Category: Appetizers

Crack Dip

This would have been a great recipe to post a couple of weeks ago for Superbowl, but I’m a bit slow in blog updates (couple of tough weeks at work and getting over my annual winter cold). I have seen recipes for Buffalo Chicken Dip, aka Crack Dip, on a lot of different blogs, but hadn’t made it until a few weeks ago. This dip tastes exactly like buffalo chicken wings – a bit spicy with the cool taste of blue cheese mixed in – but without the hassle of eating wings (so messy and annoying to pick the meat off the little bones).

Note that several other blogs call for cheddar, mozzarella, or other cheese. Frank’s calls for blue cheese inside the dip and mozzarella on top. Do whatever you prefer or have on hand.

Buffalo Chicken Dip (aka Crack Dip)

Heavily adapted from Frank’s Hot Sauce

Yields 4 Cups

Ingredients:

  • 1-8 oz. pkg cream cheese, softened
  • 1/2 c. blue cheese salad dressing
  • 1/2 c. hot sauce
  • 1/4 c. minced celery
  • 3/4 c. crumbled blue cheese
  • 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (or, leftover chicken from roast chicken)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a medium mixing bowl, stir cream cheese until smooth. Mix in salad dressing, hot sauce, celery, 1/2 c. of blue cheese, and chicken. Transfer to a baking dish and sprinkle top with the remaining blue cheese.

Bake 20 minutes, until mixture is warm throughout.

Serve hot – either in the baking dish or transfer to a crock pot. Serve with tortilla chips and/or celery sticks.

Stuffed Endives

Once upon a time, there was a blog called Good Things Catered. I stumbled upon the blog shortly after I started blogging myself. I was still trying to figure out the best way for me to save recipes to try (I was using word documents while now I do googlereader). This initial fumbling to save recipes ended up saving this recipe, because in fall of 2010, Good Things Catered disappeared without notice or explanation. Therefore, the origins of this recipe are unknown – either a GTC creation or from somewhere else.

Now, since GTC posted this recipe, I’ve been dying to try it. I love that it’s a nice, light appetizer and something different from the usual veggies and dip. It took me a long time and many stores to find the endives (I ended up finding them at an Asian market near my house), but the hunt was well worth it. I loved the way the sweet fruit and walnuts mixed with the sharp goat cheese.

I made two changes to the recipe below. I used an herbed goat cheese and omitted the chives. Secondly, I used a vanilla balsamic vinegar from Lebherz Oil & Vinegar Emporium instead of the honey balsamic reduction, simply because I had it on hand and was excited to try it. Love it! If you’re a foodie and live or visit Maryland, I recommend a trip to this little shop in Frederick.

Endives Stuffed with Candied Walnuts, Mandarin Oranges, & Goat Cheese
With a Honey Balsamic Reduction

Adopted from Stuffed Endives with Honey Balsamic Reduction
on Good Things Catered blog

Yields 24-30 Endive Boats

Ingredients for the Endive Boat:

  • 2 heads endive
  • 1 small can mandarin oranges, drained
  • 1/4 c. walnuts, coarsely chopped
  • 2 Tbs. honey
  • 1-2 Tbs. brown sugar
  • 2 oz. goat cheese (aka chevre)

Ingredients for the Honey Balsamic Reduction:

  • 1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
  • 3 Tbs. orange juice
  • 2 Tbs. honey
  • fresh ground pepper
  • 12 fresh chives, minced

Make the Candied Walnuts: Preheat oven to 400F. Cover a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Spread walnuts atop foil; toss with honey; and sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake 10-12 minutes, stirring every 3-4 minutes to prevent burning, until walnuts are browned. Let cool.

Make the Balsamic Reduction: In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine all ingredients. Cook for 10-15 minutes, until the mixture has reduced and thickened. Set aside to cool (reduction should reach a molasses-like consistency).

Assemble the Endive Boats: Remove leaves from endive heads and place on serving platter. In each leaf, place 1 mandarin orange (I cut them in half), some of the chopped candied walnuts, and some of the crumbled goat cheese. Using a spoon, drizzle the balsamic reduction over each leaf. Top with a sprinkle of chives and freshly ground black pepper.

Rosemary Cashews

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Every year, we invite a lot of people to our annual holiday party. It’s a great time. Everyone tends to wander the houses between the living room and kitchen upstairs, and the pool room and second living room downstairs. While I set most of the food in our dining room, I always make sure there is something downstairs – usually little bowls of nuts on the bar tables in the pool room, and a mini appetizer and dessert tray in the second living room. These rosemary cashews were perfect. Sweet with just a slight kick, they’re delicious served warm or at room temperature.

