Skip to main content

Test Kitchen Talks
Season 1
Episode 23

5 Pro Chefs Make Fresh Dips & Chips

Join Brad Leone, DeVonn Francis, Melissa Miranda, Zaynab Issa, and Kendra Vaculin in the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen as they each prepare a perfectly snackable, freshly made dip to pair with their favorite chips. From chunky salsas to creamy baked creations, one of these chips and dip combos is sure to make a crunchy impression at your next get-together.

Check out Kendra's full Roasted Tomatillo and Avocado Salsa recipe here: https://weightloss-tricks.today/recipe/roasted-tomatillo-and-avocado-salsa-recipe%3C/a%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cp data-testid="AboutDate" class="BaseWrap-sc-gzmcOU BaseText-eqOrNE AboutDate-inSEXx deqABF bXTGwe kvmUSw">Released on 07/07/2022

If the chip breaks in the dip, I'm fired.

Ugh. Oh ho ho, my God.

Did I just pass the dip test?

Today, we're in the test kitchen.

We're gonna be sharing some

of our favorite chips and dips.

Chips and dips.

[Kendra] If you've got a strong enough chip

in your arsenal, anything can really be a dip.

[Melissa] They can be chunky.

They can be creamy.

They can be hot.

They can be cold.

I will eat a dip anytime, anywhere.

I'm ready to dip in.

I'm making a roasted tomatillo avocado salsa.

So not a guacamole,

where it's a little bit more textured.

I love a roasted tomatillo salsa by itself.

And the avocado blended in just adds extra creaminess.

I'm a huge plantain chips, tostones person.

I will buy them at the Bodega when I need a snack

or a treat all the time.

Over potato chips, over anything else,

I will buy plantain chips or tostones.

Plantains are in the banana family,

but a little bit starchier.

They're super craggly, crunchy.

It's very good.

The super salty is the key.

To me, the perfect pairing for that is an avocado.

Creamy, fatty, rich with the salty, crunchy

I think is a perfect marriage.

So we're gonna roast our vegetables.

You're gonna end up putting this in the food processor,

so you don't have to be precious with how you cut anything.

These are poblanos.

I'm just ripping out the insides.

Smokey, fresh, vegetal.

And for the jalapenos, I'm just gonna lop off the stem

and then cut them in half.

Tomatillos are great because they're a little bit less sweet

than a tomato and more vegetal.

They want to be cooked. They want to be roasted.

I think that really brings out their flavor.

And we're just gonna drizzle a little bit of oil

on these guys to help them along in the oven and salt.

And then you're good to go into the oven

for 15-ish minutes.

We're just letting it get roasty, charred in spots,

juicy in spots.

Look at this. Oh, juicy. Yum.

And we're gonna get all of that into the food processor.

And then we're gonna add our avocado.

And then we're going to add lime juice.

Just a little more brightness.

And we're gonna add just a clove of garlic

and then a bunch of cilantro.

You don't have to pulse it.

You want this to be smooth,

so we're just gonna blitz it all.

It's nice and thick from the avocado

but not so hefty like a guacamole.

It's like some beautiful middle ground

that I just love so much.

Look at these. Gorgeous.

Here is my roasted tomatillo and avocado dip.

I'm ready to dip in.

You can get so much of it on your chip

because of this velvety thickness from the avocado.

Mmm, super crunchy, salty, spicy,

vegetal, herbacious, bright,

but with this creamy undertones from the avo.

This is a well-rounded dip.

This is a dip that does it all.

And these chips, I mean, they're just so craggy and fun

and hold the dip really nicely.

I think it's a perfect pairing.

We're gonna be making one of my favorites.

It's just kind of like a dressed, smoked trout dip.

It's loose. It's kind of chunky, but not too big.

You know, it's got some different crunch in it.

A little bit of sweet, some garlic, some shallot,

and then the smoked trout.

You know, a lot of dips tend

to go the creamy road, you know?

Which is great, which is fine. I'm glad they're there.

But I like something that's got a little bit more fresh,

herb-forward, acid, a little sweetness, a little crunch.

Even if you're not a big fish person,

I feel like a good smoked trout is just delightful.

It's got a clean, fatty content to it.

And if it's done right, it's got a little bit, you know,

nice little hint of smoke to it.

