[0 - 1] - I'm Frank Proto,
[1 - 2] professional chef and culinary instructor,
[2 - 3] and today I'm gonna show you
[3 - 6] how to make three of my go-to dips at home:
[6 - 9] French onion, hummus, and spinach artichoke.
[9 - 11] This is Dips 101.
[13 - 14] I love making my own dips at home
[14 - 16] because I control what goes in them.
[16 - 18] I'm always gonna choose the best ingredients
[18 - 20] for the people that I love.
[20 - 22] If you buy them at the store,
[22 - 23] you don't know what's in them
[23 - 25] or they might have preservatives that you don't want.
[25 - 28] You can also control the seasoning, spice level.
[28 - 30] You're always gonna get a better reaction,
[30 - 31] and people will be blown away
[31 - 33] with how much better they are
[33 - 37] than if you bought them at the store. [light music]
[37 - 39] "Chef, you're making french onion dip.
[39 - 41] Why wouldn't you just use the packet?"
[41 - 45] And I'm telling you, this is going to be miles ahead
[45 - 46] of just using the packet.
[46 - 48] You're choosing your ingredients,
[48 - 49] you're taking care and love,
[49 - 50] and people are gonna love it
[50 - 51] so much more than the packet.
[51 - 52] Take the time to do it.
[52 - 55] French onion dip has most of the components
[55 - 56] that French onion soup has in it.
[56 - 59] So I wanna start out by caramelizing my onions.
[59 - 61] I have a nice, big stainless steel pan.
[61 - 63] Put it on high just to start.
[63 - 64] And I wanna get my pan nice and hot.
[64 - 67] I start out with high heat and then I lower it down.
[67 - 69] I'm using a neutral oil
[69 - 70] just to get the bottom of my pan coated.
[70 - 72] So you can see that my oil
[72 - 73] is starting to get a little shimmery.
[73 - 75] Whenever I add things to the pan,
[75 - 78] I add them away from me so I don't get burned.
[78 - 79] Snap, crackle, pop.
[79 - 81] That's what we want, sizzling and not steaming.
[81 - 85] Leave it on high heat for a few minutes. Add salt now.
[85 - 86] The salt right now
[86 - 88] is just gonna draw some moisture out of the onions.
[88 - 90] You can see I'm starting to get brown already,
[90 - 91] and that's good,
[91 - 93] but if I leave this at this high temperature,
[93 - 95] things are gonna get brown too quick.
[95 - 99] I have some fresh thyme and I have some bay leaf.
[99 - 101] I leave it whole because then it's easy to take out.
[101 - 103] And I'm just gonna lower my heat a little
[103 - 105] and let those sugars caramelize.
[105 - 108] These onions are gonna take about 10 to 15 minutes.
[108 - 110] Don't rush this, you don't want to burn them.
[110 - 111] My heat's a little high.
[111 - 113] I'm gonna lower it just a little.
[115 - 117] So you can see that my onions are nice and brown.
[117 - 119] They've actually gotten translucent
[119 - 121] and they're cooked all the way through, they're soft.
[121 - 122] We wanna stop here
[122 - 123] and hit it with just a touch more salt.
[123 - 126] Put this onto a tray, flatten it out
[126 - 129] so that it cools faster and it doesn't overcook.
[129 - 130] And we're gonna put it in the fridge.
[130 - 131] Caramelized onions are cool.
[132 - 134] You can make this dip a couple of days ahead.
[134 - 136] It's actually better the longer it sits.
[136 - 137] Sour cream's going in the bowl.
[137 - 139] Use full-fat sour cream, please.
[139 - 143] Mayonnaise has a little zing, it has some nice flavor.
[143 - 146] Get my caramelized onions into the bowl.
[146 - 148] Onion powder or garlic powder are some of the things
[148 - 150] that people don't think chefs would use.
[150 - 152] When I was a younger cook or a younger chef,
[152 - 154] I would never use onion powder,
[154 - 155] but I've come around on it.
[155 - 156] It has a lot of strength,
[156 - 158] a lot of onion flavor in a small amount.
[158 - 159] Another thing that I'm using
[159 - 160] and that's a convenience product
[160 - 163] is actually a beef bullion powder.
[163 - 165] It has a beefy, rich, meaty flavor,
[165 - 167] 'cause a lot of french onion soup has beef broth.
[167 - 170] A lot of the stuff we're putting in our French onion dip
[170 - 172] mimic what French onion soup tastes like.
[172 - 176] Black pepper, always fresh cracked.
