Hot Pizza Dip

 

So here's the thing about this dish. I made it for my family Christmas party and totally forgot to take a picture of it until everyone had already started digging in. So, sorry about the photo of half eaten food! I guess you can take comfort in the fact that everyone wolfed this down really quickly, because at least now you know it's a good recipe!

This is my last Super Bowl themed post, and it's not too late to add it to your game day menu. I served this with cubes of Italian bread because I figured that was a natural companion to this saucy cheesy goodness, but you could certainly use crackers, or serve it with baguette slices and let your guests spread this on. 

Like the Bacon Cheeseburger Dip that I posted on Wednesday, you can easily make this ahead of time up until the step where you put it in the oven. That makes this even more perfect for a Super Bowl party because it won't take you away from your guests or the game!

I wish I knew where I got this recipe so I could give them credit, but I made this for the first time a few years ago and all I have is a printout of a Word document with the recipe on it. If by any chance the creator of this recipe reads this, please let me know!

Hot Pizza Dip

Ingredients

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 (8 oz.) can pizza sauce

Bread or crackers for serving

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine cream cheese and seasoning and spread into the bottom of a pan (I used a 9 inch pie plate). Combine mozzarella and parmesan cheeses and sprinkle half of the mixture over the cream cheese. Spread the pizza sauce over the cheese and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until bubbly and the cheese is starting to melt and get browned on top. Serve with bread or crackers.

Bacon Cheeseburger Dip

 

This is admittedly not the most photogenic recipe in the world. But I swear, it tastes awesome, and would be another great addition to your Super Bowl spread. It's full of all of the flavors that make up a great burger and it's warm, cheesy, and comforting. I served this with Snaps, those Snyder's pretzel squares with a grid/waffle pattern, because my absolute favorite way to eat a burger is on a pretzel roll and I wanted to mimic that. But you could easily eat this with your favorite crackers, potato chips, or even baguette slices. 

You can make this ahead of time up until the baking stage, which is what I did, though I kept the bacon separate until I was ready to put the dip in the oven. I didn't want my gorgeous crispy bacon to soften up by sitting in the dip in the fridge for a while. It was hard not to eat all of the bacon before I mixed it into the dip, but I did manage to get most of it in there!

Bacon Cheeseburger Dip

Recipe from Closet Cooking

Ingredients
1/2 pound ground beef
6 strips of bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 oz. cream cheese, softened 
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup mozzarella, shredded
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1 Tbsp. worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp. ketchup

Directions
Cook the ground beef in a pan over medium heat; when cooked through, remove the beef and drain the grease from the pan. (Full disclosure: I actually used my Pampered Chef Micro Cooker to cook the ground beef in the microwave - the holes in the lid of the cooker are perfect for draining out the grease quickly and easily) Cook the bacon in the pan until crispy, about 6-10 minutes; remove to a paper towel-lined plate and drain all but a tablespoon of the grease.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Add the onion to the bacon grease and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about one minute. Return the ground beef and bacon to the pan and stir in the cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, mozzarella, cheddar, worcestershire sauce and ketchup until cheeses are melted and everything is combined.

Pour the mixture into a baking dish and bake until the top starts turning a light golden brown and the sides are bubbling, about 20-30 minutes. Serve with pretzels, crackers, chips, or bread.

Pepperoni Pizza Pull-Apart Bread

 

My next three or four blog posts are all going to help you plan your Super Bowl Sunday menu. Whether you're a football fan or not, I'm willing to bet you're a football FOOD fan! Who isn't? This recipe that's barely even a recipe would be a perfect addition to your menu. Pepperoni? Good. Bread? Good. Cheese? Gooooood. Did you just hear Joey Tribbiani right in that moment? Me too.

Like with the Crunchy Buffalo Chicken Cups that I posted on Monday, I served this at one of my Christmas parties, so I was only able to snap one quick photo before everyone dug in! But it looked pretty impressive, if I do say so myself, and tasted really good too.

The trick with this is to really shove all the ingredients down into the slits you cut into the bread. Don't be shy; really cram it in there from bottom to top. I admittedly didn't do a great job of this and the bottom of the loaf didn't have many of the toppings. So learn from my mistakes and go very generous with everything. Really fill it up and use the full amount of ingredients recommended, even if it seems like a lot as you're cutting it up.

If you happen to have any leftover, this actually reheats really well. I had a little bit left, and popped it in the oven at 350 for a few minutes just until it was warm and re-crisped.

Pepperoni Pizza Pull-Apart Bread
Recipe from Let's Dish

1 round bread loaf (I used sourdough)
10-12 oz. mozzarella or Provolone cheese slices, cut into 1-inch squares (I used a mix of the two cheeses)
1 (3.5 oz.) package pepperoni, halved
4 Tbsp butter, melted
1/2 - 3/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
2  - 3 Tbsp Parmesan cheese, shredded
Marinara sauce for dipping

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Make horizontal then vertical cuts deep in the bread, about one inch apart, being careful not to go through the bottom crust. Place the cut loaf on a foil-lined baking sheet and stuff cheese slices and pepperoni halves between the cuts. Combine the butter, garlic powder and oregano. Drizzle or brush the butter mixture over the bread with a pastry brush. Sprinkle the bread with the shredded Parmesan cheese.

