Last year I needed an appetizer to bring our street's holiday progressive dinner and was inspired by this recipe. Instead of cilantro and jalapeno, I went with lots and lots of green onion and some onion powder. And then I made fresh cranberry sauce the way I like to with orange juice, zest and lots of brown sugar. Add some butter crackers and it's one of my favorite recipes.
Cranberry Orange Green Onion Cream Cheese Dip
- 1 bag fresh cranberries
- 1 orange zested
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1/2 cup brown sugar; packed
- 16 oz cream cheese (2 blocks); room temperature
- 1 large bunch green onion including white portion; finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
Rinse cranberries and drain them well. Place into pot with orange juice, zest and brown sugar. Bring cranberry mixture to a simmer and stir carefully while they pop open. When the mixture begins to reduce it may need to thicken up, in this case use a little cornstarch (1 tablespoon) mixed into a little more orange juice and drizzle it in until the sauce is really thick. If mixture is too tart add more brown sugar. Set sauce aside to cool completely.
Combine softened cream cheese, chopped onion and onion powder with a hand-mixer. If you can do this step a few hours, or even the night, before it helps the flavors meld. After the cream cheese mixture is made, smear a thick layer into a serving dish. Top with cooled cranberry sauce leaving the edges of the cream cheese exposed a little. You might not use all of the cranberry sauce on the dip, but you can save it for turkey sandwiches or something. Pile crackers around the dip and enjoy.