[176 - 177] Now, we have to be careful with the salt
[177 - 179] because we have the beef bouillon powder in,
[179 - 183] so I'm gonna go light on the salt for now
[183 - 184] and then I'm gonna add sherry vinegar.
[184 - 186] If you can't find sherry, use what you got.
[186 - 189] And it's kind of like a secret ingredient that chefs use.
[189 - 192] If something's a little dull and lackluster in a sauce,
[192 - 195] a little lemon juice, a little vinegar, and it pops.
[195 - 198] And now all we have to do is just mix this together.
[198 - 200] We wanna get that onion powder
[200 - 202] and we wanna make sure that that beef bullion powder
[202 - 205] is broken up and not in lumps.
[205 - 206] I want to taste it now
[206 - 209] to make sure that I have the seasoning correct.
[209 - 210] As you get things colder,
[210 - 212] the seasoning is a little dulled,
[212 - 215] so I want this to be just a little more
[215 - 216] than what I would normally season.
[216 - 218] So give it a little taste.
[219 - 220] I'm gonna add a pinch of salt
[220 - 223] and just a little more black pepper.
[223 - 225] If you look at this, it's kinda liquidy.
[225 - 226] If we put this in the fridge,
[226 - 229] it's actually gonna firm back up again.
[229 - 230] It's gonna absorb all those ingredients,
[230 - 231] it's going to equalize,
[231 - 234] so it'll be a nice thick, creamy, rich dip.
[234 - 236] It goes in the fridge, it's gonna rest,
[236 - 238] and then we can eat it.
[238 - 241] Look at that. My onion dip has sat.
[241 - 242] You see it's gotten a lot thicker.
[242 - 244] The color changed as well. It got a little browner.
[244 - 246] Some of that caramelized onion
[246 - 247] kind of seeped out into there.
[247 - 251] So let's plate it up. No wimpy bowls here, right?
[251 - 254] I get a little bit of this caramelized onion that we saved
[254 - 255] and we're gonna just try and put it around.
[255 - 257] And then I have some fresh thyme leaves
[257 - 258] that I'm just gonna kind of like dot around.
[258 - 260] And at the end of the day, like, yeah,
[260 - 262] you could use the packet, but look at this.
[262 - 264] Come on, you serve this to someone and they're like,
[264 - 267] "Wow, Frank actually cares about me."
[267 - 268] What would onion dip be
[268 - 271] without a nice big bag of Ruffle chips?
[272 - 277] Make sure we get a little bit of everything in there. [chip crunching]
[277 - 279] It has a ton of zing to it.
[279 - 281] The fresh onions just make this, like,
[281 - 284] super, super savory and delicious.
[284 - 286] If you take the time to make this and say,
[286 - 288] "Hey, look, I made some onion dip,"
[288 - 289] people will be blown away.
[289 - 290] It's that much more delicious
[290 - 295] than anything you can buy in a package. [light music]
[295 - 296] Hummus is a dip or a spread
[297 - 298] that you'll see throughout the Middle East.
[298 - 299] Hummus, when I was younger,
[299 - 302] wasn't in the national consciousness of America.
[302 - 303] Now hummus is everywhere.
[303 - 306] You can buy the stuff at the at the store pre-packaged,
[306 - 308] but this one is like a thousand times better.
[309 - 311] The base of hummus is chickpeas.
[311 - 312] We do have canned chickpeas here,
[312 - 314] and canned beans, to me,
[314 - 317] are one of the best convenience products out there
[317 - 320] just for the fact that they're cooked really, really nice.
[320 - 323] But for my hummus, I like to cook them just a little more.
[323 - 326] This step, where we boil them for about 20 minutes,
[326 - 329] makes our hummus super creamy, super smooth.
[329 - 330] If you don't have the time for this,
[330 - 331] use it straight out of the can.
[331 - 333] I save the liquid from the chickpeas
[333 - 336] in case I have to adjust the final consistency.
[336 - 337] These beans are going.
[337 - 339] I'm gonna cover 'em up and just let them simmer away.
[339 - 341] We don't want this to be a hard boil.
[341 - 343] If it's boiling, they start to break up
[343 - 344] and they fall apart completely
[344 - 346] and that's not what we want.
[346 - 349] My chickpeas have been simmering for about 20 minutes.
[349 - 351] Shut it off, bring it over to the sink,
[351 - 352] and I'm gonna dump all that liquid out.
[352 - 354] We don't need to save that.
[354 - 356] If you look, some of the skins are coming off,
[356 - 357] they're starting to split in half,
[357 - 359] and that's what we want.
[359 - 361] So I cooked the chickpeas, got 'em nice and tender.
