Carmelized Sweet Onion Dip

On New Years Eve, I had over my 8 best friends, plus a handful of others. It was a bit tight in my apartment but we managed!! It turned out to be a blast and of course I planned some appetizers a few days in advance - first, yummy tortilla wrap-ups, then this carmelized onion dip, and finally, Prince Edward Island mussels (oh, and chocolate-covered strawberries for dessert.) The tortilla wrap-ups are technically my own recipe, but the different ingredients came from about 4-5 other recipes. The carmelized onion dip is from Cooking Light. The mussels were steamed in white wine, butter and garlic - they actually turned out really good, and were super easy to make.

I served this dip with all kinda of crackers - Melba toasts, triscuits, wheat thins, etc. I do think it's a bit too mayonnaise-y, and will reduce it next time. The onions are truly the most delicious part, so I think next time I will "up" the amount of onions, too. Oh, and believe it or not, Wal-Mart carries Peruvian sweet onions! If you can't find sweet onions, the recipe says to add 1 TBS of sugar. To save time, you can also carmelize your onions early in the day, and finish the dip that evening. If you end up using more than 3 C onion, don't forget to add more butter to sautee them in - otherwise, the pan will dry out and your garlic will burn.

Carmelized Sweet Onion Dip

1 TBS butter, divided
3 C. diced Rio or other sweet onion (about 2 large onions)
1/4 tsp. salt, divided
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1 C. mayonnaise
1/2 C. sour cream
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. worcestershire sauce (I used 1 tsp., I like the flavor it added)
cooking spray
1/3 C. panko or bread crumbs
1 TBS chopped fresh parsely (I omitted)

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Melt 1.5 tsp butter in large skillet over med-high heat. Add onion and a pinch of salt; cook 15 minutes or until tender and onions are light brown. Add garlic and cook several minutes, ensuring garlic doesn't burn. Onions should be very tender and golden. Remove from heat and cool 5 minutes.
2. Combine remaining salt, mayo, sour cream, garlic powder, pepper and worcestershire sauce in a medium bowl, stirring until smooth. Stir in onion mixture. Transfer to 1-quart baking dish coated with cooking spray.
3. Melt remaining butter and combine with panko. Sprinkle evenly over onion mixture. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Sprinkle with parsely.

Happy 2009 !!!! It is going to be a great year!