Eat Drink and Blog » Entertaining

Salmon Dip

pbandjazz — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:32:59 +0000

This is a really easy dip. I often make it with left over grilled salmon.

11 oz. of salmon
1 cup cream cheese
1 TBS minced onion
1 TBS lemon juice
1/2 tsp Horseradish
1/2 tsp yellow mustard
2 tsp fresh parsley
dash of salt

Put all the ingredients together in a bowl. Cut the ingredients together with a fork. Refrigerate 30 minutes or more. I serve it on Townhouse crackers.

Chicken & Ramen Salad

Meghan — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 19:30:47 +0000

This is another recipe that’s great for gatherings.

Ingredients:

2 Cups Cooked, Diced Chicken (I use store bought rotisserie chicken)

2 T. Sesame Seeds (Toasted)

2 oz. Sliced Almonds (Toasted)

1/2 Head Cabbage, Chopped

1 pkg. Chicken Top Ramen (Break up the noodles, but DO NOT COOK)

2 Green Onions, Chopped

Dressing:

1/2 Cup Oil

1 tsp. Salt

1/2 tsp. Accent Seasoning

1/2 tsp. Pepper

3 T. Vinegar (Cider Vinegar is good if you have it)

1 Package Noodle Seasoning (from Ramen package)

1 T. Sugar

Directions:

Mix Dressing Ingredients.

Pour Dressing over Salad.

Refrigerate overnight.

Enjoy!

Freaking Delicious Orange Rolls

Meghan — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:00:16 +0000

This is a super quick, super easy recipe and you will get A LOT of compliments on. Really. I promise.

It’s perfect for a holiday breakfast or a brunch with friends. No plan something just so you have an excuse to make this. If Saturday morning isn’t enough of an excuse.

Ingredients:

2 Packages Pillsbury Refrigerated Biscuits

1 Cup Butter, Melted

3/4 Cup Sugar

Grated Rind of 2 Oranges

Directions:

Grease a bundt (or round mold) pan.

Mix sugar and orange rind in the melted butter.

Dip each biscuit in the mixture and lay on it’s side (up & down) in the pan.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 -25 minutes.

Turn upside down onto a dish.

Pull apart and enjoy!

Toffee Bars

mama2addie — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 20:17:47 +0000

Layer 1:
1 cup Yellow Cake Mix
1 egg
3 tablespoons butter, melted

Layer 2:
1 cup evaporated milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Layer 3:
1 8oz package Heath Toffee Bits
1/2 cup Nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350*. Spray an 8×8 inch baking pan with non-stick spray. Beat cake mix, egg and butter with an electric mixer for 2 minutes. Spread into prepared baking pan. Mix together evaporated milk, egg and vanilla, and pour over the first layer. Sprinkle toffee bits and nuts (optional). Bake for 30 minutes, checking for doneness with a toothpick. Cool and enjoy!

Broccoli Salad

Erin — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 17:00:34 +0000

Another really yummy summer salad. It’s super easy and everyone seems to love it!

2 bunches of Broccoli (just the flower part, chopped)

1 lb bacon, diced and well cooked (you could use bacon bits, but fresh bacon tastes better, or leave out the bacon if you are having vegetarians)

1 purple onion

1 cup raisins (craisins or even cranberries are yummy too)

1 cup chopped walnuts

Dressing: (mix first to make sure the sugar dissolves)

1 cup mayo

2 T. red wine vinegar

½ cup sugar

Toss all together before serving!

No-recipe Potato Salad

EmmieJ — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:18:29 +0000

A number of the people in my life are amazing cooks, especially for events where they need to feed tons of people. Unfortunately they rarely follow recipes which makes it hard to share their culinary creations. They have, however, been quite generous in teaching me how to recreate some of their specialities. Below is a staple at any bar-b-que at our house: potato salad. So far, my hubby likes it better than any other potato salad he’s had (including at awesome bar-b-que restaurants) and in my book, that’s the best endorsement it can get.

The secret is in not following the recipe. I’ve included estimates for quantities (for “small” and “normal” batches) but it turns out best when you experiment and adjust it to your own tastes. (Note: we make our version fairly sweet. Also, like so much food, it tends to taste better on the second day so feel free to make it ahead of time.)

