Manchego and Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms (Magic Mushrooms)

My new favorite way to get cheese into my mouth. These are gluten free and can be prepared ahead and refrigerated for several hours or even overnight for an easy make ahead appetizer. Happy Weekend Y'all!

Manchego and Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms (Magic Mushrooms)

Ingredients:

3 (8 oz packages) Baby Bella mushrooms

½ pound sweet Italian sausage

Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon of olive oil, plus more for oiling baking dish

½ cup chopped shallots

2  cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons sherry vinegar (this adds a particularly wonderful flavor but white wine or maybe even cider vinegar would work)

1/4 tspn paprika

Zest of small lemon

2 tablespoons almond flour (seasoned or plain dried breadcrumbs would work also if not gluten free)

¾ cup shredded Manchego cheese, lightly packed

½ cup crème fraiche (sour cream would work too or even Greek yogurt)

Pinch red pepper flakes

1 ½ tablespoons finely minced green onions

Big pinch fresh ground nutmeg

Parsley, additional chopped green onion or cilantro for garnish (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 if making right away.

Clean the mushrooms by rinsing quickly under cold water and patting dry (if you're a purist feel free to hand wipe each one instead - see you in a month.) Carefully remove the stems by pulling firmly and gently from the base where they connect. If the stems are particularly stubborn, you may need to use a small spoon to scrape out the leftover stalk to make room for the filling.

Next chop up enough of the stems (fine dice) to equal half a cup and set aside (you can discard the rest of the stems or save for another use.)

Lightly oil a large casserole dish with olive oil then place the mushroom caps spacing them evenly apart inside, cavity side up. Season very lightly with salt. Set aside.

Next heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook, breaking up well with a spoon (you don't want super big chunks because you're going to stuff it into fairly small mushrooms.) Once broken up add the half cup of diced stems along with a pinch of salt and pepper and cook until the sausage is cooked through, about 8 minutes.

Remove using a slotted spoon to a holding plate and set aside. Meanwhile add a little olive oil to the pan if necessary and let heat through for 30 seconds. Add the shallots with another small pinch of salt and cook for 4-5 minutes until beginning to turn translucent. Add the minced garlic and cook another 2 minutes or until softened.

Raise the heat slightly and add in the sherry vinegar. You want it to bubble a little and reduce until there's just a scant amount of liquid left in the pan. At this point kill the heat and move the skillet off the hot burner.

Carefully stir back in the sausage/mushroom mixture along with 1/4 teaspoon paprika, lemon zest, almond flour, creme fraiche, red pepper flakes, green onions and nutmeg until well mixed. Taste for seasoning and add pinch more salt/pepper if desired.

Use a small spoon to stuff the prepared mushrooms (I have found that if I pile them high enough I can use up all the filling.) At this point you can let them cool, cover and refrigerate for a few hours or even overnight before baking or bake right away in a 400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until the top of the filling just begins to brown and they mushrooms have released their liquid and cooked through.

Cool for 5-10 minutes before garnishing with chopped herb of choice and serving.

Nigella's Terracotta Bean Dip

Hello! Anyone out there? It's been a while.

I actually started writing this post last night. I was almost giddy with excitement. My baby was down for the night and there I was spending some alone time with my blog for the first time in months feeling the old creative juices flowing again. I began typing rapid fire. I felt free! Like galloping bareback on my pony when I was a kid. And then…Sawyer woke up. Screaming actually. Blogging ended before it began.

But it was okay. Partly because he looks like this.

But also because there's something selfishly awesome about when your baby wakes up crying from a nightmare or whatever reason and you can be there to make it all better. I walked him around for almost an hour even though he stopped crying the second I picked him up.

This is a far different place from where we were a couple of months ago. You see part of my long absence wasn't just having a baby but having a baby with severe food allergies. Who literally never stopped crying once he started. Poor guy. But that's another post - maybe even another blog.

Anyway we went to a friend's on Saturday and she was such an amazing host and cook that I was actually inspired to post the dip I'd taken over that night.

I'm finally coming out of the baby fog y'all. And I'm going to feed every damn one of you.

Nigella's Terracotta Bean Dip
Mildly adapted from FEAST
* A twist on your typical bean dip, this one uses red kidney beans and a mix of warm spices. I absolutely loved the lime in it it so I put the zest in the dip as well as on top. This is an unusual, but not weird change of pace and easy to make.

Ingredients:
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, diced (or 3 shallots)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon cumin (I'd even try upping it next time)
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon paprika
pinch cayenne, optional
1 (15 oz) can red kidney beans (including the juice)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided, or to taste
zest and juice of a medium lime
Chopped cilantro for garnish
Tortilla chips or pita chips for serving

Directions:
Heat the oil in a medium/large cast iron pan or heavy bottom pan for one minute over medium heat. Add the onion, season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and sauté until soft and golden. Stir in the garlic and sauté a couple more minutes. Add in the tomato paste and spices and stir around cooking a few more minutes to let the flavors deepen.

Add in the beans and liquid from the can and cook a couple more minutes. Turn off the heat and remove the pan from the burner to let cool for a bit. Then transfer to a food processor and add in the lime zest (you can reserve a little zest for garnish if desired) and juice and additional 1/4 teaspoon salt. Blend until as much a puree as the skins on the beans will allow.

Taste for salt and add any more or pepper if you wish and blend again.

Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with additional zest and cilantro. Serve right away or refrigerate for up to eight hours before serving with tortilla or pita chips to serve.

Cheddar Bacon Biscuit Bites

Oooh...

la...

laa...

Cheddar Bacon Biscuit Bites

Adapted from Southern Living

For the record, I'm no baker. But I found making, kneading, and baking these easy peesy. They wanted me to tell you they're delicious with cocktails before dinner. Or if you're good-God-fearing folk, they'll work as breakfast finger food. My husband wanted to state for the record they need jalapeños. Or more cayenne.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (plus more for dusting your board)

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon mustard powder

good pinch dried thyme (optional)

good pinch (or 2!) cayenne

1/2 cup vegetable shortening (I used salted butter, out of the fridge for 1/2 hour)

12 slices bacon (not thin cut), cooked and crumbled

1 heaping (really heaping) cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

1/4 cup finely diced onion or shallot

1/2 cup whole milk

Optional: chopped canned jalapeño, sundried tomatos, or whatever kinky stuff you're into

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, mustard powder, thyme, and cayenne. With a pastry blender, cut in shortening or flour until crumbly (should be in little pea sized lumps amongst the flour - fairly well interspersed amongst it.) Stir in bacon, cheese and onion and any other additions you fancy (see above.) Add milk, stirring just until moistened. 

Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead a few times until you've got a cohesive little baby dough - adding flour over the tops and your hands as needed to keep from sticking. This will be somewhat hellacious if your kitchen is hot, just FYI. Otherwise it should be a fairly - I'd even say fun experience.

