A Dear Reader Recipe: Easy Jalapeno Sour Cream Dip!

This recipe for this utterly delicious sour cream and jalapeno dip came floating into my world from Dear Reader Shazam. She had asked if I had ever tried it and knowing how much we all love an easy recipe and a good dip, I asked her if she could send me the recipe. This dip is ludicrously simple with a lovely tingle from jalapeno and it's a great dip to serve warm for maximum cheese strings. And you know where I think it would be a real hit? At an Australia Day party!

You know when something pops onto your radar and you instantly want it? It was this dip. Shazam or @chillaxtothemaxwithmycatz on Instagram was able to tell me the whole recipe within one paragraph. That immediately sold me on it along with the bonus of chillies and sour cream (my idea of flavour nirvana is creamy and spicy). It was just a matter of tracking down the good corn chips (generally the ones at supermarkets are over salted and seasoned) and a jar of jalapenos. The only catch? You need to make this the day before to allow the flavours to develop. If you eat it on the day that you make it, I'm afraid that it will be a bit bland but once the flavour develops it's fantastic.

Shazam based it loosely on a sourdough cob loaf dip recipe she found online. "I regularly bring in sweet treats to work. Last year I was brainstorming ideas for what I could bring in before the Christmas break, and thought it would be nice to do a savoury option to go along with my gingerbread cake. I can never just bring in one thing - it always has to be 2-3 dishes," she said.

"When I first tasted the dish the night I prepared it, I was thoroughly disappointed. It was bland. I almost threw it out. Then I thought to myself, "Those vultures at work are always THRILLED about free food - maybe they’ll eat it anyway?". I decided to bring it in and put the dip in the fridge. The next day I reheated the dip and oh my goodness what a difference chilling overnight made! The flavour of the jalapenos was way more pronounced. The dip had gone from being a dud to one of the best things I had ever made. And my coworkers agreed. Everyone went CRAZY for it!!!"

I actually brought this dip over to my Ivy and Ryan's house for a party. Now Ivy and Ryan are real grown ups with a huge, gorgeous apartment and three rescue sausage dogs. As soon as I saw their apartment I said to myself that there was no way we would let them see our messy place. Their party was like a real grown up's party with everything laid out just so (as opposed to the kooky Halloween parties that I tend to hold). "Did you see that she has soothing music playing in the bathroom and scented candles?" I whispered to Mr NQN. "They must NEVER see our place," I added and he agreed nodding.

So tell me Dear Reader, do you bring food to work? What is your specialty? And if you have any recipes that you'd like me to try, please email them through to me or message me on social media!

Jalapeno Sour Cream Dip

Recipe adapted from Shazam

This recipe is best made a day ahead

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 3-10 minutes

• 600ml/21.2ozs. light sour cream
• 250g/8.8ozs. jar jalapenos, drained (reserve some of the liquid as below)
• 3-4 tablespoons jalapeno pickling liquid
• 1/3 cup good quality mayonnaise
• 3 cups grated cheese (four cheese blend for melting)
• Squeeze of lime
• A little smoked paprika (optional)

Step 1 - Chop the jalapenos and mix in a bowl with the sour cream, jalapeno liquid, mayonnaise and grated cheese. Place in a heat proof ceramic serving bowl.

Step 2 - You can either microwave this for 2-3 minutes (making sure to stir it every minute) or place this in a 180C/350F oven for 10 minutes to melt the cheese. Cool and store in the fridge overnight. The next day re-melt this and serve with corn chips-I added a little lime juice and smoked paprika on top. Shazam recommends good quality ones that aren't over salted.