Wrap the loaf completely in foil and bake for 15 minutes. Unwrap the bread and bake another 10 - 15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the bread is golden and crusty.

Serve with warm marinara sauce for dipping.

Crunchy Buffalo Chicken Cups

Happy MLK, Jr. Day! I am lucky to have today off and couldn't be happier to sleep in, maybe take a bubble bath, and basically do nothing but relax!

Unfortunately, I don't have a picture that truly does these delicious little appetizers justice. I made them for a Christmas party and needed to serve them to my guests while they were still hot, so I didn't have time to take 20 pictures from all different angles like I normally do. But trust me, these are good! The filling is very similar to buffalo chicken dip (but better, according to my brother, who's a very tough critic) and it sits on little cups made out of Fritos and cheddar cheese. How could they not be delicious?? They'd make a great Super Bowl appetizer, so add these to your list if you're already planning what to make on February 2nd. They'll be a hit, I promise!

This recipe is from Pampered Chef, as is the bamboo serving platter in the photo above. I LOVE that platter! The recipe is in PC's Fall/Winter 2013 Season's Best Recipe Book. As soon as I got the book, that was the first recipe that caught my eye and it did not disappoint!

Crunchy Buffalo Chicken Cups

2 cups corn chips (like Fritos)
6 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (1 1/2 cups, divided)
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1 cup finely diced cooked chicken breast (I poached the chicken)
2 Tbsp hot sauce (I used Frank's Red Hot)
2 Tbsp sour cream
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese or gorgonzola

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray wells of a 24-cup mini muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray

Pulse corn chips in a food processor until they're broken into crumbs. Add one cup of the cheddar cheese to the processor and process until the cheese and chips are incorporated. Spoon about 1 Tbsp chip mixture into each well of the pan (I used my PC small scoop to make this easier) and flatten the mixture onto the bottom and up the sides of the wells. Again, PC came to my rescue with their mini-tart shaper to do this job, but you can use your fingers, the handle of a wooden spoon, whatever works. Bake 8 - 10 minutes or until cups are slightly bubbly and edges are golden brown. Remove from oven and cool 3 - 4 minutes.

Set aside 1 Tbsp of green onions for garnish and add the rest to a mixing bowl. Add chicken, hot sauce, sour cream, blue cheese, and remaining 1/2 cup cheddar. Mix well and then microwave, uncovered, for 30 - 60 seconds or until mixture is warm enough to your liking and the cheese is slightly melted.

Gently remove the cups from the mini muffin tin and place on your serving platter. Spoon about 1 Tbsp of chicken mixture into each cup. Drizzle with additional hot sauce, if desired, and sprinkle with reserved green onions.

Garlic and Basil Whipped Feta

 

As promised, I'm finally back with a new recipe! This was one of the appetizers I made for a Christmas party at my house. It's so super simple, really flavorful, and versatile too. You could eat it like I served it, as a dip, (it goes great with pita crackers!) or spread it on toast or sandwiches.

I believe that the writer of the blog that I got this idea from used a mixer to make this, allowing the basil to stay in slightly bigger pieces throughout. However, I used my food processor, which meant that the basil got completely broken up and gave the feta a pale green hue. I think either way would be fine, depending on what kitchen appliances you have, but I kind of liked my green feta and how the basil flavor was present in every bite.

One more note - the original recipe called for salt to be added, but I think feta is salty enough so I didn't add any. Use your judgement! This can stay in the refrigerator for a few days, but make sure you take it out of the fridge a little while before you want to serve it. It will firm up quite a bit when cold and will be difficult to dip into or spread.

Garlic and Basil Feta

Recipe from Sweet Treats and More

8 oz. crumbled feta cheese, room temperature
4 oz. cream cheese
1/2 tsp garlic, minced
1 1/2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
2-3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Pepper to taste

Whip cream cheese and feta (or mix in a food processor) until smooth and creamy and all the lumps are gone. Mix in minced garlic, basil, extra virgin olive oil and pepper. Whip for a few minutes until fluffy.

Buffalo Chicken Nachos

My post today is more of a technique than a recipe. I'm not giving any quantities, because it's totally up to how many nachos you want to make. One of the great things about nachos is that you can make just enough for a small lunch or snack for one person, or you can make enough to feed a crowd while watching football on Sunday.

I consider myself to be a bit of a nacho connoisseur. I've eaten a lot of nachos, from a lot of different places, and along the way I've learned exactly what I want. Toppings on every chip. Chips that are still crispy with the last bite, not so soggy that you have to eat them with a fork. Cheese that gets just ever so slightly browned on the edges. Very few restaurants seem to have nailed all of these requirements, which is why I love to make them at home.

