Nancy Jane's Swiss Cheese Bread Dip

 

You aren't going to like me very much after you read this post. You will curse me for introducing you to this dangerously delicious appetizer. You will wonder how you ever threw a party without it. You will judge yourself a little bit when you combine mayo, cheese and cream cheese and serve it in a loaf of bread surrounded by more bread but once you taste this, you will forget all rules of proper food decorum.

This is a recipe that comes from my pseudo-aunt Nancy Jane. It's a long story but to sum it up: she is my mom's best friend who ended up marrying my uncle's wife's brother. Confused? Don't worry, everyone is. Our relationship notwithstanding,  she makes this decadent little number at all her parties. My mom and "real" aunts stole her recipe and we now make it for every major event we have.

No matter how dignified or classy your get together is, I promise you people will lose their minds when you take this dish out of the oven. Full grown adults, doctors, lawyers, CEO's will act like crazed vultures around this dip. People who wouldn't be caught dead using the wrong fork at a dinner party will rip into this with their bare hands.

Get it while it's hot!

 Once the gooey, hot cheese mixture has been scraped from the bottom of the bread bowl, guests will circle the empty loaf, eying each other wondering who will be the first one to crack. Who will be the brave soul to take that first embarrassing leap and tear into the empty bread bowl?

Without fail, someone will do it. I have never served this without it eventually being torn to shreds,  reheated, cut up and basically devoured until there was not a crumb left. And there is no shame in that. It's so good, you won't even feel guilty about it.

On a side note: I know what you are thinking. You are thinking you could substitute low fat versions of the cheeses, or use Miracle Whip or low fat mayo. I have tried them all. And the verdict is loud and clear. This dish isn't meant to be "better for you".

Every time I have  tried a lower fat or healthier substitution the dish has not turned out right. The cheese doesn't melt the right way, its not the right consistency and many times it has just turned out plain gross. You can always try it (and I would love to hear if you can make it work) but for me there just isn't a good alternative : )

Nancy Jane's Swiss Cheese Bread Dip

• 2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
• 8oz of cream cheese
• 1 cup of "real" mayonnaise
• 1 round loaf of White Mountain Bread 
• Another loaf of White Mountain Bread (any size) to cut up for dipping

1.) Let the first three ingredients come to room temperature (especially the cream cheese). Mix them all together until thoroughly combined.

It's not pretty, I know.

 2.) Cut the center out of your round loaf of White Mountain bread. It should resemble a large bread bowl from Panera. You may need to use your hands to pull out some of the excess bread. Set the cut out piece of bread aside for later.

3.) Fill the center of the bread bowl with the cheese mixture. Bake on a cookie sheet at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes or until the dip is golden brown on top. If the bread starts to burn or brown too much you can always cover it with tin foil while it finishes cooking.

4.) While the dip is in the oven, cut your left over bread pieces and the second loaf of bread up into bite sized pieces.

All cut up.

5.) When the dip has 5-10 minutes left in the oven, take out the baking sheet and spread the bite sized bread pieces out on the tray, return it to the oven and toast them for the remaining time.

6.) One the dipping pieces are nice and toasted, remove tray from the oven and serve warm. You can also serve this with crackers or cut up veggies in place of the bread pieces too.

Enjoy!

Make sure you stop by this week's Mealtime Monday and link up any amazing recipes you have been working on lately.

***Depending on the day this post may be linked up to any of these fabulous linky parties.***