Someone else also pointed out the chip dip was AMAZING. I took some photos during the easy 5 step process of making it to share with you, as we did a little tweaking to the recipe.

Step 1 – Get it together

What we used:

8 0z. Cream Cheese
8 oz. Sour Cream
1/2 Red Onion
4 Cloves of Garlic
1 Roasted Red Peppers (sliced is ok)
1 Package of Frech Onion Dip Mix
Garlic and Herb Seasoning
A couple spoons worth of butter
1/2 bottle of Freixenet Brut De Noirs

Step 2 – Before you Drink (5 minutes)

Dice the onion into small pieces (I like this guy’s way of doing it)

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Dice the garlic cloves and roasted red pepper
Set out the Cream Cheese so it will be soft.

Now that we are through with knives, start pouring yourself glasses of champagne!

Step 3 - Heat things up a bit (10-15 minutes)

Take a medium sized skillet and place over medium heat
Melt the butter in the skillet, add the garlic, and enough champagne to cover the bottom of the pan.
Cook the garlic until it starts turning white. Garlic loses its “kick” once it turns white, and considering we are cooking it in the champagne, a small piece should start tasting sweet.

Now take your chopped onions, and add them to your pan. Also, add enough champagne to almost cover the onions. We’ll let them continue to simmer over medium heat until the champagne has been cooked off. At this point, all of the onion should be light pink and slightly translucent in appearance, and have a soft texture with a slight crunch. Remove from heat and let sit for a few minutes.

Step 4 - Mix things up (5 minutes)

We split our cooked onions and garlic into 2 batches at this point, because we did one dip with the red peppers, and one dip without. Place the onions into a mixing bowl, there will be some liquid here which will help the flavor of the dip. Go ahead and add in the packet (or 1/2 packet if your splitting it up) of French Onion Dip Mix, and the Roasted Red Peppers, Green Onions, Jalepenos, or anything else that sounds interesting.

Mix well, then add in the sour cream and cream cheese. Again, I am using half the cream cheese and sour cream in this picture, because I split the onions into 2 batches. Add the garlic and herb seasoning and fresh ground pepper to taste. Place in a container and chill for about an hour

Yes, that is what turned out to be a wise purchase of Chaser Plus in the top right of the above picture. At this point, it was actually 8:23, and the rest of the bottle of champagne was already gone. I’ll have to tell you about Champong, beer pong but with champagne… loads of fun…. which brings us to Step 5

Step 5 - Enjoy (all night long)

Other Ideas:
Cook some extra onions and garlic, and mix with sun-dried tomato and/or hummus to serve with toasted pita bread.
Chill the onion mixture, and add in cilantro and lime and mix with cocktail sauce for shrimp or oysters.
Use the leftover ingredients to make an omelet.

Related posts

• Champagne – A New Year Tradition
• The Big Easy

You have to check out these Champagne Onion recipes we found over at The Gilded Fork. I’m going to make them tomorrow, and have a good idea at the different flavors I can create by using different combinations of sparkling wine and onions. I figured we would make these 3

• “Sweet Vidalia Champagne Onions” – This recipe will make a great chip dip. We’ll cook the onions and some freshly minced garlic in Andre Blush Pink Champagne (a $4 bottle of delicious sparkling rose), and then add sour cream, chives, fresh ground pepper, and some sour cream and onion dip mix.
• “Purple Champagne Onions” – We’ll cook the onions with Hardys or Leasingham (both are a sweet sparkling Shiraz from Australia) or Leasingham then mix with cream cheese, and maybe a little roasted red pepper for spice. Put some sun-dried tomatoes and smoked salmon on a piece of toasted baguette along with a dollop of our extremely colorful sauce, maybe even garnish with a sprinkle of green onion.
• “Champagne Braised Cipollini Onions” – This recipe got me thinking about an entrée , like this beef tenderloin. We’ll cook the onions using Freixenet Spumante (a fruity, dry Cava from Spain) or Mionetto Prosecco Brut (a light Italian Prosecco), then slice them thinly and pour the reduced sauce over them. We’ll either cook a small tenderloin, or grill a filet, then thinly slice it; make sure you let it for 5-10 min. before slicing so it stays tender and moist. On each slice, place some onion sauce and horseradish cream (horseradish and sour cream). If I have a hard time finding Cipollini Onions, I’m sure the Vidalias would also work great.

Most people will go out this holiday season and buy bottles of Andre and Cook’s, both from California, which are a great and inexpensive way to bring in the New Year. The Cava, Prosecco, and Sparkling Shiraz mentioned in the recipes are also great imported wines for toasting a New Year, plus I don’t think any of them are over $20.

So go out during the Holidays and buy any bottle of Champagne or Sparkling White Wine, pop the cork if you feel the need because whatever you find enjoyable whether it be a loud or soft pop, is your preference. If hanging out with a cultured crowd the flamboyant procedure might not be advised. Sit back and let the bubbles tickle your throat and get jazzed about a healthy and prosperous New Year!

Quick Lesson: Champagne is a wine region in France located about 100 miles east of Paris. It is legally divided into 5 wine producing ‘districts’: the Aube, Côte des Blancs, Côte de Sézanne, Montagne de Reims, and Vallée de la Marne. Champagne/Sparkling Wine is generally marked as Extra Brut, Brut, Extra dry, Sec and Demi-sec, depending on how sweet they are. Extra bruit is extremely dry, while demi-sec is the sweetest.

Related posts

• Wine Proof Pants
• Taste The New Year