Appetizers
Well, those of you that know me know that I am a faithful and devoted viewer of Food Network, it is on ALL the time! I have even turned my parents cat into a devoted viewer, I bet you wonder how I did that? Well…when my parents go away on vacation I get the job of taking care of their adorable little “Daisy” a cute little Bengal kitty. When they go away they like to leave the television on so daisy has something to listen to.
Well, my Dad likes to leave the golf channel or a news channel on for her, but lets face it, golf??? Really? Can you hear me snore? Well I get right over there and save that poor kitty from the very boring world of golf (sorry golf fans). She is now a dedicated food network viewer! Such a good cat!
Anyway on to a fantastic, finger licking, oh so delicious, recipe from Ree Drummond, Pioneer Woman! If you are not a foodie but love great recipes go to Ree’s website, The Pioneer Woman, you will not be disappointed! I did not change this recipe at all. You cannot beat perfection! The only note I would make is that I like to use a honey BBQ sauce to temper the heat from the jalapeño slices.
INGREDIENTS
2 pounds ground beef
salt
pepper
4 Tablespoons of butter
1 large onion, diced
1/2 cup of whiskey
1 cup of BBQ sauce
1/4 cup of jarred Jalapeño slices (or more if you like)
12 slider buns or dinner rolls, split
DIRECTIONS
Form the meat into 12 (or so) mini patties. salt and pepper both sides.
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium high heat and cook the patties until just about done in the middle. Remove patties from skillet and set aside. Drain off all but 2 tablespoons of grease, then return skillet to stove top.
Add the diced onion into the skillet, stir to cook for about three minutes. Pour in the whiskey being very careful if you have an open flame, and stir. Allow the whiskey to reduce by half, just takes a couple minutes.
Stir in Jalapeños and BBQ sauce.
Reduce the heat to low and place the patties back into the skillet. turn the patties over allowing the sauce to coat the patties. Let patties simmer until everything is hot and bubbly.
Place patties on individual buns and spoon extra sauce over the top of each one and top with other half of the bun.
Enjoy!
This is one of my favorite party foods to make for a couple of reasons. First I can mix the ingredients together the day before a party then add it to the mini fillo shells and bake just before guests arrive. These are delicious and easily adaptable. Also, if you want , you can put them on halved buttermilk biscuits baking them in a mini muffin tin. You can also change up the cheese. I have made this using cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese.
This fills 30 mini fillo shells (two boxes)
INGREDIENTS
3 slices of bacon (cooked and crumbled)
10 (or so) cherry tomatoes (diced small)
2 scallions (using white and green parts)
3 ounces of Swiss cheese
1/2 cup of mayo
Mini fillo shells (I use the Athens brand found in your freezer section of the grocery store)
Mix all of your ingredients except shells. Stir to combine well. This can be done one day in advance and stored in the frig.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Fill the shells with the tomato mixture and place on a cookie sheet.
Bake for about 7-8 minutes, these do not take long!
Enjoy!
This cheesy party ring is great for an afternoon snack with friends or a great addition to your party table. It is also easily adaptable to your families taste!
INGREDIENTS
1 Pillsbury crusty french loaf
1 Tablespoon of all purpose flour
4 ounces of cheddar cheese
4 ounces of Monterey Jack cheese
4 slices of bacon, cooked and crispy
2 scallions (white and green sections)
1/4 cup (more or less) of pickled jalapeños
DIRECTIONS
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and spray a bundt pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle clean surface with flour. Unroll french loaf and roll it into a ring shape. Place dough ring in prepared bundt pan and bake for 18-20 minutes.
Remove and let cool for five minutes before turning the bunt pan over onto a cutting board. Continue to let the ring cool.
Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees
Using a serrated knife, cut the bread into sections NOT CUTTING ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE BREAD.
Mix all of the other ingredients together. Place loaf on a tin foil covered baking sheet and stuff the bread sections with the cheese mixture. Bake for ten minutes.
Serve warm with a side of ranch dressing.
Enjoy
Adapted from Tablespoon.com
Hello to my slow cooker! There is nothing better than a dinner cooking all afternoon while I get laundry, dishes and cleaning done or …maybe put my feet up , eat some bon bons and pretend I am working hard on a delicious dinner . I will never tell what I am doing and will never tell what you do in your home!
