Meyer's Fire Sauce

Meyer's Fire [Sauce]

2 tablespoons dry mustard -- preferably Chinese
2 tablespoons Tabasco sauce -- or to taste
3 ounces cream cheese -- at room temperature
3 tablespoons mayonnaise

Place the mustard powder in a small bowl and stir in enough Tabasco sauce
to obtain a thick paste. Let stand for 3 minutes. Combine the cream cheese and mayonnaise in a mixing bowl and whisk until smooth. Whisk in as much mustard mixture as you dare. Refrigerate, covered, until serving time. Any leftover sauce will keep, refrigerated for 1 week.

Makes 3/4 cup (12 one-tablespoon servings).

AuthorNote: Novelist John D. MacDonald chronicled Florida lowlifes in more
than two dozen mystery novels featuring the crusty boat bum, Travis McGee,
and his brainy sidekick, Meyer. In the book "Dreadful Lemon Sky",
MacDonald describes Meyer's "Superior Cocktail Dip", a virulent mixture
that has been known to make the unsuspecting "leap four feet straight up
into the air after scooping up a tiny portion on a potato chip". I've
toned it down a little by adding cream cheese and mayonnaise. This dip is
good not only for potato chips, but for all manner of fritters and
crudites.