown. Let cool. You should fry the bacon until it becomes overcooked —I like to bake it. Remove them from the pan, allow the bacon to cool, and chopped into small pieces.
In another bowl blend the softened cream cheese and the mayonnaise until it forms a smooth paste. Add the package of cheese, the bacon bits, 3 green onions, slivered almonds and cayenne pepper. Mix until combined. Place on top the additional green onion.
Cover the bowl with some plastic wrap or put a lid on and refrigerate for at least an hour. I served it with some sort of buttery crackers but raw vegetables would also be nice.
To the Larder or Not to the Larder?
I've found two types of Neiman Marcus' Million Dollar Dip imitations: those that have just mayonnaise and those that include cream cheese. Of all the recipes in the book, those without anything but mayo appear to be the most successful, but I wanted to use cream cheese for a couple things.
First, some of the readers who tried other recipes commented that the taste of mayonnaise was present, and I didn't want this taste to overpower the others.
I envisioned that the cream cheese is going to provide a smoother, slightly denser background to this mixture the rest of the ingredients – bacon, slivered almonds, and all.
But hey: If you do not wish to use the cream cheese in this recipe you can adapt the above recipe by just leaving out the cream cheese.
Two focusing points of making Million Dollar Dip
Make sure your cream cheese is softened:
So if your cream cheese is not very soft then it is very difficult to blend it with the mayonnaise. If you are desperate you might try stirring the cold cream cheese in your stand mixer with the paddle on to help to warm it.
Amp up the flavor:
If you want to experiment with this recipe you may begin with 1/4 tsp garlic and onion powder. Also, a few dashes of hot sauce will not acts as a menace.
