Jan 09 2012

“The Works” Pizza Dip

My Co-worker shared her Creative Slow Cooker Recipe Magazine and there were several fun recipes that looked really good and worth trying. I had a party to attend and we were all asked to bring an appetizer or two. I thumbed to the Pizza Dip page and paused – I like pizza… I like dip… next thing you know, I was signing up to bring  just that. There was no turning back, it was going to be me and my crockpot for a pizza dip showdown… too dramatic?

Pizza Background: I’ve always been a cheese pizza kind of girl. Sometimes with olives or mushrooms, mostly just plain. Over the years I’ve developed a medium “like” for fully loaded “Supreme” pizzas. At some point in my childhood, I decided that I didn’t like bell peppers or sausage, now I can handle both in moderation.

Random Fact: I also used to hate licorice  – now I actually like it. BTW, I refer to Red Vines® as red licorice and it drives Dan crazy. It’s NOT LICORICE – it’s flavored candy! I’m sorry, it will forever be red licorice to me.

Back to the dip…

The Ingredients:
8 Ounces Bulk Italian Sausage
1 Medium Onion – about 1/2 cup chopped
1 Clove Garlic – minced
1 15 Ounce Can Pizza Sauce
1 Cup Cooked Turkey Pepperoni – thinly sliced – you could also use Canadian style bacon
1 Cup Fresh Portobello or Cremini Mushrooms – coarsely chopped (I used white because I had them)
1/2 Cup Green Bell Pepper – coarsley chopped
1/4 Cup Pitted Ripe Olives – sliced
1 Cup Four Cheese Pizza Cheese – shredded, about 3 ounces
1 Baguette

Note: The recipe called for special pizza chips, made out of sliced Boboli, but I’m not a huge Boboli fan, so I just went with the baguette. You can never go wrong with fresh bread.

Directions:

  • Cook sausage, onion, and garlic over medium high heat in a skillet. Drain off any fat.
  • Stir in pizza sauce, pepperoni, mushrooms, green pepper, and olives.
  • Transfer mixture to slow cooker and sprinkle with 3/4 cup cheese.
  • Cover and cook on low-heat setting for about 4 hours or on medium/high-heat setting for about 2 hours or until bubbly.
  • Serve warm – Makes 32 (2 Tablespoon) Servings – It was plenty for 10 guests.

I added all of my toppings to the sausage, onion and garlic mixture before adding the pizza sauce.

I got everything mixed up and then transferred it to my crockpot for the 4 hour low heat simmer.

I added the shredded cheese to the top of the mixture before setting my timer. I went with the 4 hour setting, stirring occasionally. The house smelled like a pizzeria – I couldn’t wait to dive in. I sliced my baguette right before the party – took a million photos and then headed to the party. I brought a 1/4 cup of cheese to place on top right before serving.

The dip was a crowd-pleaser. There was barely any left for the trip home – always a good sign. I also brought a Lemon Artichoke Dip… I will be posting that one soon.

Do tell: What is your “go to” appetizer? One you make, and one you order… with Super Bowl parties around the corner, I’m definitely up for trying something new.

Permanent link to this article: http://foodiddy.com/?p=6942

Jan 07 2012

Braised Red Cabbage w/Goat Cheese

I recently had dinner at the restaurant Bandera with my girlfriend Kindra. We had a long wait, which was plenty of time to catch up and create a major hunger level. Both of us decided to order the vegetarian plate with a few substitutions. One of the seasonal vegetable sides was Braised Red Cabbage w/Goat Cheese. It ended up being my favorite part of the meal. I immediately went home and did some “copycat” online research and found a simple recipe on Food.com (Who had gotten it from Nibbles of Tidbit’s) that was supposed to be a copycat of Houston’s Braised Cabbage w/Goat Cheese and Houston’s is part of the Hillstone Restaurant Group that owns Bandera… so I gave it a shot and I’m so glad I did.

The Ingredients:
1 Head of Red Cabbage – Chopped or Shredded
1/2 Cup White Wine Vinegar
1/4 Cup Water
2 1/2 Tablespoons Butter
2 1/2 Tablespoons Sugar
Crumbled Goat Cheese – Used as a Topping

Directions:

  • Add the Vinegar, Water, Butter and Sugar to a Dutch Oven.  Heat all on the stove for about 5 minutes.  When the Sugar is dissolved, add the chopped Red Cabbage.
  • Stir all together, then cover and braise in the oven at 325° for 2 hours.  Stir every half hour or so.  If the liquid completely evaporates, just add a little extra Water.