Pat your rolling pin down with flour and roll into an 8x9 inch rectangle. (I cheat this by trimming off the uneven edges and using them as treats for the guests in the kitchen.) Cut into 1x3 inch rectangles for biscuit fingers or 1 1/2x1 1/2 inch squares for appetizer bites. A pizza cutter, rolled in flour, can make this task easier if you're not that precise (like me) with a knife.

Place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for 9-12 minutes until they look 'set'. Fair warning - the tops won't get really brown but they will rise a bit and look kind of done if you're paying attention. Check them sooner than later - they bottoms will get brown and if they're in much longer than they should be - they'll turn black.

* Can be made ahead, cooled and frozen in plastic bags. Reheat at 350 just until warmed through.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Hey Y'all. We're in the middle of moving. Actually the beginning of moving which is even scarier. Still waiting on the loan but moving ahead anyway renting the new place (moving in tomorrow) until it comes through. Which it will. Because otherwise well...I can't even imagine.

Actually I can. It would mean moving in with my poor beloved sister like we had to do after graduating college all those many moons ago when we couldn't find jobs. Only now we do have jobs. Decent ones which would make it even more ironic. Again I'll try not to spiral into a stress ball (cue the Oreos and red wine and the weird purple bumps I've had on my legs the past three days. Sexy!)

Anyway it will be short and sweet for the next couple of weeks on the 'ole blogosphere. If at all.

In the meantime I want to leave you with my most prized appetizer recipe - Buffalo Chicken Dip. Actually I kind of hate this recipe because it's all Kris ever wants me to make. I don't even know if anyone else on earth likes it but him. But he likes it so much I make it again and again. Over and over. For all I know friends and family are like please dear God make something else.

I have Claire Robinson to blame for this. And Frank's Red Hot Sauce where I saw the same damn thing printed on the back. I altered it a split hair adding chopped green onions to the dip and as a garnish. I know, I know. My originality is startling and unsettling.

Until next time, keep your fingers crossed for me, the loan, and my sanity.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Ingredients

• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
• 1/2 cup hot sauce (recommended: Frank's)
• 1/2 breast of a rotisserie chicken, skin removed and chopped
• 2 green onions, minced plus 2 chopped for garnish
• 1 cup crumbled blue cheese
• Crackers, tortilla chips, or celery sticks for serving

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a medium saucepan over moderate heat, melt the cream cheese until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the celery, hot sauce, chicken, green onion (2 minced) and blue cheese and mix well. Transfer the mixture to a Pam sprayed 9-inch pie plate or baking dish. Bake until hot and bubbly, about 22-25 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes. Garnish with chopped green onions. Serve with crackers, tortilla chips, bread or celery sticks.

Buffalo Chicken Kabobs with Blue Cheese Dip

                                      

I got psyched when I daydreamed this recipe. Mostly because I like anything with the word 'buffalo' in the name. I'm super original that way.

But after making them, I got even more excited. They're almost like tandoori (super moist delicious Indian kabobs) but buffalo flavored. And spicy as an ant pile.

As for the sauce, I have no words. Hide your kids. Hide your wife. It's about to get crazy up in here.

I could make this recipe every day for the rest of my life, just swapping out different kinds of meat for the chicken. Salmon would be amazing. Beef would make me weep. And if the squirrels don't stop chewing on the side of my house they too might be bound for buffalo glory.

Buffalo Chicken Kabobs with Blue Cheese Dip

Kabob Marinade:
1 package boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1 inch cubes
7 oz greek yogurt, either 2% or whole (not fat free)
1/4 cup Frank's Red Hot sauce, or your favorite brand hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon vegetable or canola oil
2 fat green onions (white and green parts), chopped
2 smashed garlic cloves, or 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
zest of 1 small lime
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt (use less if using table salt!)
fresh ground black pepper
Wooden skewers (soak in water for 30 minutes before skewing/grilling)

Mix the marinade ingredients (yogurt through the black pepper) together until all blended and friendly in a medium bowl. Transfer to a large ziploc and add the chicken smushing around until all pieces are well coated. Refrigerate overnight, removing half an hour before threading onto skewers and grilling. THERE IS NO NEED TO SALT THE KABOBS BEFORE GRILLING AS THE MARINADE IS QUITE SALTY.

To grill, heat an outdoor grill to 375. Oil the grates so the kabobs won't stick (grease a folded paper towel with peanut or veg oil use tongs to swipe it along the grates.) Add the kabobs 'against the grain' from where the grates are positioned so no chicken falls through, and close the lid for 4 minutes. Try picking up to see if you have grill marks on the underside. If so, flip over and cook another 4-5 minutes until cooked through, if not cook another 1-2 minutes before checking again and flipping.

Remove and serve with dip, below.

Dip (would also make a killer dip for veg/crackers/etc:)
zest of a small lemon
1-2 green onions, sliced thin
1/3 cup light sour cream
1/4 cup light mayo
1/4 cup blue cheese or gorgonzola
salt, but only if needed after tasting and to taste

Mix altogether and store in the refrigerator until needed. Can be made the day before. Serve with the kabobs. Or as a dip for veg and crackers. Or fingers.

Smoked Tomato, Goat Cheese, and Sausage Pasta

The other day I was going through my cabinets when I came across a stove top smoker, still in the box. Oops. I'd bought it over two years ago never used it. I happened to have Roma tomatoes on hand and the next thing I knew I was drizzling them with red wine vinegar, salt, pepper and smoking them.

I let them go for a few hours until they were halfway to the 'sun dried' phase - wilted but not completely shrunken - then tossed them with olive oil, fennel seeds, garlic powder, bay leaves, and red pepper flakes.

At this point I knew I had something special on my hands. Part of me wanted to hoard them in a jar in the fridge but hunger got the best of me and soon I was mixing them into pasta. If I die right now I'll feel like I accomplished something. These tomatoes are that good - rich, smokey and sweet. A haunting combo. They would also make a fantastic appetizer stuffed with a little goat cheese and fresh thyme...but I digress.

If you don't happen to suffer from my gadget affliction and own a stove top smoker, no matter. That can be solved in a matter of seconds. Do it.... DO it....

I can't wait to experiment with what to smoke next!

Smoked Roma Tomatoes, for Pasta, Appetizers, or Anytime
Ingredients:
6 Roma tomatoes, cut in half, length-wise
Red wine vinegar, for drizzling
salt and pepper

Place your stovetop smoker on a gas burner. Add a pinch of cherry wood chips to the center then place the rack inside. Scatter the tomatoes over the rack, cut side up, then lightly drizzle them with red wine vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Shut the top leaving a half inch crack and set the heat to medium. As soon as you see smoke coming from the crack, shut the top all the way and smoke the tomatoes for four hours, checking on them every half an hour or so after the first hour to make sure you don't need to adjust the heat. (If it's blackening too quickly, lower the heat, if not much is happening after the first hour, raise it a little.)