This post came about a while back while my brother-in-law Bobby and I were having a conversation about his dislike for any food coming out of the slow cooker. He made it clear it was not his favorite. I wanted to change his mind, as I know there are several great slow cooker recipes out there. So here ya go Bobby! My first slow cooker recipe to you…with more to come! Check out the serving suggestions below!
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup brown sugar (light)
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
5 cloves fresh garlic minced
2 teaspoons Siracha (or more , depending on your taste)
pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water
DIRECTIONS
In a sauce pan add the honey, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce , siracha and season with black pepper. Bring to a boil , then lower the temperature and simmer. I simmered this for almost a half hour on low heat stirring often. It became pretty thick. (I almost thought I brought it too far) so be careful not to burn it! Let cool……
In the slow cooker add the chicken, pour in the cooled sauce, add the garlic and stir until coated. Put the lid on and cook on high for 4 hours flipping chicken a few times.
At the four hour mark take the chicken out and shred using two forks. While the chicken is out of the pot mix the cornstarch and water in a small bowl then add to the crockpot. Turn the slow cooker on high, add the shredded chicken back into the slow cooker and continue cooking on high for one hour.
Notes and serving suggestions:
If you want to make the sauce the night before that would be fine , store sauce in fridge and add everything into the crockpot in the morning I think that would work well.
When I made this recipe I had hoped to have a second recipe for a slow cooker rice, I came upon a rice recipe and thought that would be great to have a slow cooker rice and would be able to cook both recipes at the same time and could continue sitting back with those bon bons, oops, I mean chores and hard work..cough, cough …well…this did not happen, the rice recipe SUCKED! Do not cook rice in your slow cooker! you heard it here first ! DONT DO IT! ugh…HORRIBLE!
SO …serve over your favorite white rice, NOT cooked in your slow cooker OR serve as a sandwich or slider with your favorite coleslaw! That is what I did and it was fantastic!
We had some left over the next day so I made some pasta with Alfredo sauce and added the shredded chicken to it and that too was very good!
Cheers Bob!
Enjoy,
Ok, so we have all seen the buffalo chicken dip and have utterly, completely loved it! Lick the spoon clean delicious! I have the basic buffalo chicken dip recipe crockpot style and I am including buffalo chicken won tons, yup , you heard it …that dip put in won ton wrappers and fried! YES PLEASE! My sister- in- law Mary Ellen loves the dip. I know she is gonna just love the won tons!!!
When I was thinking about various ways to use the buffalo dip, I had several things come to mind. The fried won tons were my first thought, or how about the dip put in the those little fillo shells and top with blue cheese or ranch dressing. Maybe slathered on top of a grilled burger with a blue cheese sauce. The possibilities are just endless! If you have any ideas I would love to hear them!
INGREDIENTS
10 ounces of chicken (I like to use rotisserie chicken but you can use left over chicken or, yes, even canned chicken)
2 8-ounce packages of cream cheese
1 cup ranch dressing
3/4 cup hot pepper sauce (I use franks)
1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Serve with
Celery, crackers or our favorite way tortilla scoops!
DIRECTIONS
Put cream cheese, ranch dressing and shredded cheese into the crockpot. mix chicken and hot sauce together in a bowl, mixing well then add to the crock pot.
I start the crock pot on high for a half hour, then turn it to low or to the warm setting. I mix it now and again until all the cheese in incorporated.
Serve with celery, cracker or tortilla chips
Enjoy!
~ A
BUFFALO CHICKEN WONTONS
Buffalo dip, above
wonton wrapper
Vegetable or peanut oil for frying
water
OPTIONAL
Blue cheese dip for serving
8 ounces of sour cream
1/2 cup crumbles blue cheese
2 teaspoons of franks hot sauce
scallions for garnish
DIRECTIONS
Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan or use your deep fryer
Fill won tons with some of the dip (I did not measure but I think I used just over a teaspoon full). Rub a small amount of water over the edges of the won ton and seal won tons to make a triangle. Place won tons very carefully into heated oil, fry until lightly golden brown and remove onto a paper towel covered plate.
NOTES:
Be VERY careful with oil, never turn your back as these cook very quick!
If using a deep fryer, set the oil to 350 degrees. If using a heavy bottom pot to find out if the oil is hot enough use a thermometer OR take the bottom of your wooden spoon place in the oil and when you see little bubbles forming around the spoon then your oil is hot!
Do not over fill as you don’t want the filling to blow out as it fries.
If you are making a lot of these and want to keep them warm place them on an oven safe platter or dish and put them in warm oven (lowest setting).
ENJOY!
