That's right. Its name is Dog Food. Generally, when I tell people I'm making dog food, they look at me like I have two heads. They assume I'm making it for my dog, but I don't have a dog. I don't own any pets. People stare at me thinking I'm a crazy lady that makes dog food and feeds it to herself. That's true...somewhat. I do make dog food, but it's for humans.
So what is it? The best way to describe it in my opinion is a taco dip. It doesn't have all of the topping components like a taco, but it doesn't need it. Trust me this dog food dip will beat out the Buffalo chicken dip at any party.
Where did I travel to discover this masterpiece of a dip? I graduated high school and went off to college in the city of brotherly love aka Philadelphia; and affectionately known as Philly.
My college didn't have a meal plan, but luckily enough I had a culinary major as a roommate.
One day, my roommate and our friend were hanging out in the dorms. We were listening to music and doing homework. That's when my roommate said, "I want a snack." And she didn't mean pre-packaged ones from Walgreens across the street. We all decided that it would be nice to take a break from homework. So we left our dorm and stepped out into the unique and bright Center City.
We had to walk to the famous South Street to go grocery shopping at the former Super Fresh. It was about a half hour walk from the dorm. We were met with many food trucks and it was so tempting to stop and get a Philly Cheesesteak instead.
Once we finally made it to Super Fresh, we all went our separate ways since we needed groceries anyway. It was so hot on the walk home and the groceries were heavy. And I was thinking that whatever ingredients my roommate had in her bags, I hoped that it would be worth it.
Then it was like I got a divine sign that the trip would be well worth it and that whatever my roommate would be serving on our plates later would be the most delicious thing we ever tasted. As we walked on South Street, a man was walking toward us. My roommate and I stared at him because he looked so familiar. Plus he had a suit on in 80 degree weather.
I kept staring at him and he smirked at me as he walked by me. And that's when my roommate and I realized who it was: Chaz Lamar Shepherd from Set It Off and Haters Back Off! We both screamed as if on cue! We we're so happy and excited that we unexpectedly ran into a celebrity walking down the street.
We had no idea if he was there filming another show or movie, but what we do know is that Chaz Lamar Shepherd is from Philly and his presence gave my roommate the extra-special magic touch.
We stopped at our dorm apartment first and then headed to our friend's dorm. My roommate put a pan on the stove that was filled with a pound of ground beef. She had the stove on medium-high. She let the meat brown and then she poured the meat into the strainer.
Once she put the meat back on the stove on medium, she poured in a packet of taco seasoning. She mixed it well and then put in the whole container of room-temperature cream cheese. She mixed that thoroughly and next poured salsa into the pan.
After everything was mixed and smelling delicious, she finished by mixing shredded cheese in it and then one top layer of shredded cheese. Once the cheese melts a little, the dip is done. She put the dip into a bowl and gave all of us tortilla chips and we dug in. It was heaven in our mouths.
We ate a lot before getting back to our homework. But even then, we still snuck a chip in here and there.
It's safe to say that my roommate was a great cook, but also Chaz Lamar Shepherd is deemed our Philly Dog Food Dip Godfather. Running into him made our day and our snack that much better!
I now make it all the time for my family or events and there is never any left. I'm not even a chef, but I remembered how to make the dip without a recipe and without my roommate's help.
So thank you Chaz Lamar Shepherd for blessing our day and our homework snack. All foods are possible in the city of brotherly love.
Ingredients
A pound of ground beef/turkey
8oz of Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1 or 2 Packets of Ortega taco seasoning
A jar of salsa (salsa of your choice)
*My favorite is Ortega
A bag of shredded cheese (your choice of cheese)
*My favorite is Mexican
Important thing to remember is that you're the judge of the salsa and cheese. I like to use about half of the salsa jar and a lot of cheese! And please don't forget the tortilla chips! Happy eating!