After four hours, the tomatoes should be thoroughly shrunken and be about half the size they were, but not withered to the sun dried phase. Remove them from the smoker with tongs and toss with the following in a glass or plastic lidded container:

1/4 teaspoon thyme, rubbed between your fingers
Red pepper flakes, to taste
Couple dashes garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 large bay leaf or two small
2 tablespoons olive oil

Set aside until ready to use or cover and refrigerate for up to 5 days. To make the pasta, continue to the following recipe:

Pasta with Smoky Tomato Sauce, Turkey Sausage, and Goat Cheese
Ingredients:
1/2 tablespoon butter
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
1.1 pounds turkey sausage, removed from casing and broken up with your fingers or wooden spoon in the pan
3/4 pound whole wheat pasta (rotini, penne, or whatever you like)
1 cup pasta water (use 1/2 cup to deglaze the sausage/onions in pan, plus as much as needed afterwards to help the goat cheese meld into the sauce)
3 oz goat cheese
3 tablespoons Parmesan, plus additional for garnish
2 teaspoons of fresh thyme leaves plus additional sprigs for garnish

Directions:
Add the butter to a medium/large dutch oven and put over medium heat. Add the onion, season with a good pinch salt and pepper and saute, stirring occasionally until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the sausage and break up with your spoon as you cook it through - about 8-10 minutes. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, add in a handful of kosher salt, return to a boil then add your pasta and cook until JUST al dente, reserving 1 cup of the pasta water.

Add 1/2 cup of the pasta water to your onions and sausage to 'deglaze' the pan and help you scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan, then use a spider to add the cooked pasta to the pan. Mix well then toss in the goat cheese, parmesan, and thyme leaves. Give a good stir to melt and break up the goat cheese, adding a splash or so of the reserved pasta liquid to help things get along, then add in your smoked tomatoes (and all the oil and seasonings.) Stir again (tomatoes will break up which is fine) and check the consistency to see if you want to add more pasta water to make it more moist and taste for seasoning. Add any salt and pepper if necessary and serve in heaping bowls garnished with sprigs of fresh thyme.

Lauren's Pan Roasted Shishito Peppers. Let the party begin.

The only thing more fun than cooking is cooking with a friend that loves to cook as much as you do while another friend whips up margaritas. I was lucky enough to experience all of the above this past Labor Day weekend with our dear friends from New York. We had come back from a day on the lake (witnessing the horrific fires at Steiner Ranch), we were starving and attempting cooking on the Big Green Egg for the first time ever.

Things could have (and almost did) go horribly wrong. But then Lauren whipped up these amazing pan roasted peppers, sprinkled sea salt on them, and all was well. Three ingredients and ten minutes is all you need to create the most addictive, delicious appetizer I've ever eaten. And while generally mild, like any pepper you never really know what you're going to get which only adds to the fun of eating them. Every couple of minutes somebody yells "I got a hot one!"

Lauren's Pan Roasted Shishito Peppers

Ingredients:
15-20 shishito or padron peppers, rinsed and pat dry
1 tablespoon good quality olive oil
flaky sea salt - a good pinch or so to taste
1 large rimmed nonstick or cast iron skillet

Directions:
Put the skillet over medium high heat. Add the oil and let heat through for one minute. Add the peppers and saute, flipping every couple of minutes until the sides become just blistered and deeply bronzed. You still want some green on them so don't let them completely blacken - just get some good color on them.

Remove to a serving platter and sprinkle immediately with flaky sea salt. Serve hot (though they're still good at room temp or even cold.)

Juicy Lucies (cheese-stuffed burgers) with Texas Tapenade

Have you ever had a Juicy Lucy? I hadn't even heard of them until I moved to Minneapolis several years ago. I have to say, they may be the sole reason worth suffering through a midwest winter. A Juicy Lucy is just a burger with a pocket of gooey molten cheese hidden inside. Our favorites were the lucies at Adrian's Bar and Grill - a wonderful old dive bar in south Minneapolis. Dang they were GOOOOD...

Adrian's I believe were made with cheddar but cheddar didn't seem quite right with turkey burgers for some reason so I decided to try a trio of white cheeses here and wasn't disappointed. The accompaniment - Texas Tapenade - is more a sun dried tomato pesto than a true tapenade, the Texan element being jalapeno stuffed olives. If you don't have those on hand, feel free to substitute regular jumbo green olives or even kalamata or black olives along with a good pinch of red pepper flakes for that southern heat wave element. Yeee haw!

PS - don't be upset if your burgers separate into two patties by the end of cooking exposing the cheesy goodness inside. That's just Lucy flirting with you....

Juicy Lucies with Texas Tapenade
Serves 4.
* The tapenade is great on crostini or with crackers as an appetizer or snack or on any number of sandwiches.

Burgers:
1 package (1.3 pounds) ground lean turkey
1/4 cup minced shallots (2 regular)
1 garlic clove, minced
zest of 1 large lemon
2 tablespoons shredded parmesan
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
fresh cracked pepper
4 English muffins, toasted or griddled

In a large bowl, combine the minced shallots, garlic, lemon zest, parmesan, salt, and pepper with a fork until evenly mixed. Add the turkey meat and gently combine with your hands trying to incorporate everything evenly but not overwork the meat. Set aside while you make the juicy filling.

Juicy Filling:
3 oz goat cheese
2 tablespoons parmesan
2 tablespoons shredded mozzarella
good grating fresh nutmeg
fresh cracked pepper
dash salt
splash half and half or heavy cream, just enough to bind all the cheeses together without making it too wet/mushy

Mix the cheese, nutmeg pepper and salt together with fork. Add JUST enough half and half or heavy cream to help them make friends and bind being careful not to make it to 'wet' as you'll need to form the mixture into little patties. Once combined, use your hands to make little flattened discs. I confess to getting 5 out of them and only 4 burgers of the meat mixture, so you might want to reserve the 5th patty for another use (cracker spread/etc.)

To form the juicy lucies, gather enough ground meat in your palm (about the amount it would take to make a jumbo sized meatball or a thin hamburger patty.) Gently press and turn with your hands to make a patty, ensuring you'll have enough of an 'edge' around your cheese disc so that you can seal it. Set the patty on a greased surface then set the cheese disc in the center. Create another thin patty out of the meat mixture and place it over the cheese disc. You'll need to carefully pick it up and turn the juicy lucy in your hands as you gently press and crimp the edges together, ensuring you've got a good seal. Set aside and complete the rest of the patties. (After forming, you can either refrigerate for up to 8 hours, covered, or cook right away.)