What you'll need:
Sturdy tortilla chips (I like to use Whole Foods' 365 brand lightly salted restaurant style white corn chips)
Cooked chicken breast, shredded*
Buffalo wing sauce (I use Frank's Red Hot)
Cheddar cheese, shredded
Fresh salsa, drained well (I like Whole Foods salsa) - you could also chop tomatoes, red onion, garlic, and cilantro - I'm usually too lazy for this though
Scallions
Optional: Olives, jalapenos, sour cream

*I usually poach the chicken. To do so, place it in a pot in a single layer and cover with water until it's about an inch over the chicken. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Turn the heat off, keep the chicken covered, and allow to sit for another 10 minutes. Remove the chicken from the water and allow to cool slightly.

Before assembling the nachos, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Toss the shredded chicken with the buffalo sauce, adding sauce to your desired level of heat.

Then in a baking dish, add a layer of tortilla chips, covering the entire bottom of the pan. Add some of the chicken, making sure each chip has a small bit of chicken. Add some of the fresh salsa, again taking care to get some on each chip. It's very important that you have drained the liquid out of the salsa - too much residual liquid will make the chips soggy. Add some of the shredded cheddar. Repeat the layers as many times as needed to use up your ingredient/feed your crowd. Top with some scallions. If you want to add olives or jalapenos, feel free to layer them in as well. I sometimes add an extra drizzle of buffalo sauce over the top as well.

Bake the nachos for about 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and everything is warmed through. I will sometimes bake them for 8 minutes or so, and then turn the broiler on for a minute or two to get the cheese a little browned.

That's it! So easy and so customizable, and this method produces nachos that meet all of my requirements above. Enjoy!

Buffalo Chicken Crostini

Happy Columbus Day! I am lucky enough to have today off, and I hope you do too! After being away for most of last week, I plan to spend the day doing a whole lot of relaxing and catching up on sleep.

The week before last, we had catering from Panera Bread for lunch at work, and with the food came a number of whole French baguettes. There was so much other food that the baguettes were barely touched, so I brought one home and decided I wanted to make some sort of crostini with it. On my agenda for the day was a good bit of football watching, and since I have trouble watching football without some sort of buffalo-flavored food, I thought buffalo chicken crostini were in order. This is basically a version of buffalo chicken dip on little toasts. I normally use plain cream cheese in my dip, but I saw that Philadelphia now makes a jalapeno cream cheese in a tub, and I thought that would work really well in this. I was right, but you could certainly use unflavored cream cheese if that's what you have or if you're not a fan of jalapenos.

They were so good, and made for a great lunch while I sadly watched my Patriots break their winning streak that day. I made a small batch for myself, but you could easily double the recipe to make more crostini at once, or save some of the buffalo chicken mixture to eat with chips (or a spoon) or make a separate batch of crostini later in the week.

Ingredients:
French baguette
1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, poached and shredded or diced*
4 oz. jalapeno cream cheese (or plain cream cheese)
1/4 cup ranch dressing
1/8 cup Frank's Red Hot (you can use a little more for some extra kick - I did!)
2 scallions, green parts only, sliced

*To poach the chicken, place it in a pot in a single layer and cover with water until it's about an inch over the chicken. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Turn the heat off, keep the chicken covered, and allow to sit for another 10 minutes. Remove the chicken from the water and allow to cool slightly.

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Slice 12 pieces of French bread between 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick. Brush both sides of the bread with olive oil and arrange on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 7 - 8 minutes.

In a small pan, melt cream cheese and combine with dressing and Frank's Red Hot; stir until smooth. Add diced chicken and stir to coat. Spoon the buffalo chicken mixture onto the pieces of toasted bread, then sprinkle the sliced scallions onto each piece. Add a few extra dashes of Frank's Red Hot, if desired.

Black-Eyed Pea and Sweet Corn Salsa

 

It's football season. And that means it's tailgating season, too! On Saturday, 13 of my friends and I headed up to Rentschler Field for a UConn football game. Up there, tailgating is no joke. Hoards of people arrive four hours before the game with the sole purpose of consuming massive amounts of food and beer. Our group was no different. With a table full of snacks, two grills working nonstop, and four different dessert options, we all had more than our fill.

One of my contributions was this black-eyed pea and sweet corn salsa. At a party I went to over the summer, someone brought a similar dish, and since then I've been wanting to recreate it. I did a Google search on some of the ingredients I knew were in it, and came up with this version from Sweet Little Bluebird. It looked pretty close, so I decided to give it a shot, with a few tweaks of my own, and I think I can safely say it was a big success. By the time we were ready to move onto the burger/hot dog/sausage portion of the afternoon, there was nothing left in my salsa container except a few stray corn kernels. I guess everyone liked it!

Black-Eyed Pea and Sweet Corn Salsa

Adapted From Sweet Little Bluebird

Ingredients:

1 (15 oz) can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed

1 (15 oz) can whole kernel sweet corn, drained

6 scallions, chopped

1 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil (I actually used just shy of 1/4 c.)

3 Tbsp sugar

Pinch of salt

Pinch of black pepper

Directions:

Combine black-eyed peas, corn, scallions, and jalapeno in a medium bowl.  
In a measuring cup, add vinegar, oil, sugar, salt, and pepper and whisk well to combine.  Pour dressing over the vegetable mixture and stir together until coated. 

Refrigerate for 30 minutes or more to allow flavors to blend. 

Both times I've had this, it's been with Fritos Scoops - I highly recommend this combo!