Reese Family Clam Dip

Stacky5's Note:

This is an ABSOLUTE MUST in our family...We can't have Christmas or Thanksgiving without this! The taste is truly awesome, and at every family gathering you would find countless brothers-in-law and their offspring "guarding the chip dip table" and in most cases "secretly hording" it for themselves! LOL! My sister, Shelly, has become "The Official Maker of The Dip" in our family, ever since Mom died...You can trust Shelly!!! Try this, you will not be sorry --- except if you don't make enough!

• Total Time: 1 hrs 10 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Serves: 6-8

Yield: 2.0 Cups

• 1 garlic clove
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
• 1 dash pepper
• 1 dash paprika
• 8 ounces minced clams, drained (but reserve liquid)
• 1/4 cup clam broth (reserved from the can)

Directions:

1. Peel and halve garlic clove, and rub on interior wall of serving bowl. (This seems like an unimportant step -- but my Mom used to swear that this one step made all the difference -- We don't question Jolean. You shouldn't either -- ). Mince the rest of the garlic clove to add to the other ingredients.
2. Leave cream cheese in bowl until it has reached room temperature. (Don't nuke it -- let it rest and thaw on it's own --) Then cream with a fork until smooth.
3. Gradually add remaining ingredients (except minced clams), blending well. (Use a hand mixer to get the lumps out, if any.).
4. Fold in minced clams last. Blend well --.
5. Chill for 1 hour, sprinkle paprika on top and serve with rippled potato chips.
6. YUM!

Reviews

[I Married Shrek]

Quite simply the perfect dip. This stuff is dreamy. It's just so simple and you can always have ingredients on hand to slap together for unplanned guests. The best part? Everyone will think it's something new, even though it goes back to the 50's. The first time you make leave nothing out--it's cheap/easy enough that if you don't like it, no big loss of time or money. I've had it without the garlic it's good, and with lime instead of lemon, it's good too. Hard to go wrong with it but start with the original before decide to make changes.

[Meghan]

Most of my family is from New England so clam dip is something I am used to, maybe that is why some people weren't into it. I had bought a small box of canned clam dip at Costco on a whim and wanted to use some of it up. I made this for a party thinking it wouldn't be that popular, but people were asking me all night what it was and how to make it. Definitely will be making this quick and easy dip again!

[CJAY]

This was a great clam dip. Just a tad bit too much lemon juice but other than that it was perfect. It went way too fast so next time I'll double it. I really liked the garlic idea. It popped it right over the top! Thanks for sharing.