To cook, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Season the burgers on the top sides with salt and pepper. Grill or pan fry until golden on both sides - about 4 minutes per side, ensuring you don't have too high a flame so that the cheese melts through but doesn't liquify too early in the cooking process and leak out (also be careful when flipping - remembering your delicate little package inside.) Transfer to the 400 degree oven for 5 minutes to cook all the way through. Remove and let 'rest' for five minutes, lightly tented with foil, before serving.

Serve with Texas Tapenade (below) on toasted English muffins.

Texas Tapenade Ingredients:
3/4 cup sun dried tomatoes packed in oil, drained (reserve oil)
1 clove garlic
2 jumbo jalapeno-stuffed green olives (or regular jumbo olives plus a pinch of red pepper flakes)
zest of a small lemon (or half a large one)
2 tablespoons pine nuts (toasted)
2-3 sprigs boxwood (pistou) basil or 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
1-2 teaspoons oil from the sun dried tomatoes
fresh cracked black pepper

Texas Tapenade Directions:
If you have the time or energy, give the sun dried tomatoes and garlic clove a rough chop. If not, just chuck them all into the blender and pulse a few times. Add the green olives and pulse again until there are no large chunks of olive left (unless you like your tapenade on the chunky side.) Add the lemon zest, pine nuts, basil, oil from the sun dried tomatoes and some fresh cracked pepper and pulse again until well blended. Decide wether you want to add more oil or not (there is a never ending battle at our house between my husband and me - I like my pesto on the drier side - he the liquidy side...) make any adjustments necessary and either refrigerate for up to 3 days before using or serve right away.

Doughy, Naughty, Cheesy Pigs in Blankets - Happy New Year Loves!

I am writing this as my last post for the year. Dear God - where did it all go? As I write I'm having a little bout of overwhelm-ment (that's a word, right?) and gratitude with all kinds of sappy, retrospective goo filling my brain. But this year was truly special to me for reasons I haven't been able to share on the blog. Maybe one day soon (and no my dears, it's not a baby.) Anyway, I feel beyond, beyond blessed with everything that's happened to me in the past 365 days.

I hope I can share this and much, much more with you in the new year. It's about dang time. I feel like all of you - my darling readers and anyone who happens to stop by this often silent and neglected blog - deserve it. But in the meantime, I want to say that I treasure each and everyone of you - particularly the peeps I have a semi regular dialogue with but also even the most random stranger who leaves a comment and never appears again. Because as is now a cliche thanks to the movie Julie and Julia, blogging can be a very lonely business (if only we all had as many readers as Julia! We'd be sittin' pretty, wouldn't we?)

Alright. Cue the violin music... I am so happy you read me. Be it once or once in a while or regularly. Thank you, thank you, thank you. The funny thing is, as a quasi professional writer by trade, I am blown away by how many amazing writers there are out there. You guys are funny. And witty. And original. So keep it up y'all. Okay, I'm done with my rant. And now - onto the star of the M&PF New Year's Show...

Pigs in Blankets! With cheese! Because clearly I'm on a mission to constipate everyone for the first week of the New Year! ;)

Unlike yeast doughs, you can whip this up and have it the oven in half an hour. The only hitch is you need self rising flour on hand and you have to be willing to play with the dough a little. For example, I can't tell you why but sometimes I need exactly the amount of flour called for and other times a WHOLE lot more... The good news is it is very resilient. Just keep adding spoonful by spoonful until it gets to a constisency you can roll and work with. If it sticks to your hands when you try to pick it up, keep adding...

Doughy, Naughty, Cheesy Pigs in Blankets
* If you're really naughty you can sprinkle some additional cheese over the pastry strips before you add the sausage and roll them up. As they say - you can never be too rich, too thin, or too cheesy.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups self-rising flour, sifted or spooned into the measuring cups with a light hand, plus extra just in case and for flouring board an rolling pin
1 heaping teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon dried mustard
1/3 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup whole milk, lightly warmed for 20 seconds in the microwave, JUST until not cold
1 egg
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
55-60 cocktail sausages

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425.

Add the flour, salt, sugar, mustard and cheese to a large bowl. Stir with a whisk or fork to make friends. In a separate bowl (or even a measuring glass the milk was poured into) take the 1 cup of milk and add in the egg and oil whisking briefly to combine. Set the milk/egg/oil mixture aside while you make a 'hole' in the center of the dry ingredients, then add the milk combination gradually to the dry mixture, stirring or forking as you do just until it's combined.

Do a finger check for the consistency of the dough after mixing. If it sticks to your fingers and therefore won't roll out, add a bit more flour and mix again. Keep doing so until it cooperates with you but be patient because if you dump a boatload of flour in we've just wasted a good chunk of time on a cheese brick.

Once happy with the dough, flour your rolling surface and rolling pin , LIGHTLY, and roll the dough out until it's slightly thicker than 1/4 inch thickness, or just roll until the dough stops stretching/giving outwards, being careful not to go too thin.

From there, use a sharp knife dipped into flour to cut it into 3" long by 1" thick strips. To each strip, lay a mini sausage on one end, then roll up pinching the seemed bottom and placing onto an aluminum or parchment-lined, oil sprayed baking sheet, seam-side down.

Once all assembled (you can put them on 2-3 large disposable pie tins or on 2-3 baking sheets) bake for 12-15 minutes until the tops are JUST light golden brown. Remove and let cool slightly before serving.

I like them with mustard but have ketchup or whatever you fancy on hand to dip.

Savory Double Cheese Crackers a.k.a. What to drink with your Champagne on NYE

Actually these crackers are good with just about anything to drink from Coca Cola to milk, though my sister would like to cast her vote for red wine. We like our ripple, what can I say?

But the real beauty to these is that you can make them ahead, keep a log in your fridge for up to three weeks and slice and bake when needed. Because there's no egg in the dough, you're good to go. You can also bake them off and freeze them and then just reheat in a low oven. But I can't imagine there being any left to freeze once you've baked them. As soon as that savory cheddary goodness hits the air waves in my house, it's game over.

Although Rebecca suggests using your mixer to put these together, you can also use a good old wooden spoon and large bowl. Just be sure your butter is at room temp and to cream it thoroughly with the cheese before adding the rest of the ingredients. My little Kitchen Aid struggled a bit (the dough gets very stiff) so I ended up dumping everything into a large bowl and finishing mixing them by hand. You'll appreciate having done the arm exercise afterwards, trust me.

So what apps are you making for NYE and what are your plans?