And you know, you can get smoked trout that come

in the vacuum-sealed little...

Sometimes they're just little clean, nice little filets.

Or you can buy them already smoked.

They're kind of cleaned.

You don't have to pick them off the body.

So we're gonna be doing a little pita chip, all right?

But I don't want a big flavor-forward one.

I don't want an everything bagel chip

or something, you know?

Where it's like all that toasted garlic

and onion is just gonna blow out all the subtleties.

Let's pick the trout meat. Shall we?

Skin comes right off.

That top one, you can kind of just push with your finger,

and it just lobes right off.

I mean, it's absolutely perfect.

And then the bony part tends to be on the belly flat,

but it's also my favorite part of the meat.

If you can get that to all kind of shelf off

of that rib meat, it's the best.

It's got the high fat content. It's a little thinner.

It picks up a really nice smoke

on the inside of the cage there.

Quality control.

Oh, that's good.

And I don't want it to be a paste.

I want you to tell that there's fish in there.

So I like just nice little flaky bits.

Some nice skin on- the red skin on peanuts.

I'm a sucker for the skin on peanut.

And we're gonna throw them in. I got this oven.

It's at 407 degrees Fahrenheit right now.

And we're gonna put it in there just for a couple minutes.

We can get a little shallot here.

Little dicey dice.

Let me check the peanuts.

We'll give them a little flippy flop, all right?

30 seconds, chef.

We'll do a little fresh garlic, okay?

And I'm gonna microplane it.

It's gonna make it more evenly distributed

throughout the dip,

as opposed to just [imitates crunch sound] big old crunch.

All right, next is picking herbs.

Everybody's fav...

[bell dings] The peanuts.

There we go. Right behind you, chef. Hot.

So I love a little toasted peanut. Oh, do I?

And the red skin's nice.

Not only is it gonna add just

a really delightful little color speckle throughout it.

I think it has its own little unique, little toasty flavor

that I think just pairs really nice

with a smoked, salty, semisweet trout.

All right, so we got some parsley.

We're going big herb for it.

You know, I want it to be kind of bright and light

and not gonna bog you down like Aunt Suzie's triple cream,

whatever the hell dip, you know?

Which again, I'm glad it's there.

And then we'll do some mint.

Parsley can take a nice chop.

I feel like it doesn't bruise as much.

With the mint, I like to do a little chiffonade.

It kind of bruises a little less,

and it'll stay a little fresher.

Hey, do we have one of them juicer mcbobbers?

Kind of kinky [beep] are you guys doing?

We're gonna put the juice of one lemon to start.

Dress that up with a nice little bit of olive oil.

Mm, yeah. That's nice, huh?

Pretty little tree right there. Isn't that nice?

And then our wild card

is gonna be some dried tart cherries, all right?

And we're gonna have them.

I love dried cherries

because they have a nice little chewy texture.

I look for ones that aren't sweet and dark.

I don't need the sweet, you know?

So I'm gonna plate this thing up.

That's nice, huh?

And then we got our flame-baked classic pita chip.

There we go. Nice little bite there.

A lot of herb, lemon, kind of bright, kind of fresh.

The no cream kind of dip. The anti-cream dip.

I like the dried fruit comes through really nice.

That tart cherry kind of rounds it out.

And then the crunch from the chips,

it's just a really refreshing, kind of easy eating,

but yet substantial dip.

You sit in there and, you know, put in a little work.

You eat 10 or 15 of these, you're in good shape, man.

Go get yourself another drink. Everything's gonna be fine.

And smoked trout. Perfect food.

Today, I'm gonna be making a yogurt-based dip

with some salt and chili powder.

This is one of my favorite dips

because it's so simple and easy.

Whenever I'm craving something salty and a little spicy,

this is my go-to.

This dip makes me so happy.

It's instant gratification. It's quick and delicious.

It's everything that I want a dip to be.

So this is Kashmiri chili powder,

which is the main flavor in the dip.

It's a little bit more floral

and bright than your average chili powder.

And it's not nearly as spicy either.

So even though I like a spicy dip,

it's bringing way more than just heat.

And then using the best chip on earth,

Cape Cod kettle-cooked potato chips.

Cape Cod chips are definitely thicker

and sturdier and crunchier,

which just makes them all the better for dipping.