Skin and chop russett potatoes into ~1 inch pieces (for a “small” batch, which feeds 6 people with a moderate amount of leftovers, I will use about 2.5 lb. or about 5 good sized potatoes; for a “normal” batch, I’d use a full 5 lb. bag; I’ve been known to cook up to 10 lbs though.) Place in large stockpot.
Add eggs (6 for a “small” batch, 12 for a “normal” batch) on top of potatoes. Cover potatoes and eggs with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and walk away. Come back after you shower or clean the house or something. (The potatoes should be easy to pierce with a fork.)
Drain and let the potatoes and eggs cool off. If you’re in a hurry you can run cold water over them, but I prefer just to leave myself plenty of time.
Shell eggs and either chop finely or use your hands and squish them into small pieces. Place them in a LARGE mixing bowl along with the potatoes.
Add in sweet pickle relish to taste. (I use a 10 oz. jar for a “small” batch, almost a full 24 oz. jar for a “normal” batch.)

This is about the proportion of potatoes, eggs and relish that I go for:

Finely chop 2 – 3 stalks of celery (for small batch, double for normal) and add to bowl.
Stir until ingredients are evenly distributed.
Grab a large soup spoon and a jar of mayonaise. (I’ve been trying to be healthier so have been experimenting. Going with Light Mayo is ok, going with fat free mayo or Miracle Whip is a sin.) Add a couple of scoops to the bowl (probably ends up working out to about a cup) and stir. Keep adding mayo a scoop at a time until it’s a consistency that you like (i.e., for chunky salad use less, for creamy use more).
Add yellow mustard. Again, start with a small amount and add more until it reaches the color and flavor that you like. Mine is usually a light yellow. You could keep going until you reach a sunshine yellow if you so choose.
Next grab a small handfull (maybe around 1/8 cup for a “small” batch?) of sugar and sprinkle it on top of the mixture. Stir. (Again, you can keep adding more if you like yours sweet.)
Finally, grab some salt and add 1 – 2 tsp., adjusting for taste. Stir.
Taste. Adjust ingredients as appropriate.
If you like your potato salad room temperature, serve immediately. Otherwise, chill and serve.

Random side note, for some reason this stuff tastes great when you eat it side-by-side with baked beans. Put a little of each on your fork and enjoy. Just trust me on that one.

Pesto Pasta Salad and Broccoli Slaw

charmedimsure — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:46:31 +0000

In a previous post, I mentioned that my husband isn’t big on mayo-based dishes. No potato salad. No macaroni salad. No cole slaw. Sigh… makes you sad just thinking about it, doesn’t it? No worries, I have some great mayo-free alternative side dishes that are perfect for picnics, barbecues, casual get togethers with friends, any occasion really. These are not precise recipes, because I generally don’t measure when I make them. But they are both the kind of dish you can make to your liking. Enjoy!

Pesto Pasta Salad

1 box bowtie pasta (or whatever kind of pasta you like/have on hand)
1 container prepared pesto (or you can make your own if you want)
Shredded parmesan cheese
Pine nuts

Cook pasta; drain, rinse and let it cool to room temperature. Mix in pesto and as much parmesan cheese as you want. Top with pinenuts (if you want it to be pretty — you can always just stir them in with the pesto and cheese, too). Chill and serve.

Tah dah!! This is a pasta salad both Hubbz and I can get behind and even though there are usually both pinenuts and parmesan cheese in prepared pesto, you can never have too much of either of those things, IMHO, so load ‘em in! You can also serve this warm or add chicken to make it a main dish (like I did for lunch today). So versatile!!

Broccoli Slaw Salad

One bag broccoli slaw (like cole slaw only with broccoli, carrots and other veggies instead of cabbage)
One red and one yellow bell pepper
Sunflower kernels
Poppy seed dressing

Empty contents of broccoli slaw package into a large bowl. Slice up bell peppers into small pieces. Add them to the slaw, along with as sunflower seeds as you like, top with poppy seed dressing (again, to your liking) and toss ingredients together. Voila!!

If you don’t have red and yellow peppers, any kind of bell pepper will work. Actually, you don’t have to add extra veggies, at all, but I like them for the color and texture. If you’ve never had broccoli slaw, get thee to the produce section and buy some today. It’s a great summer side dish, even for people who don’t eat broccoli (like Hubbz) and it’s a fantastic altermative to a boring old lettuce salad.