Savory Double Cheese Crackers
* Adapted from Rebecca Rather
* Don't slice these too thin or they won't come out 'crackery'. Remember they won't rise much so what you cut is what you'll end up with when they come out.
* If I were you, I'd double the recipe since it keeps so well:)

Ingredients:
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, at room temp
2 cups freshly grated extra sharp Cheddar cheese (about 8 oz)
1 cup grated Parmesan or Manchego (about 4 oz)
1 cup all purpose flour (use a light hand when measuring or sift the flour first)
1/4 teaspoon table salt plus a healthy pinch
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3/4 teaspoon mustard powder (I prefer Coleman's brand)
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans or walnuts

Directions:
Using an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and cheeses on medium speed until combined, about 1 minute. Add the flour, salt and cayenne pepper, dried mustard and paprika and beat on low speed until combined. Stir in the pecans or walnuts. Divide the dough in half; shape each half into a roll about 2 inches in diameter and 8 to 10 inches long. Wrap in wax paper and chill for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease baking sheets with butter or cooking spray or line with silicone liners. Unwrap the dough and slice into scant 1/4-inch rounds. Place the rounds on the prepared baking sheets about ½ inch apart. Bake until the cookies are lightly browned around the edges and crisp, about 10 minutes.

Pepperoni Wheels - Make Them Now, Freeze Them, And Arm Yourself for the Holidays

I realizing I'm not telling you anything new here when I say that pepperoni, cheese, and pizza dough were meant to be together. But hopefully I am telling you something new when I say that you can make these little babies, freeze them, and pull them out and reheat whenever you need a quick snack or appetizer.

This is a major comfort to me this time of year. I don't know about you but I am slightly blindsided by the fact the holidays are upon us. Driving home from my mom's the other morning I saw a sign that said 'Less Than Eight Weeks Until Christmas!' I almost veered off the road. This is exactly why I had to share these little gems with you - they might help you remain sane this holiday season.

Believe it or not I already have a freezer full of them due to plans for a Halloween party/surprise birthday party for my dear sister going disastrously awry (you'll notice I had to skip out on my annual Halloween recipe series - it's been a tough last couple of weeks.) But God works in mysterious ways and in this particular case he stocked me up with pepperoni wheels. If cousin Eddie should drop by (then again don't we all have our own 'Cousin Eddie'?) - I'll know what to feed him.

What's your favorite go to holiday appetizer?

Pepperoni Wheels
* Makes 45 'wheels'
* Inspired by the delectable pepperoni rolls at Double Daves Pizza. The most delicious cellulite-maker I've ever eaten.

Ingredients:
1 pkg refrigerated pizza dough (such as Pillsbury)
Dijon mustard
8 oz shredded cheddar
8 oz shredded Parmesan
8 oz pepperoni slices
4 oz (or more) sliced salami (or you can go with all pepperoni - up to you)
an egg wash - 1 egg whisked with some half and half or cream or water
Flour for dusting board

Marinara or mustard for serving

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 (325 if your oven runs hot - you do not want to burn these.)
Spread some flour out lightly on a clean counter or cutting board. Unroll your dough, flour a rolling pin, and begin to roll it out just getting it to behave and flatten a little so you can cut it into fours. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into four even squares. Set 3 aside (or back in the fridge if your kitchen is warm) and use your pin (adding flour as necessary to prevent sticking) to smooth and flatten out as much as possible but before it gets so thin that holes appear, trying to keep it as 'square-ish' as possible.

Using a pastry brush or the back of a wide spoon, lightly brush the dough with dijon mustard, leaving one edge clear and dry by about an inch long margin. Sprinkle with a nice layer of Parmesan and cheddar cheese - don't be shy with it - but keep the layer even so you can roll it, again keeping the one end free and clear. Add slices of pepperoni on top, overlapping them, and repeat with the salami. Using a pastry brush, brush the clean edge with your egg wash.

Then, starting from the opposite end from the 'clean' edge, carefully but determinedly begin rolling it up using the tips of your fingers to squish and keep in the filling as you do. Remember dough isn't all that different from a horse - the minute you show fear, you're finished. Once you have it all rolled up, make sure that the egg brushed edge is the side that is facing down (I give it an extra little press to be sure it's sealed.)

Carefully transfer to an aluminum lined, non stick sprayed baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 10 minutes while you finish the rest of the rolls.

Once ready to bake (have oven preheated to 350) remove the rolls from the fridge and carefully but quickly cut with a sharp knife into wheels (about 1/4 inch thick.) Place the wheels about an inch apart and bake for 12-15 minutes. The only hitch with these is that it's very hard to tell when they're done because the tops will not get golden. If you wait until the tops are golden, chances are the bottoms are already black - so remove them to check for doneness sooner than later to check them lifting one up with a spatula. Let cool on the pan for 1 minute then transfer to a cookie rack to cool all the way or serve immediately. Serve them with marinara for dipping or even mustard or both.

If not serving right away, let cool completely before placing in a freezer bag and freezing.

Date Night Appetizer - Coconut Crusted Shrimp with Pink Pepper Honey

I have a love/hate relationship with appetizers. The IDEA of them - the endless possibilities, the whole 'canapes with cocktails' at 6 concept, is irressistable to me. But the reality of them - having to whip something together before whipping up the main course leaves me cold. I mess up my kitchen before I've even started the real cooking. I panic about how to time everything out. And I look nothing like one of those fifties housewives, happily doling out blinis with caviar. In fact, I look more like a grizzly bear.

And then I discovered something that reignited my passion. I learned that I can make them ahead of time. Not the cooking of course, just the prepping so that I can stash them in the fridge until go time. I am constantly shocked at how well this works - case in point - even this shrimp recipe. You can rinse, dry, and coat them in the morning, cover tightly with plastic wrap and put in the fridge right on their baking sheet. All you do before baking is drizzle them with oil and sprinkle with salt. And I don't even have to set down my cocktail to do that.

Finally, the pink pepper honey sauce is a nice change from the apricot or honey mustard type sauces usually served with this. I made it after having a cheese plate at Mario Batali's Otto that includes honey and fresh cracked pepper. SO good. But of course you can use whatever sauce you like.

Coconut Crusted Shrimp with Pink Pepper Honey
* I apologize for the terrible picture. These are much prettier in person and the sauce has a deep, hypnotic reddish pink, not the house of horrors bayou mud color above.
Ingredients:
10 peeled and devained shrimp, tails on

1/3 cup all purpose flour
2 eggs beaten combined with small splash milk
1 cup panko crumbs combined with 1/2 cup (more if you want) shredded raw coconut
2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil, for drizzling shrimp
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt, for sprinkling shrimp

Instructions:
If making right away, put your oven on 375.

Cover a large rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place a baking rack (cooling rack for cookies) over the baking sheet and spray liberally with nonstick spray. Set aside.

Rinse your shrimp under cold water and thoroughly pat dry with paper towels. Prepare your breading stations - your flour in a flat wide dish, your eggs and milk whisked together and ready in one bowl and your panko/coconut mixture in another.