Note that the recipe on Food Network’s website is different from the one found in Barefoot in Paris – it has different quantities of several of the ingredients as well as a different baking temperature. I used the recipe from Barefoot in Paris.

Rosemary Cashews

Adapted from Ina Garten’s Barefoot in Paris(p. 36)

Makes 3 cups

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. unsalted cashews
  • 2 Tbs. minced fresh rosemary
  • 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
  • 2 tsp. light brown sugar
  • 1 Tbs. kosher salt
  • 1 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Place nuts on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 5-6 minutes, stirring nuts halfway through.

Combine rosemary, cayenne, brown sugar and salt in a small bowl.

In a large bowl (or serving dish if serving immediately), sprinkle above mix and drizzle butter over nuts, tossing as you go. I do recommend sprinkling and tossing the nuts to make sure they’re evenly seasoned. Stir well until nuts are covered in the spices.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

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Chicken Cobb Pizza

Did you ever have a meal at a friend’s house, and instantly, the meal became one of your favorites? It’s that dish you immediately try to work into your weekly menu, and immediately start nagging your friend for the recipe… For me, this Chicken Cobb Pizza went straight into the favorites list, from the moment I tried it at K’s house. I’ve made it a couple of times since then, and have begged K to make it when we get together (including for “lunch” at 9am, 10 miles into our Sunday morning walks).

This pizza is pretty healthy in general (the original Pampered Chef recipe, using 1-10 oz. can chicken, says that two squares of this pizza is only 300 calories), but can be made even better for you with reduced-fat versions of the ingredients and even more veggies.

Thanks to K for sharing this great recipe!

Chicken Cobb Pizza

Adapted from Pampered Chef’s Clubhouse Chicken Squares

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

  • 2-8 oz. pkg. crescent rolls
  • 1-8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
  • 2 Tbs. mayonnaise
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp. fresh dill, chopped (or 1 tsp. Pampered Chef All-Purpose Dill Mix or dried dill)
  • 1 1/2 c. cooked chicken, chopped/diced
  • 1/2 small cucumber, seeded and chopped/diced
  • 2 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
  • 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
  • 6 slices bacon or turkey bacon, cooked, drained, and crumbled

Make the Crust: Preheat oven to 375F.

Unroll one of package of crescent rolls on a baking sheet, with the longest sides of the dough running the length of the pan. With your fingers, seal in the perforations. Press the sides to form a crust.Repeat on a second baking sheet with the second roll of crescent rolls.

Back 12-15 minutes, until crust is golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside to cool completely.

Make the “Sauce”: In a small microwave-safe bowl, combine the softened cream cheese, mayo, garlic and dill. If the cream cheese isn’t soft enough to mix thoroughly, throw in the microwave for 5-10 seconds.

Assemble the Pizza: When the crust is cooled, spread the dill mixture on top of each crust. Layer chicken, bacon, veggies, and cheese.

Note for preparing in advance: The “sauce” can be made in advance. If it sits overnight, it will be come very garlicky. Also, if put together far in advance, the shredded cheese tends to dry out. Sprinkle cheese on pizza as close to serving as possible.

Grilled Herb Shrimp

As the temperature goes up, I spend less time cooking and the hubby spends more time grilling. We’ll grill just about anything – meat, seafood, veggies, fruit – and are always looking for new recipes to try out. We ended up bringing these shrimp over a friend’s house a couple of weeks ago and they were a huge hit! We had these as part of the main dish, with burgers, but they would also be great as a hot, room temperature, or cold appetizer, or in a salad.

Thanks to Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen for choosing such a nice light dish for this month’s Barefoot Bloggers.

Grilled Herb Shrimp

Adapted from Barefoot Contessa‘s Barefoot Contessa Parties!

Serves 2-3 as a main dish

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb large shrimp (16 to 20 per pound), peeled and deveined (see note)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 medium yellow onion, small-diced
  • 1/8 c. minced fresh parsley
  • 1/8 c. minced fresh basil
  • 1/2 tsp. dry mustard
  • 1 tsp.  Dijon mustard
  • 1 tsp.  kosher salt
  • 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/8 c. good olive oil
  • 1/2 lemon, juiced

If grilling on skewers, don’t forget to soak any wood skewers in water for 30 minutes. These can also be grilled in a grill basket.

Combine all ingredients except shrimp and set aside.

Skewer the shrimp, using 3-4 shrimp per skewer. (I removed the tails, but feel free to leave tails on.) Pour marinade on shrimp and allow to marinade for 1 hour at room temperature, or covered in the fridge for up to 2 days.

Heat grill on medium heat, and brush grill with oil to prevent shrimp and herbs from sticking.

Grill shrimp, bout 90 seconds per side. Serve hot, cold, or at room temperature