[361 - 363] I've let them cool.
[363 - 364] All we really have to do is make the dip now.
[364 - 367] Take my chickpeas. They all go in.
[367 - 370] At this point, I'm going to add a little bit of garlic,
[370 - 372] about two cloves here.
[372 - 373] It depends on what you're looking for.
[373 - 375] Are you looking for super garlicy?
[375 - 378] Are you looking for just a little bit of garlic?
[378 - 381] I think two medium cloves like this are really good.
[381 - 383] Just give it a little whack
[383 - 386] and right into your food processor.
[386 - 388] I have some fresh cumin.
[388 - 390] People have a love/hate relationship with cumin.
[390 - 394] I think that, as long as it's a nice background flavor,
[394 - 395] it gives a little body to it,
[395 - 397] it gives a little earthiness to the finished hummus.
[397 - 399] I would not skip the cumin.
[399 - 400] I have some lemon juice.
[400 - 402] I'm gonna start out with half a lemon.
[402 - 404] I'm gonna save the other half.
[404 - 405] And when I taste it,
[405 - 407] if I need a little more, I'm gonna put more in.
[407 - 409] Hit it with some salt right now.
[409 - 411] The extra virgin olive oil has a little bite to it.
[411 - 413] It adds a little more creaminess.
[413 - 416] And one of the key ingredients to a great hummus
[416 - 417] is a really nice tahini.
[417 - 420] It adds creaminess, it adds nuttiness to it.
[420 - 424] This one is just basically ground up sesame seeds.
[424 - 425] And I'm not shy with it.
[425 - 427] This amount of chickpeas, I'm using a quarter cup.
[427 - 428] So it is a fair amount.
[428 - 431] And then all we really have to do right now is puree.
[431 - 434] We want it to be nice and smooth. Take time and let it go.
[436 - 438] So I can see right away, I'm gonna shut it off,
[438 - 441] I can see right away it's too thick.
[441 - 446] And that is why I saved my chickpea juice from the cans.
[446 - 448] [food processor whirring]
[448 - 452] So I'm gonna let it puree for a second and then go again.
[452 - 454] [food processor whirring]
[454 - 457] Scrape down your sides one more time.
[457 - 459] I think this consistency is beautiful.
[459 - 461] When you run your spatula through it,
[461 - 463] it kind of holds its shape.
[463 - 465] [food processor whirring]
[465 - 468] And here's the most important part at this time,
[468 - 470] I have a spoon and I'm gonna taste.
[470 - 471] Biggest mistake home cooks make
[471 - 473] is they do not taste their food
[473 - 475] until it goes on the table.
[475 - 477] [light upbeat music]
[477 - 481] It's good, but it needs more salt
[481 - 483] and it definitely needs a lot more lemon juice.
[486 - 491] A little more olive oil, and believe it or not,
[491 - 493] a touch more salt and we're good to go, I think.
[494 - 496] [food processor whirring]
[496 - 501] One last taste. Really nice, lemony, a little sharp.
[501 - 503] What hummus is not complete without:
[503 - 505] an assortment of things to dip in that hummus.
[505 - 508] We got some beautiful veggies, we got some pita bread,
[508 - 509] and then I have garnishes.
[509 - 512] We want things to look good as well as taste good.
[512 - 516] Take our spoon and we're gonna push it to the edges.
[516 - 517] Add my olive oil.
[517 - 519] This is extra virgin,
[519 - 521] and we want it to be not necessarily swimming in it,
[521 - 524] but we do want it to have a nice amount of olive oil.
[524 - 527] With my parsley, I'm just gonna pick some leaves
[527 - 529] and spread them around.
[529 - 532] Parsley's gonna add some freshness to this, some brightness.
[532 - 535] Get yourself some nice sea salt,
[535 - 537] not because we didn't season it well,
[537 - 540] but a little crunch of salt is really nice.
[540 - 542] And then some of our Aleppo pepper
[542 - 543] gives us a nice smokiness.
[543 - 546] And this is how I make hummus at home.
[546 - 548] [carrot stick crunches] Mm.
[548 - 551] It's got a smooth, creamy, silky texture.
[551 - 552] We get that pop of lemon juice
[552 - 554] and then the earthy garlic at the end.
[554 - 556] Make hummus. Take the time.
[556 - 560] Do it for yourself, do it for your family. [light music]
[560 - 563] Spinach and artichoke dip is a dip I make
[563 - 565] for almost every single family occasion.
[565 - 567] Part of the reason why I choose
[567 - 569] to use canned artichokes and frozen spinach
[569 - 571] is they are very hard to deal with fresh.