Begin breading. One by one, lightly dredge the shrimp in the flour lightly coating all sides. Give a little shake to remove excess, then dip coating all sides briefly in the egg mixture. Shake lightly and move to the breading, pressing both and all sides in a couple of times to get as much to stick as possible. Place on your prepared baking sheet fitted with the sprayed rack. Repeat with the rest of the shrimp, spacing them evenly apart on the sheet. I like to pile a little extra panko/coconut on top of each shrimp on the tray afterwards, knowing the plastic wrap is going to knock some off.

If making ahead, cover the tray with a large sheet of plastic wrap lengthwise, then place two sheets of aluminum foil, overlapping them along the short sides, gently but firmly crimping around the edges of the baking sheet so the shrimp aren't exposed to air while in the fridge. Place the sheet flat on a shelf in the fridge until you're ready to bake, removing them 20 minutes beforehand so they don't go in the oven ice cold.

Preheat the oven to 375. Remove the shrimp from the fridge, uncover and discard the plastic wrap and foil, then drizzle the shrimp with the oil (do this carefully so that you cover the shrimp instead of the sheet.) Sprinkle each shrimp with salt, and
bake for 15-18 minutes, lowering the heat slightly if the coconut gets too dark too quickly, just until the tails turn bright pink and the shrimp are cooked through with not a hint of translucence to them.

Pink Pepper Honey Dipping Sauce:
1/3 cup honey
1 teaspoon pink peppercorns
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

Crush the pink and black peppercorns in a ziploc with a mallet or heavy pan. Add the paprika in and shake to combine. Stir the mixture into the honey and cover until you're ready to serve. Just before serving, warm the honey briefly in the microwave just to make it more 'dipable.'

Homemade Pimiento Cheese, for Stuffing or Slathering

Do you ever find that when you're making party food, you end up with 99% bready snacks? Crostini, chips and dip, little pizzettes, cheese straws, etc? Not that I have a problem with carbs (clearly) but I don't like filling my guests up with loads of starches. They get full and then they don't drink as much and then we have nothing to talk about the next day. No thank you - I prefer my guests on the loose side of the goose.

Speaking of imbibing, over the holidays I made this incredibly wonderful homemade pimiento cheese from the Down Home with the Neely's cookbook. I hadn't encountered pimiento cheese, in any form, since I was little and was intrigued by making it from scratch. I threw a batch together, spread it on long slabs of sliced French bread, and baked them until bubbled and brown, crumpling cooked bacon over the top. As you can imagine, they were gone before I had time to unzip my camera case.

I wanted to make them again for the Superbowl but because we were also having pulled pork sandwiches, I didn't want to serve the pimiento cheese on bread. So I did what any other self respecting Texan would do and stuffed jalapenos with it instead. They were fantastic, if not a little on the ugly side as the cheese tends to crawl out of the peppers if you over stuff them (not a problem other than aesthetically as long as you grease your pan well.) If you want pretty stuffed peppers, go the old school route stuffing them with a long, narrow wedge of hard aged cheese, wrap them in bacon, secure them with a toothpick and bake.

But honestly, after trying these, I'll be hard pressed not to do the pimiento version every time. I know I sound like a newly converted Mormon or something, but this cheese is the cat's pajamas. Even Kris will grab this straight from the fridge, spread it on a piece of bread and eat it cold. I realize this isn't exactly James Bond daredevil behavior but you have to understand this is a man who hasn't eaten a ham and cheese sandwich other than in piping hot Croque Monsieur form since he was ten. To him, cheese just isn't cheese unless it's bubbling and burnt in places. But enough about him.

What I want to know is how you feel about the Neely's show on Food Network. I happen to love it (though I admit to decreasing the volume by 50% when it's on.) What charms me to pieces is their untamed, unedited love for cooking, and for each other. So many of Food Network's shows are so damned glossy and smiley and staged these days, I find the Neely's a welcome dose of genuine imperfection. And if any of their other recipes are as good as this damn cheese, you can't afford not to pay attention to them.

Homemade Pimiento Cheese
* Adapted slightly from the Neely's
* If you can't find pimiento peppers, simply use half a 7 oz jar of roasted red peppers - just drain them and chop them fine.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups sharp white cheddar cheese
1 1/4 cups sharp regular (orange) cheddar cheese
3.5 oz pimientos from a jar, drained and chopped fine (usually just half of a 7 oz jar)
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons mayo (I have used light mayo and it works great)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
half of a small garlic clove, finely minced or grated
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder

Instructions:
Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl with a fork, very well. You can also blend them in a small chop prep blender if you like a smoother, more traditional pimiento cheese consistency, though it won't make an ounce of difference taste wise. Cover and chill for at least two hours before serving, or chill for up to 4 days.

Serving suggestions - spread over sliced 1/2" rounds of French bread and bake at 375 for 15-18 minutes until golden brown in places. Top with cooked crumpled bacon. Or serve cold between slices of bread as sandwiches. Also great as a dip with chips or on prepared pizza dough, baked for 15 minutes at 400. Or of course stuffed in peppers as in the below recipe.

Pimiento Cheese Stuffed Peppers:
* The above pimiento cheese recipe will easily accommodate 13 whole peppers, or 26 halves for stuffing.

Preheat the oven to 375.

Add 13 whole jalapenoes to a pot of water. Bring the water to a boil over high heat, and boil for about 4 minutes or just right before they turn from that beautiful bright green to a God awful poo green. Transfer the jalapenoes to an ice bath to shock them for several minutes. Remove them from the bath and pat dry with paper towels.

Once dry, cut the jalapenoes in half, length-wise, removing the seeds and veins with a spoon. Pat the insides dry, then begin stuffing with the pimiento cheese. Remember not to pile it too high or it will just all ooze out anyway.

Place the stuffed jalapeno halves onto a greased rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 15-18 minutes until golden brown on top. Cool slightly before serving.

Curiously Addictive Roasted Garbanzo Beans

I made these last night to snack on during the Superbowl. When I pulled them from the oven, Kris reached for one, tasted it, then said, "Well, at least we can say we tried them..."

I sadly agreed. They were okay but nothing special. I sprinkled them with a little extra salt and put them in a dish anyway since they were already made. The game started and I reached for a handful. Then Kris reached for a handful. Then I reached for another handful. Then he reached for another handful... Before I knew it they were gone.

I don't know what happened but they seemed to get better the more we ate them. Or maybe they just needed that little bit of salt after roasting to make the flavors pop. Either way, I'm so glad I didn't just throw them out. These will be a new football, movie night, or anytime snack at our house.

Have you ever been unimpressed with something you made then suddenly fallen in love with it?

Roasted Garbanzo Beans

Ingredients:
* Garbanzo beans are also known as chickpeas, or 'ceci' beans in Italian.
* Yours should look a little darker and more shrunken than mine pictured - I didn't leave this batch in quite long enough.

