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All posts for the month August, 2012

Chicken and Basil Stuffed Twice Baked Potatoes

Published August 28, 2012 by jenmatteson

I’ve had this recipe on my “to try” list for a while, but since we don’t eat a lot of potatoes, I haven’t had any on hand recently.  Until a few days ago, when I got a bag on sale (SCORE!), and I had this recipe in mind.  Plus, I had bunches of basil – seemingly my only hearty herb to grow this summer – to use up.

This recipe comes from Nicole, at Prevention RD.  I love her recipes and she’s so incredibly awesome, she’s working on her first cookbook!  I had to laugh as I made this last night, and this morning was the big reveal of the most recent Recipe Swap: Bloggers Choice.  You don’t know who has your blog until the day the swaps are revealed, but I woke up this morning to find that Nicole had my blog.  Wow!  I was really excited because I’ve made tons of her recipes, but then I thought, it must have been hard for her to pick something from my blog, since so many recipes are already hers!  But, she settled on my Pesto Chicken Pinwheels, and made Pesto Chicken Roll-Ups.  Sounds like it was a hit!

Her recipe was a hit in the Pigzilla household, too!  If you don’t already have cooked chicken on hand, these can be a little putzy, but totally worth it.  You could always use rotisserie chicken or some leftover from another meal.  I didn’t have any, so I had to cook the chicken first, then the potatoes.  I was shocked by how flavorful these were.  The lemon juice in the sauce really pops, so don’t omit it!  I omitted the parmesan in my own, not Nate’s, so I’m sure his was extra flavorful.  Not only are these really easy, but it’s an incredibly cheap meal!  I love saving a few bucks :P  You could even use another herb if you have it on hand.  I think rosemary would be delicious, and that may be going in my next batch of these stuffed tatters!

What is your favorite meal to make on a dime?

Chicken and Basil Stuffed Twice Baked Potatoes

Source: Adapted from Prevention RD
Servings: 4

Ingredients:

2 large baking potatoes, scrubbed and dried
olive oil
kosher salt
1/2 onion, diced
4-5 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup milk (or half and half)
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
small handful basil, chopped
1/2 cup parmesan, divided
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper to taste
1 chicken breast, cooked and shredded

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Prepare baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.  Prick potatoes all over with a fork and place on baking sheet.  Spray with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt.  Flip and repeat.  Bake until tender when pricked, about 45-60 minutes, depending on size of potato.

2. While potatoes are cooking, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add onions and saute for 3-4 minutes, until tender.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Pour in milk and broth and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

3. After sauce has simmered for 10 minutes, add basil, 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese and lemon juice.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Set aside.

4. Once the potatoes are finished baking, cut them in half, lengthwise.  Let cool for a few minutes until you are able to handle them.  Scoop out the insides, leaving a thin shell around the outside.  Combine the insides of the potatoes with the chicken, then add the sauce.  Stir to incorporate all ingredients, then scoop mixture back into the potato shells, over-filling them by an inch or so.  Top each stuffed potato half with remaining parmesan cheese.

5. Place stuffed potatoes back in the oven for 10 minutes, turning the oven to broil for the last few minutes to brown up the parmesan.  Remove and let cool for a few minutes before serving.

Mom’s Chicken Nuggets

Published August 25, 2012 by jenmatteson

Growing up, my dad did most of the cooking.  However, my mom has a few signature recipes up her sleeve that are recipes she should probably take to the grave.  Unfortunately, she loves her daughter so much, she’s willing to share with me, full well knowing that I’m going to share it with you :)

By far the best thing my mom ever made was her chicken nuggets.  My brother, dad, and I request these for special occasions, and she always makes extras so everyone has leftovers.  Unfortunately, our families have grown over the years (my brother’s more than mine), so the leftovers seem to disappear faster than ever!  Seriously, as adults, my brother and I fight over who got more and he always snags a few from my stash before we leave.  Just like the youngest child, I tell my mother on him.

These chicken nuggets are better than any you’ve ever had.  I promise.  They are made with boneless, skinless chicken breasts, not some ground up chicken parts that a certain golden arches might serve you.  These are even better than that red bag of chicken tenders you have in your freezer.  These are baked with love.  The nuggets are breaded in Bisquick and baked to perfection.  The outside of the nugget is crisp, buttery and slightly salty, and the insides are moist, juicy, chicken breasts.  OMG, these are so good.

After loving these nuggets for close to 30 years now, I figure it’s time I attempt them myself.  It’s likely that these aren’t as good as my mother’s, but hopefully it’s a close second.  I made a ton, since Nate and I love my mom’s, and we don’t have to share the leftovers with ANYONE (except eachother).  Sorry, Matt :P

My mom likes to use butter on each nugget, but I tried using olive oil cooking spray on half of them to see if it would work and taste just as well, and it did.  Nate and I could barely tell the difference, and it gets the nuggets in the oven much faster, therefore into your mouth much faster!  Have I mentioned how good these nuggets are?  They are even delicious leftover, cold.  I don’t know why, but they might be even better leftover.  Be sure to make a whole heck of a lot of these little nuggets.  They’ll go fast!