So this is my ideal kettle-cooked potato chip.

It's folded which means there's double layer

of crunch happening.

Salty, crunchy, delicious,

everything you're looking for in a chip.

So because this dip is only three ingredients,

you're literally just gonna put the yogurt into a bowl,

sprinkle over some chili powder,

and add salt, and stir it all up.

That's literally it.

So I'm using plain full-fat yogurt.

I just want a cup of this.

That's a lot, but I will literally eat this

with a spoon after if I finish my chips.

I definitely have a preference for plain yogurt.

Low fat or full fat, doesn't really matter.

But I feel like Greek yogurt has a bit too intense

of a flavor and you can really taste the difference there.

And then I'm gonna go in with the chili powder

Just wanna mix it until it's nice and smooth

and the chili powder is dispersed.

And it should be this pinkish reddish color

from the chili powder.

Mmm. Yeah, that's perfect.

And then it's ready for chips.

To be honest, this is not a spicy bubbling vat

of spinach artichoke dip.

I just wanna manage your expectations.

But it is salty, creamy, delicious. It's simple.

It matches the effort that you put in, and it's really good.

There's a little bit of earthiness coming through

and some bright chili powder vibes, as well.

Really delicious.

I definitely think dips are great

for parties and group things,

but this one is just more comforting.

And it's definitely something I would just eat by myself.

If you give me this whole thing,

I'll finish it in 10 minutes flat.

You know what's funny?

I actually am not a huge dip person.

However, what would I do if I was thinking about flavors

and ingredients and spices that made me excited?

What I want to do is figure out a way to do my own riffs

on what you would say is a, you know,

a spinach and cheese and artichoke dip.

I want it to be creamy, full of fat,

spicy, and have lots of texture.

So my chip of a choice today is the yuca chip.

In Jamaica, we say cassava,

but depending on, you know, where else you are in the world,

you can also look for yuca and it's the same thing.

It's a root vegetable.

It's gonna give starchy, it's gonna give structure,

and it's gonna hold that dip up for you to eat it.

It's sort of like a potato, but it's giving potato plus.

I'm using coconut oil as a base

because I essentially want to kind of keep it

in that sort of tropical family.

Coconut oil is my favorite.

I love the way that it captures certain spices.

I think it smells great.

And what I'm gonna do next is just take my spices.

Chili, all spice, and nutmeg.

And then we have our paprika.

And so you're getting the heat from the chili flakes.

Also, I can immediately smell that sort of really elegant,

really light, sort of oniony moment, as well.

And then we have our hearts of palm.

Has this sort of olive appeal to it.

And so these are from the can.

These are brined, they're softer, they're already peeled.

I just want it to kind of develop a little bit of color.

And then what I like to do

is just separate the solids and liquid

so that I can use the solids for incorporating into the mix

and also use the liquid for finishing the top of the dip.

We have our hearts of palm and our green onions cooked down.

We have our oil separated.

And now we're gonna work on the base.

We have our cream cheese, goat cheese,

coconut yogurt, Parmesan, garlic, scallions, and tamari.

Tamari is really helpful

because I think it has not only the salinity

or the saltiness to it,

but also has this level of sweetness I think helps

to bring everything together.

I'm gonna squeeze some lemon in,

helping to add more acidity.

Let it do its thing.

So everything is pretty much well-incorporated.

You can kind of see the flecks of the green onion,

smell the garlic.

I want to take the rest of my goat cheese.

So basically what I'm doing

is I'm actually just adding a bit more texture.

Again, I don't love a homogenous dip moment.

I really want it to kind of stand out,

and every bite should feel a little bit different

than the last one that you had.

♪ So I'm heading to my oven ♪

♪ Gonna use the top one ♪

And we let it do its thing.

Oh my God. Can we get a zoom jiggle?

And we're just gonna add this to the top.

And to add a bit of heat, we have our scotch bonnets.

Kind of give it a little accessory.

And the nice thing too is you have a bit more

of a tamed spice through your oil.

So the spice is still present in the green onion

and also the hearts of palm that have been cooked down.

But I'm gonna add a bit more back in.

A great yuca vehicle.

I'm not just bringing a potato chip to the party.

No, we're bringing yuca chips.

Look how cute these are.