1 14 oz can of garbanzo beans, drained, rinsed thoroughly then patted dry with paper towels
3/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds (you can reduce this if you don't want them this pronounced in the mix)
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon coriander
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons olive oil

another 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt to sprinkle over as soon as they're pulled from the oven

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400.

Place the beans on a large, rimmed cookie sheet. Dust them with the salt, fennel, and spices, tossing with a spatula (fingers are even better.) Drizzle with the olive oil and toss again to make sure they're all coated.

Roast for 15 minutes then give the pan a good shake and continue roasting another 12-15 minutes, until the beans are dark brown in places, have shrunk a bit, and have a nice crispy texture.

Remove, toss with additional salt while hot, and serve.

Something to consider for the Super Bowl...

Or when it's 20 degrees which seems to be every night in New York this winter.

Let me start by saying I have no problem with the classic, good 'ol American grilled cheese. But this version ever so humbly blows the socks off the original. It's actually a little embarrassing.

And while I served these with a salad for dinner, I do think they'd be perfect Super Bowl finger food cut into little triangles. You can even fry up a big batch of the sandwiches then keep them warm in a low oven until you're ready to cut and serve them. They'll just sit in the oven happy as taxidermy, all gooey on the inside and crispy on the outside until kick off.

Gooey Goat and Mozzarella Grilled Cheese with Bacon
* This filling will make 3 sandwiches, or 12 'triangles' when cut cross wise from corner to corner as an app.
* If omitting the bacon, I'd use salted butter for more flavor, but then again I'm a salt addict.

Ingredients:
6 slices of sourdough bread
Butter, to spread

2.5 oz goat cheese, room temp
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella (not fresh mozzarella, your regular bagged variety)
1 tablespoon light mayonnaise
1/8 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
6-8 drops Tabasco (hot sauce)
1/4 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard (the all American ballpark kind)
Fresh cracked pepper
3 tablespoons unsalted butter plus a dash of olive oil

6-8 slices of bacon, baked on a cookie sheet in a 400 degree oven for 15-18 minutes until crisp then patted dry and cut in half

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 325.

Mix the goat cheese, mozzarella, mayo, salt, Tabasco, mustard, and pepper together in a small bowl, using a fork to help things along. Set aside. Meanwhile, spread 3 of the sourdough slices with butter on one side. Spread the cheese filling onto the remaining 3 slices, making sure the filling is evenly distributed across and not going over the edge. Add the bacon over the cheese spread, as much or as little as you want.

Now you can put the sandwiches together by placing the buttered slices, butter side-down on top of the cheese and bacon. Press the sandwiches gently but firmly together, pushing your palms down on them to help them stick.

Heat the 3 tablespoons butter and dash of oil in a large, rimmed, nonstick skillet. There should be enough butter, once melted and swirled around by tilting the pan, to coat the entire bottom with a thin layer. If not, add more butter until it does.

Once hot but not to the point of browning on you, add the sandwiches, spreading out evenly in the pan. These will cook quickly, so don't leave them. After about a minute, use a spatula to lift one, checking to see if your crust has become golden yet. If so, flip carefully but immediately to the other side, gently pushing the sandwiches around in the pan to soak up any leftover butter (by now some of it will have browned, adding that wonderful nutty flavor.) Cook just another 30 seconds or so until golden, then transfer to a baking rack fitted over a baking sheet and transferring to the oven to continue heating through and melting the cheese, about 8 minutes. If not serving right away, lower the heat to 200.

Remove, cut, and serve.

Mediterranean Dip - for an appetizer or...dinner!

I think of this as a Greek version of pico de gallo. Every bite is a trip to a Mediterranean summer. You can make this lots of different ways. Just like pico or any other deconstructed dip, the measurements are to taste. You can add more cheese or omit the cheese altogether. More tomato or substitute with some roasted red peppers. And then there's the endless number of things you can add - red pepper flakes, chopped black olives, toasted pine nuts, or something I wouldn't even think of. This is after all, the point. A recipe is a beginning, not an ending - it's how nerds to get their kicks!

As far as serving, the possibilities abound there too. After indulging in Corner Bistro today (and a delicious but coronary inducing burger), I had this for a light dinner, piled onto a piece of toasted French bread that had been drizzled in olive oil and smeared with a garlic clove. I'm telling you - the combination of cucumber and tomato absolves all sins. You could also wrap this in warmed pitas for a scrumptious vegetarian dinner. And of course, there's the way I originally intended - as a dip served with rustic pita chips or tortilla chips.

Mediterranean Dip

Ingredients:
1 medium tomato, seeded and pulped and finely chopped (just slice into quarters, then run your thumb over the pulp to scoop out the seeds/jelly part before chopping)
1/2 medium cucumber, seeded and finely chopped
2 tablespoons minced flat leaf parsley
3 tablespoons crumpled feta, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
fresh cracked pepper
zest and juice of 1/2 large lemon (if small, use juice of the entire lemon)
teeny pinch freshly minced garlic, or more to taste
3 teaspoons olive oil

Instructions:
Combine all in a medium bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours to let the flavors marry and develop. Taste for seasoning and add any salt or pepper you need. Serve as a dip, over toasted French bread as an appetizer, or in pitas.

Texas Cavier - My Favorite Way to Eat Black Eyed Peas

Happy New Year, Y'all! Many new recipes coming soon - in fact I promise to stuff your faces! In the meantime, try this Texas version of a deconstructed hummus, or bean dip.

Texas Cavier
* Serve as a dip with pita chips or tortilla chips (the 'Scoops' kind work well with these so your beans don't go rollin' on you...)

Ingredients:
1 (15.5 oz) can black eyed peas, drained and lightly rinsed
2 tablespoons minced red onion
2 tablespoon fresh seeded, deveined jalapeno pepper, minced
2 tablespoons drained canned corn
2 tablespoons sherry wine vinegar
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 cup canola oil or olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large handful fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions:
Mix all together in a medium bowl (or to save extra washing up - you can go ahead and do it in your serving bowl.) Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving. Will last for 2 days looking pretty (a great thing to pull out of the fridge with a bag of chips to shut up hungry guests or family while you cook) and will still taste good the third day but by that point won't win any beauty contests... Oh and freshly squeezed lime juice would be delicious on this as well but if adding do so just before serving and remember the acid will toughen the beans so leftovers will probably go out the window.

Halloween Recipe Pairing - Scooby Doo and Scooby Snacks

Scooby Doobie Doo...Where are you...