I chopped my red cabbage…

I wasn’t too precise in my cuts – just a nice rough chop. I then got the vinegar, water, butter and sugar dissolved in my Dutch oven on the stove. (medium heat)

I got all of the cabbage coated really well and slid it into the 325 degree oven for the 2 hour cook time. I checked it every 1/2 hour and gave it a good stir. I do have to warn you, cooked cabbage does not make the house smell too fabulous. Kind of the same thing as cooked broccoli or cauliflower.

The end result was awesome. I pretty much ate braised cabbage and goat cheese for days… as a side with every single meal, minus breakfast.

I preferred using small crumbles of goat cheese, compared to the “dollop” mentioned in the food.com recipe. Bandera used small crumbles too.

I have also made Claire Robinson’s Braised Red Cabbage before and loved that one as well (One of the 5 ingredients is bacon) –  I guess I just dig cabbage. How about you? Are you a cooked cabbage fan? If not, I swear – braising it makes a world of difference in flavor. Add the goat cheese and it’s heaven on a plate.

Permanent link to this article: http://foodiddy.com/?p=6920

Jan 03 2012

NYE 2011

Happy New Year!

The evening started out with friends and fondue at our place – it was my first time making it. I followed Martha Stewart’s fondue party planner/recipe with great success. I went with the classic cheese recipe, but used Gruyère, Fontina and Sharp White Cheddar instead of Emmentaler, and French Raclette. Mostly due to the fact that I didn’t shop for the get together until a few hours before it started and I couldn’t find the last two cheeses.

Our fondue accompaniments included cubed Pugliese bread, steamed cauliflower and broccoli, steamed new potato wedges, mushrooms, Granny Smith apples, cornichon pickles and caramelized lil smokies (gourmet all the way).

Our second course (hours later) was grilled filet mignon, garlic shrimp, and salad with golden raisins, shredded carrot, roasted sunflower seeds, spring mix and a sesame miso dressing.

Our third course… provided by Deede – was the highlight of the evening. I LOVE that she even made a sign to place next to the dessert. Gotta love a friend that embraces a food blogger’s wants and needs.

Chocolate Stout Cake with Guinness-Milk Chocolate Ice Cream – Wow were they good! She arrived with dry ice and a pan of ice cream ready to be cut with a mold for stacking. The ice cream was rock hard… she had to let it sit out to be able to cut through it with the ring mold.

The frosting did not want to stick to the cold ice cream, but it didn’t matter… this my friends was heaven on a plate.

The Chocolate Stout Cake Recipe was from Epicurious.com. The best part was that she turned it into an ice cream cake… using the same Guinness-Milk Chocolate Ice Cream recipe that she used to celebrate her first triathlon. It’s from David Lebovitz’s the Perfect Scoop.

Almost forgot… One other highlight of the evening…

Deede brought me all of the leftover cake pieces (labeled of course) so I could try my hand at some cake pops.

My girlfriend Virginia got me Bakerella’s fabulous Cake Pops book for Christmas and I had shown it to Deede earlier in the week. Funny… the cake pieces keep finding their way into my mouth, luckily there is still enough left to try to create a few pops.

I ended the evening in a food coma. We watched the ball drop and could not get into bed fast enough. I remember spending New Year’s Eve in San Francisco dancin’ up a storm with friends… until the wee small hours, eating breakfast around 5:00 a.m. What happened to that girl? Oh wait… yes, she’s 41 now and needs her sleep. 🙂

I’m not a huge New Year’s Resolutions kind of gal… but I’d like to just say here on the blog, it’s so nice to not have “lose weight” and “exercise more” topping my mental list. I incorporated both things in 2011 and I’m happy to report that this morning… like past mornings, I started out with my lemon water, green tea, healthy breakfast, and monster treadmill session. While I indulged over the holiday season, I certainly didn’t go crazy and I don’t have a single pound that I need to re-lose. It can’t get any better than that.

How about you? What are your plans for 2012?

Permanent link to this article: http://foodiddy.com/?p=6888