[571 - 573] Spinach you have to wash several times,
[573 - 575] you have to blanch it, you have to chop it.
[575 - 576] Same thing with artichoke.
[576 - 578] Super seasonal, super expensive
[578 - 579] If you buy them in the store.
[579 - 582] I'm gonna start out by putting my cream cheese in, right?
[582 - 584] Cream cheese I have is room temperature.
[584 - 586] This is about eight ounces,
[586 - 587] and this whole brick goes in.
[588 - 590] Mayonnaise, this gives us a little bit
[590 - 592] of textural difference.
[592 - 593] It helps make it a little smoother,
[593 - 595] but it also gives a little zip to this.
[595 - 596] So I'm just gonna basically put
[596 - 598] like a pinch of chili flakes in.
[598 - 600] I have some garlic powder
[600 - 602] and then I have some Parmesan cheese.
[602 - 604] I like to use extra virgin olive oil
[604 - 606] and then salt and pepper.
[606 - 608] So this is the base for our dip.
[608 - 609] We're gonna puree this
[609 - 613] until it's nice and smooth, which it is.
[613 - 615] I don't have to taste or anything.
[615 - 618] Artichokes go in first. We've drained them.
[620 - 621] Pulse, pulse, pulse,
[621 - 623] 'cause we still wanna have a little bit of texture here.
[623 - 626] So what I like to do with the spinach is get in there,
[626 - 627] and if there's a lot of excess liquid,
[627 - 629] this one's actually nice and dry.
[629 - 630] And then throw that in there as well.
[630 - 632] If you don't take the liquid out,
[632 - 634] our spinach and artichoke dip's gonna be watery and wet.
[634 - 637] I want it to like stick to whatever I'm dipping in it.
[637 - 640] So I pulsed it with the artichokes,
[640 - 641] and now I'm gonna do the same thing with the spinach.
[642 - 645] I'm not gonna puree it super fine, just pulse.
[645 - 648] [food processor whirring]
[651 - 652] Give it a quick scrape down.
[654 - 655] I think it needs a little more salt,
[655 - 656] a little more olive oil as well.
[656 - 657] And that's it.
[657 - 658] So unlike our onion dip,
[658 - 661] which was a little thin and it thickened in the fridge,
[661 - 662] what's gonna happen to this is,
[662 - 663] once we put in the oven,
[663 - 665] it's gonna get like a little thinner
[665 - 666] and it's gonna get gooey
[666 - 668] 'cause all that cheese is gonna melt
[668 - 670] and our cream cheese is gonna melt.
[670 - 672] So I want this to be a fairly a thick consistency
[672 - 676] where it holds onto the spatula.
[676 - 678] When I serve my spinach and artichoke dip,
[678 - 679] I like to use a cast iron skillet
[679 - 680] or something heavy like that
[680 - 682] that retains the heat
[682 - 683] so that when I put it in the oven,
[683 - 685] not only does the dip get hot, I take it out,
[685 - 687] I put it on a pot holder or a trivet,
[687 - 689] and it stays hot for a little while.
[689 - 691] Don't be shy with the cheese.
[691 - 693] This is gonna help get it nice and bubbly and brown on top.
[693 - 695] So all I gotta do right now is take this,
[695 - 697] put in a 300-degree oven
[697 - 699] and get it nice and hot.
[699 - 702] Fresh from the oven, super hot.
[702 - 705] There is a nice crust of Parmesan cheese on top.
[705 - 706] If you can't get it crunchy like that,
[706 - 708] throw it under the broiler for a minute or two
[708 - 710] and it'll give you that nice crunchy top.
[710 - 712] Serving this with some crostini.
[712 - 714] It's just a baguette with some olive oil,
[714 - 716] a little salt, baked in the oven until they're crunchy.
[716 - 718] All right, ready to get in there?
[718 - 719] Let's see what we can do.
[719 - 725] Look at that, you get a little bit of the top. [crostini crunches]
[725 - 729] It's creamy, it's artichokey, it's spinachy,
[729 - 731] it's got a nice cheesy crunch from the top,
[731 - 733] it'll hold onto your crostini.
[733 - 735] This is a real stick-to-your ribs type dip.
[735 - 738] I have actually had this for dinner before. [chuckles]
[738 - 739] My dips are gonna be better
[739 - 742] than anything you can buy in the store, i guarantee it.
[742 - 744] The ingredients are better,
[744 - 747] the time that I put in has made them much more delicious
[747 - 748] than anything you'd get in a package.
[748 - 751] It's totally worth making your own dips.