To this day I adore this show (aside from the Scrappy episodes - not a fan.) And when I have downtime during the fall, I love to put in a dvd of this 70's classic, particularly while I'm whipping up some Halloween recipes. And as far as Scooby snacks - something you can NOT get enough of - I volunteer these Ranch flavored oyster crackers. My old neighbor, Cassie, would make these growing up and I thought they were crack cocaine in edible form, even at the age of 13. Oddly enough, my husband doesn't find them as scrumptious as I do, and suggests they would work better as croutons. While I think this is a novel idea, what the hell is wrong with the man?

Scooby Snacks (Ranch style crackers)

Ingredients:
1 (10 oz pkg) oyster crackers
1 (1 oz pkg) Ranch dressing mix (the dry powder form)
1/2 teaspoon dried dill
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 275. Grease a large, rimmed baking sheet with nonstick spray and set aside. Place the dressing mix, dried dill, salt and oil in a large mixing bowl and mix thoroughly. Add the crackers and stir for several minutes (sounds ridiculous, but you'd be amazed at how long it takes those damn cracker to soak up that oil) until there is no longer excess dressing at the bottom of the bowl and the crackers have given into its power. Spread them out on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, or just until lightly golden. Cool on the sheet then serve or transfer to an air tight container and store for up to 1 week.

Scary Picture Friday - Bacon Wrapped Figs with Manchego Cheese

So easy a Caveman could do it. (As an ad woman, I think I'll go to my grave jealous of not having created this campaign. Oh well...)

Figs are still going strong in the grocery stores, so take advantage and make these. Look for the ones that are soft to the touch and oozing their amber fig juice - disgusting to behold but delicious. My family looked at me like I had officially become a 'New Yorker' (and possibly even a card carrying member of the communist party) when I made these during my Texas trip. But as they baked off in the oven sending the smell of bacon and cheese throughout the house, all was forgiven and they quickly were eaten up.

This reconfirms my belief in what I call the 'hotdog theory'. If you ever saw what went into one before you ever tried it, think of all you'd have missed!

* Apologies for the especially horrendous picture - I took it with my iPhone on vacay. Bad idea.com

Bacon Wrapped Figs with Manchego Cheese
Serves 16.

Ingredients:
1 (8 slice) package bacon (preferably Applegate Farms 'Sunday' bacon)
8 fresh, ripe figs, stems removed and cut in half length-wise
1 medium block Manchego cheese, cut into 1x1 1/2 inch chunks

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 400. Grease a large rimmed baking sheet liberally with nonstick spray and set aside.

Remove the bacon slices from the package and cut them directly in half, giving you 16 mini slices. Place a wedge of cheese over the cut side of your fig, then wrap with the bacon slice so that the bacon overlaps on the non cut side (you won't have to put a toothpick through them this way.) Set in your prepared baking sheet, assembling the rest and spacing them evenly apart in the sheet.

Place in the center of the oven for 18-22 minutes, until the bacon looks a bit crisped around the edges and is cooked through. Wait a couple of minutes to cook before serving.

Just in Time for the Weekend - Sausage and Parmesan Stuffed Mushrooms

Before you read this post, if you need a brief escape from the world, go to youtube and search for 'Jimmy Dean Sausage complaint' (I tried to link it here but my site is being hormonal.) I was just in Texas and saw a woman walking her dogs with a braid down to her ankles stop and do 50 push ups against a rock. You don't mess with Texas. Or a Texan's sausage, apparently.

Anyway, I made these sausage-stuffed mushrooms years ago for a party, loved them, and promptly forgot all about them. It wasn't until this past week visiting family in Texas that they resurfaced again in my tiny brain. Actually, I think I 'forgot' about them on purpose because while they were delicious the first go around, they were a pain in the @$$ to make because I used little button mushrooms which made cleaning and filling them as tedious as hula hooping in a body cast. If memory serves, that was also the party where I was so flustered from running late I forgot to eat and ended up running around with my pants down at the end of the night thinking everyone had left. They hadn't.

So do yourself a favor. Do make these little crack-filled nuggets for company or to snack on during football, but only if you can find the baby bellas about 2 1/2 inches in diameter. My sister and I found them in packages of 6 at her grocery store in Texas, but of course I can't find them now that I'm back in NY (that would be too easy.) So when I make them here, I'll go through the trouble of rifling through the free range mushroom bin to find them all this size. Far less traumatizing than ending up with a gallon of sangria in my stomach and my pants around my ankles...

Sausage and Parmesan Stuffed Mushrooms
(Serves 12 as an appetizer or hor douvre with a salad)

TIP: I know rinsing mushrooms is a culinary 'no-no' (it's said to make them heavy because they absorb the water.) But nothing is sadder in the entire world for a cook than biting into a wonderfully seasoned mushroom that tastes like potting soil. It gives me chills just thinking about it. So for me, I rinse the little bastards. Not for several minutes, but quickly and under hard running water to knock any clinging dirt or grit off. I then dry them off with a paper towel which gives me a chance to double check them for any garden remains. But if you want to stick with the damp towel method - more power to you.

Ingredients:
24 (roughly 2 1/2 inch in diameter) Baby Bella mushrooms, gently and quickly rinsed, patted dry with stems removed so you can fill them
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 medium sweet onion, finely diced
3/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
pinch fresh cracked black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (16) package ground pork sausage, preferably Jimmy Dean or other trusted brand
2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, room temp
1 (6 oz) tub shredded parmesan cheese
1 1/2 tablespoons minced flat leaf parsley
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg (just a couple shakes)
pinch red pepper flakes, or more to taste
additional 1/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 400.

Heat up a large skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil (you may need a dash more depending on how large your onion was.) Let the oil heat through for one minute, then add the onions seasoning them with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring every so often until they become translucent, about 12 minutes. Add the minced garlic, give a good stir, and cook another 3-4 minutes until softened.

Transfer the onion and garlic mixture to a large bowl. Add another dash oil to the pan and put back over medium heat. Add the sausage, breaking up with your wooden or plastic spoon and cook stirring every couple of minutes until cooked through (usually about 10 minutes but use your eyeballs and consult the package instructions.) While the sausage cooks, add the cream cheese, parmesan, parsley, nutmeg, red pepper flakes and salt to the onion and garlic mixture, stirring in well to incorporate.

Once the sausage has cooked, use a slotted spoon to transfer the sausage to the onion mixture (leaving excess grease behind in the pan to discard) and mix well. Set aside.

Grease two large rimmed baking sheets with non stick spray, then begin filling your mushrooms with the stuffing mixture. Use a small spoon to do so, pressing the filling in gently so that it fills up the entire cavity of the mushroom and put a hefty bit of the filling over the top, but not so much that it's falling over the sides. (You could even put additional parmesan over the tops after you're done filling them, but by this point, I'm over it:)

Place in the oven for 15 minutes, then swap the trays to allow for even cooking and cook another 8-12 minutes, until the tops are just becoming golden brown. Remove allowing to cool a couple of minutes before serving.