Sausage Strata

Meghan — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 22:01:28 +0000

This is, quite possibly, my FAVORITE thing to eat. EVER. I limit myself to eating it once a year (I don’t want to know how much fat or how many calories a serving contains), so it’s kind of taken on this rock star status for me. I. LOVE. IT. It’s the ultimate comfort food for me. It is our traditional Christmas morning brunch item, which I’m sure is why it’s such a big deal to me. So long as I live, I will have Sausage Strata EVERY Christmas morning. And this version of it, too. There will be no messing with the recipe. Feel free to experiment on your own time, but don’t mess with MY Strata. It could get ugly, Christmas or not.

Sausage Strata

The Night Before:

8 Slices of White Bread

2 Cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese

1 1/2 lbs. Browned Breakfast Sausage (not Maple Syrup flavored), cut up

4 eggs

2 1/2 Cups Milk

3/4 tsp. dry Mustard

Cut the bread into cubes and place it at the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish that has been coated with cooking spray. Top with cheese and then sausage.

Mix milk , eggs & mustard. Pour evenly over bread, cheese & sausage. Cover & refrigerate overnight.

In The Morning:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix 1 Can Cream of Mushroom Soup & 1/2 Cup of Milk. Pour over casserole & bake for 1 1/2 hours or until hot & bubbly.

Serve with Mimosas & enjoy!

**I’m sure if you wanted to use low fat cheese & reduced fat cream of mushroom soup you could. It would certainly not be as good (in my opinion). The only concession I’ve ever made is to use turkey sausage instead of pork sausage. That’s Yummy. MMMMMM….

Hot Cheesy Crab Dip

charmedimsure — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:59:15 +0000

This is a family favorite. It’s so easy, but so good… and for some reason crab is just really impressive, even if it’s in a recipe with only four other ingredients (and one of them happens to be cheese in a jar)! Enjoy

Hot Cheesy Crab Dip

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 jar Kraft Old English cheese

1 can crab meat (or you can use the imitation crab meat)

2 Tbsp. half and half

1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Place all ingredients in a crock pot (the small ones are the perfect size for this recipe), stirring occasionally until melted and combined, about an hour or an hour and a half. Serve with crackers. (I like Club crackers because they hold up to dipping well.)

You could probably melt everything together on the stove, too, but you’d have to stir a lot to make sure it didn’t burn on the bottom.

Baked Brie in Puff Pastry with Cranberry Chutney

charmedimsure — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 21:19:24 +0000

I made this on Friday to take to my in-law’s for the annual Father’s Day/father-in-law’s birthday celebration. I have enjoyed baked brie that other people have made, but never tried it myself. I will be trying it again soon. The flavor in the chutney is just wonderful, with a little zing from the tequila, giving it the perfect balance to the smooth, creaminess of the brie.

Baked Brie in Puff Pastry with Cranberry Chutney

Recipe from CDKitchen.com

***Cranberry Chutney***
1 can whole berry cranberry sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 cup hot pepper jelly
2 tablespoons Tequila

***Brie***
1 wheel (2 pound size) Brie cheese, rind intact
1 sheet frozen puff pastry dough, thawed
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon water

Directions:

To make the chutney: Combine the cranberry sauce, brown sugar, ginger and jelly in a small saucepot. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes to blend flavors. Remove the chutney from the heat and stir in the Tequila. Allow the mixture to cool before using.

To assemble the baked brie: Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface just large enough to wrap the wheel of brie. (You might not need to roll too much depending on the size of your puff pastry sheet.)

Freeze the wheel of brie for 15 minutes before slicing. Place the brie on a flat work surface and slice the brie in half crosswise to form two circles. Place the bottom half of the brie upside down on the puff pastry sheet. Top the cheese with 1 1/2 cups of the cranberry chutney and spread evenly over the brie. Place the other circle of brie, rind side up, on top of the cranberry sauce.

Wrap the pastry up around the sides and over the top of cheese wheel, wrapping completely and pressing the edges of dough together to form a tightly sealed package. Carefully flip the dough-wrapped cheese over, so that the gathered dough is on the bottom. Place the package, seam side down, on a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. The brie can be prepared up to this point and refrigerated for 2 days before baking or frozen for up to 2 months. Be sure to bring the brie to room temperature before baking and thaw completely if frozen.

To bake the brie: Preheat the oven to 375 F. Combine the egg and water and brush the mixture over the top and sides of the pastry. Bake the brie for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Serve with crackers or crusty French bread slices.