Mom’s Cuba Dip

 

I hope you and yours had a wonderful holiday last week. My fiancée and I made the nine hour drive to my hometown in South Georgia to spend Christmas with my parents. Because of the distance we decided to leave our kitties in North Carolina in the care of a sitter. Luckily, we were not completely devoid of feline attention; we had Merlin.

Merlin has been my parent’s cat for the last five years in which time he’s become super spoiled. You should’ve seen the size of his stocking! In the mornings Merlin loves to cuddle. He’s very demanding about his snuggles, head-butting you if you stop scratching him before he’s ready. Merlin makes being away from Tchai and Roz a little more tolerable.

Since I was home I thought it was a perfect opportunity to cook something with my mother for the blog. Mom is a fabulous cook though she calls herself a “good recipe follower”. I didn’t actually get to cook with her that often as a child or teenager because Mom is very particular about her kitchen and doesn’t like too many people in it. Her kitchen is the place where my mom destress and she passed those qualities on to me.

 I’ve chosen one of her signature recipes; something my Mom does better than anyone else. Whether it’s tailgating in Athens or watching the Dawgs in front of the T.V., my Mom’s famous Cuba dip is a Phillips family football staple. Mom has made this dip for every UGA football game that I can remember. I’m not sure why it’s called Cuba dip and Mom isn’t either. Unfortunately we believe the cookbook with the original recipe was donated, so I guess we’ll never know.

This recipe is usually made in the crock pot but this time mom pulled out her dutch oven to speed the process along. Both methods are great and the ingredient list is the same for either. The crockpot takes around 2 hours while the stovetop takes 20-30 minutes. I prefer the crock pot, because of tradition, but if you’re short on time the stovetop method works just as well. The ingredients for this dip…. well aren’t exactly found on any clean eating lists, but as mom says “there is no substitute for Velveeta”.

Once the dip is all melted together it’s addictive. For some reason as a teenager, I didn’t like the ground beef/sausage version and Mom graciously made a veggie version for me and my godmother, Joye. Now I can’t believe what I was missing! The meat counterbalances the nuclear yellow cheese product and makes this dip super hearty. Mom always uses the mild Rotel but you can use any heat/spice level you want.  Make sure you have lots of tortilla chips handy you’ll be surprised at how quickly this dip goes.

At the beginning of football season Mom makes a double batch of Cuba dip, portions it into containers, freezes it, and pulls out a container whenever she needs. The double batch makes it through most of the college football season and it’s just as good each game.  I’m planning on whipping up a batch for Super Bowl Sunday to continue the family tradition of having a perfect dip.

Mom’s Cuba Dip

1 ½ lbs. Ground Beef

1 lb. Breakfast Sausage

½ Large Yellow or Vidalia Onion, diced

2 lbs. Velveeta, cubed

1 can Cream of Mushroom soup

1 can Rotel Tomatoes w/ chilies

½ teaspoon Garlic Powder

Brown the ground beef with the chopped onions and drain in a colander when cooked. Brown the sausage in the same pan and drain. Add the cooked meats into the crock pot. Add the Velveeta, mushroom soup, Rotel, and garlic powder into the crockpot. Turn the crockpot on high until all the ingredients are melted together. Once melted, turn the dip to low and serve with chips.

 

**For the stovetop, melt the Velveeta while you’re browning the meat. Then add the browned meat and remaining ingredients to the melting cheese.