Benedictine On Brioche – Bluegrass Bliss
Benedictine spread is a unique product of Kentucky. The color reminds you of the famous bluegrass and you won’t find it anywhere else. Growing up there as a kid, we ate a lot of bologna sandwiches, and benedictine sandwiches – on white bread.
Flavored with cucumbers, benedictine is simply divine. My girlfriend, later fiancee’, now wife and I shared many a tub of it and chips while courting and watching television. Well, that’s our story and we’re sticking to it!
Career choices led us away from our hometown and our benedictine. Decades of deprivation between visits home began as a longing, and eventually a full on obsession. Experimentation finally yielded an excellent home-made version, but be forewarned, it’s addictive. It’s made in Kentucky, but now you can make it at home.
- Yield: 9-10 oz 1x
Ingredients
- 8 oz philadelphia cream cheese – chopped into chunks
- 1 TBL hellman’s real mayonnaise
- 1/4 tsp salt – If serving with Ruffles, more salt to taste if used for a sandwich
- 1/8 tsp white ground pepper
- 1/8 tsp dill seed -finely ground
- 1/4 cup fresh cucumber juice, about 1 large cucumber (do not add extra)
- 1 TBL fresh onion juice, about 1/2 a large yellow onion (do not add extra)
- 3 drops of green food coloring
Instructions
- Roughly chop the cream cheese up in a large bowl
- Peel and grate the cucumber with a food processor and transfer to a strainer lined with cheesecloth and squeeze the juice, OR juice them in a juicer
- Pour 1/4 cup over the cream cheese.
- Peel and grate the onion – squeeze the juice through a cheesecloth lined strainer, OR juice in a juicer
- Pour 1 tablespoon over the cream cheese
- Sprinkle the salt, pepper, finely ground dill seed over the cream cheese
- Add the mayo and food coloring
- Incorporate and mix the liquids by hand with a potato masher until smooth. DO NOT use a blender or a mixer because it will be too runny!
- Refrigerate to set and firm it up for an hour or two
Serving
A) Serve with original ruffles potato chips as a dip
B) Serve it as a finger sandwich. Lightly toast brioche to have it crisped on the outside, but soft in the middle and remove the crusts