It's not just like a round Lay's,

but it has that sturdiness

that you want to actually dive into that dip.

I think I would make a great real housewife.

If there was an episode where they had a dip competition,

all the girls would be so mad at me because I would win.

This is the winning dip.

These little peppers look like stars.

You've got cheesy goodness. It's warm. You've got spice.

You've got texture. It's also spreadable.

Oh my God. Really, honestly, this is delicious.

And your cassava chip is neutral enough

but sturdy enough to let the dip do it thing.

We have a cheesy goodness moment.

You kind of have that browning that happened on the top.

And then also there's that beautiful, red, spicy sauce

from the oil from cooking down the green onions

and the hearts of palm

and then the hearts of palm and the green onions itself.

It's a textural masterpiece in a dip.

I'm really excited to be sharing my dip today.

Dips for me, they for sharing.

And so it's really important

for myself to share something personal

that I grew up with or is super nostalgic.

The dip that I'm making today is definitely a salsa,

but it reminds me of my childhood.

You know, being outside grilling with my dad.

All the flavors are really bright.

And I think that they're gonna be perfect

with our chips today.

The chip that I'm choosing today is Juanita's.

This tortilla chip changed my life

because it's not actually really greasy.

It's super crispy.

It maintains its crunch.

You can really taste the flavor in it.

For me, what makes this dish extra special

is the eggplant that we grill.

We like to use Chinese eggplant.

It doesn't get as bitter as maybe an Italian eggplant.

And then when you're adding it with other ingredients

to make the salsa, it soaks up all that flavor, as well.

We're not looking for perfection

as we're cutting this eggplant.

You know, we're just looking to grill it.

And at the end of the day,

we're gonna be chopping it up into the salsa.

And we're just gonna season them

with a little bit of salt and pepper and olive oil.

And then we're gonna head onto that grill.

And what we're looking for here is to just get a nice char

on the eggplant to cook it through all the way.

But we don't want it to be mushy,

'cause we wanna still be able to tell what it is

in the salsa that we're eating.

Keeping it at a good lower temperature

is gonna make sure that you're not burning your eggplants

'cause it's so delicate.

You can see these eggplants are starting

to get a really nice texture.

They're not hard.

They're not mushy.

The skin looks nice and crispy.

Oh, it smells so good.

So we're just gonna chop it up

into the same kind of shape

that we have the tomatoes and the mangoes.

And when you have everything the same size,

you kind of get that perfect bite

that you're always looking for.

Eggplant's our base.

Green mango is under-ripe mango.

The flavor on it is a lot more sour.

The texture is really beautiful

because it maintains that nice crunch.

I think this with the smokiness of the eggplant is something

that in the Philippines you kind of find a lot of.

The tomatoes are gonna go in here, too.

I'm gonna season it with a tiny bit of salt.

Just a little bit

because I know that I'm gonna add some fish sauce later.

And fish sauce definitely has a strong savoriness.

A little bit of fresh black pepper, cut shallots.

You can see all the different colors.

I'm gonna add a little bit of lime juice.

It breaks it down. It brings everything together.

And then for the secret slash best ingredient

Knorr liquid seasoning

is just kind of this really beautiful umami flavor

that we use a lot in our cuisines.

I think it's a little deeper and richer in flavor than soy.

And then my favorite ingredient, fish sauce.

Fish umami flavor adds another level.

Something super familiar growing up in the Philippines.

that you could also actually stuff your grilled fish with.

I'm gonna add our cilantro.

I'm adding a little bit of olive oil

to help create a salsa base.

It's nice to have a little fat.

And I think, personally, for me,

if you let this sit overnight,

it's gonna be the perfect dip for your chip.

I wanted to lay down the banana leaf

because it helps bring out the colors

of everything that we're plating and eating today.

So this is our chips and salsa.

Now that is a chip with dip.

I can taste the smokiness of the eggplant,

the brightness of the mangoes,

the shallots that add a nice kind of spice and kick.

It's just all coming together.

You know, I really love

that you can taste the liquid seasoning and the fish sauce.

That sense of umami and savoriness,

it keeps you wanting more.

That's the kind of dip that you want

where it's like you can't stop.

Okay, I lied. I love dips.

The cheeses are speaking to me.

[beep]. [beep], I love sports and dip!

[crew member laughs]

Trending video