Cream Cheese and Hot Pepper Jelly Dip

Cream cheese covered with hot pepper jelly, is one of those non-recipe recipes really, unless you might want to make your own hot pepper jelly, but this dip is always a big hit at parties and gatherings so give it a try at your next gathering and see how your guests react.

Now you can go and fancy it up if you want to by scoopin' the cream cheese into a shaped dish and maybe puttin' just enough pepper jelly to just dress the top, but honestly I find it works best not to dress it up at all, but to just lay that block of cream cheese out just as it is in all of it's rectangular glory and pretty much just dump the pepper jelly over the top and let it ooze down the sides and pool up into the bowl. It's most readily recognized that way down south anyhow! What could be easier?

Cream Cheese and Hot Pepper Jelly Dip
From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish

1 (8 ounce) block of Philadelphia cream cheese,
   softened to room temperature
1 jar of red Hot Pepper Jelly*
2-3 sleeves of Ritz crackers

Place a bowl just big enough to accommodate a single block of cream cheese (with a little bit of wiggle room around it) into another pretty serving tray. Place the softened cream cheese in the center bowl. Loosen up the hot pepper jelly by vigorously stirring it, then slowly pour it over the top of the cream cheese, letting it pool around the cream cheese a bit. Set aside any remaining pepper jelly in the jar to replenish the dip later. Surround the cream cheese dish by laying out Ritz crackers on the outer serving tray and watch how fast this dish disappears!

Variations:  My Louisiana friends often make this same dip using the Pickapeppa Sauce instead of the pepper jelly, and some folks even like to put Tiger Sauce on the cream cheese block. I prefer the red (or green) pepper jelly because it is more of sweet hot combination to me, but the Pickapeppa and Tiger Sauce are both good choices. A spicy chutney is really good too! Try pouring a small jar of salsa or marinara sauce on top, and... from Tammy over on the Facebook page - a can of small shrimp and cocktail sauce poured over cream cheese is good too - now that's brilliant Tammy!!

COOL TIP FOR CHRISTMAS - While the cream cheese is still cold, cut the bar in half diagonally lengthwise so that you have two triangles. Flip one around so that it forms the shape of a tree.  Stick a small length of green onion in the bottom of the tree to form a stump, and use a cookie cutter to cut out a small star from a piece of yellow bell pepper for the tree topper.  Spread the pepper jelly on top, sprinkle the tree with finely chopped green onion.







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