Recipe Box - Dried Beef Dip

When we get together for Thanksgiving, all of us bring some food to share.  My wonderful sister-in-law Lori does most of the cooking, but the rest of us contribute some dishes as well.  Although I love all the traditional foods for Thanksgiving, I also like to make something new and different, too; and my unique contribution this year was Dried Beef Dip.

This recipe came from an entirely different branch of the family tree than the one we celebrated with on Thanksgiving!  Jeff has some relatives who live in Texas; and when we were driving across the country from California to Virginia on our way here from Israel back in 2005, we stopped there to visit them.  I have NO idea how she's related, but one of the very nice ladies we met there made this dip for us one day and then shared the recipe with me when I told her how much I loved it.  I still love it; and every time I make it, I wonder why I don't make it more often.  :)  (And then I remind myself that it's because I'm trying to watch my weight, and when I have this dip around, my self-control goes out the window.)  ;-)

Here's what you need:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. sour cream
2 Tbsp. milk
1 (2 and 1/2 oz.) jar sliced beef, finely chopped
1/3 c. finely chopped green bell pepper
1/3 c. finely chopped green onion (but regular onion works fine, too)
1 Tbsp. chopped pimento
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1/4 c. coarsely chopped pecans

Here's what you do:
Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine cream cheese, sour cream, and milk; mix well.  Add dried beef, bell pepper, onion, pimento, black pepper; mix well.  Spoon into 8" baking dish; sprinkle with pecans.  Bake for 15 minutes or until hot and bubbly.  Serve hot with crackers or chips.

OK, that's the official version.  Here's what I really do.  Get out a pan, dump everything into it, heat it on the stove, stir it often so it doesn't burn.  When it's all mixed up, it's ready!  :)

I like to eat it on Wheat Thins or other crackers, but I also like to eat it on tortilla chips, especially the kind from Costco (which happen to be gluten-free, which came in handy for one of the guests at our Thanksgiving meal).  Most of all, I just like to eat it.  Period.

(Even by the spoonful.)  ;-)