Onion Souffle Dip

 I was reminiscing about a place I loved in Elizabethtown KY called the Back Home Restaurant that started out 40 years ago as a crafts and antique emporium, and then they added a cafe so the husbands could have something to do while their wives shopped.   The cuisine is homestyle comfort food, and I was hoping they wrote a cookbook I could get.   I didn't find one, but noticed they had something called "Sweet Onion Souffle Dip", which sounded really interesting.    A quick googling resulted in my learning that the original came from a Memphis Junior League Cookbook, and it sounded so delicious, I had to try it!  I found a recipe in a food blog I like, but I tweaked it a bit to my taste.   I forgot to take a picture of it, so I will borrow this one from that food blog and include the link to it

photo courtesy of White on Rice Couple blog

  

This dip tastes just like French onion soup.   So delicious!  The traditional southern treatment is to serve it with Fritos, but since I always have homemade sourdough on hand, I served it with thin slices of bread like the WoR couple suggested.   Here's how I made it:

Sweet Onion Souffle Dip

8 ounces cream cheese 

1/2 cup mayo (I only use Helmans) 

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese 

1 1/2  cup diced sweet onion like Vidalia or Walla Walla

2 teaspoons  freshly cracked black pepper 

Preheat the oven to 350°F 

In a bowl, mix together the cream cheese, mayonnaise, Parmesan, onion, and black pepper and until everything is thoroughly combined. Pour and gently spread the mixture into a 8" cast iron fry pan 

Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 50 minutes to one hour, or until everything is melted together the crust is a deep brown. When the top crust is brown and almost burnt-looking, the dip is ready. The darker brown the crust becomes, the better the flavors are.

They also suggested make big batches, and then just dish out the un-baked dip into baking containers and then bake it whenever you need to serve it, so this would be a great idea to whip up a big batch during the holiday season and it can be your dish to pass wherever you go.   I think that is a great idea!