Mom’s Chicken Nuggets

Source: Pigzilla’s Mother
Servings: 4

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper
2 cups milk
2 eggs
2 cups Bisquick
1 stick butter or olive oil cooking spray

Directions:

1. Cut chicken into 2-3 inch pieces.  Season with salt and pepper.  In a large bowl, add milk and beat in eggs until well combined.  Add chicken to milk and egg mixture for at least 10 minutes (you could also let them sit overnight in the refrigerator).

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Add Bisquick to a large gallon sized zip top bag.  Remove chicken from milk and egg mixture.  In small batches, add chicken to Bisquick.  Shake until completely covered with Bisquick.  Remove covered chicken from bag and place on a foil lined baking sheet, sprayed with olive oil.  Repeat with remaining chicken.

3. Place very small bits of butter on top of each piece of chicken or spray with olive oil.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and flip.  Continue cooking until chicken nuggets are brown and crispy, about 10-15 more minutes.

Chicken Jalapeno Popper Wonton Cups

Published August 25, 2012 by jenmatteson

Last weekend, Nate went to the beer supply store with our good friends to help them pick up their own brewing equipment (and also pick up an Oktoberfest for us to start!).  It was decided on the way home that our friends would come over and watch us brew the Oktoberfest so they had a good idea of what to do.

I wasn’t about to have them over to our house without at least having a snack, seeing as though the process would take about two hours and it was nearing dinnertime.  Lucky for me I still had leftover Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Popper filling in my fridge from the last drink tasting party.  I only had one jalapeno though, so I decided to add the jalapeno, onions and some chicken (had I more time, I would have used a cooked chicken breast, not canned chicken) to the mix, and throw them in some wonton wrappers in my mini muffin tin.  I crossed my fingers and hoped it would turn out for the best.  And it did.  The four of us ate every last wonton cup.  If I had more jalapenos, I would have added more to the mixture to spice it up, but I only had the one lonely pepper.  Very flavorful and super simple.  I love recipes like that!

What’s your quick go to appetizer or snack for unexpected guests?

Chicken Jalapeno Popper Wonton Cups

Source: Pigzilla Original
Servings: 36 wonton cups

Ingredients:

8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 jalapenos, seeded and diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped
3-4 leaves fresh basil, chopped
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1 can chicken
salt and pepper
36 wonton wrappers
2 tbsp green onions, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a large bowl, mix cream cheese, jalapenos, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, basil and onions.  Stir in chicken.  Salt and pepper to taste.

2. Line mini muffin tin with wonton wrappers and fill each with 1 tbsp cream cheese mixture.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, until wontons are golden brown and crisp.  Garnish with green onions.

Recipe Swap: Sante Fe Chicken Salad

Published August 24, 2012 by jenmatteson

Another blogger’s choice recipe swap, and this time I got Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks, written by Heather.  I didn’t even have to peruse her blog to find what I wanted to make; I already had three recipes in my “to try” list from her (I don’t know why she wasn’t in my in blogs I frequent already, but she’s certainly going there shortly!).  Okay, so I did take a gander through her blog again, but I really wanted to try all the recipes that were waiting on my list: bagels, Sante Fe chicken salad and spicy chicken in garlic lime broth.  I settled on the salad (for today), but don’t you think for one second that I will not be making the other two very soon :P

This recipe sounded exactly like a salad I would order in a restaurant (and why in the world does a salad almost always taste better in a restaurant than it does when you make it at home?), so I knew this was exactly what I wanted to make.  Super simple, everyday ingredients (love that part!), and quick to prepare.  What could be better?

Oh, and I have to include a shout out to my good friend, Nick.  He custom-made me some spice racks (I have far too many spices), and after almost a year of bugging him, he finally hung them for me a few weekends ago.

The reason this particular recipe made me think of Nick and my spice racks is because it involves a good handful of my favorite spices (all were on my “frequently used” rack, not the “alphabetically ordered” rack).  Woot woot!  Thanks, Nick!! :)

Back to the salad…It was textbook out of a restaurant - in an awesome way!  It was probably even better!  I didn’t have any red peppers on hand, so I used tomatoes for the color instead.  To make up for the flavor of the missing red pepper, I used red onion along with a little green onion (I had them both in my refrigerator).  I forgot the corn…eh.  Certainly wouldn’t have hurt, but I remembered when I went back to blog the recipe.  Oh well.  I also forgot the cheese for Nate, and he didn’t even notice because it was a such a good salad, and one he’d like to have again on many occasions.  He even ate up all the extra chicken, veggies, and dressing with some blue corn tortilla chips the same night.  Lettuce..who needs it?

Oh, and the dressing.  Yum!  I love the combination of sour cream (I used Greek yogurt) and salsa, but the addition of ranch and lime juice really gave it that restaurant flavor that can be hard to find at home.  So delicious!  Thank you, Heather!

Sante Fe Chicken Salad

Source: Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
Servings: 3 large salads

Ingredients:

For the chicken:
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp orange juice
2 tbsp tequilla
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp paprika
2 cloves garlic, crushed
salt and pepper
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

For the dressing:
1/4 cup salsa
2 tbsp plain non-fat Greek yogurt (sour cream would work)
2 tbsp ranch dressing
1 tbsp lime juice
salt and pepper

For the salad:
4 cups lettuce, rough chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1/2 avocado, diced
3/4 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4  red onion, chopped
1/3 cup pepper jack cheese
tortilla chips

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine lime juice, orange juice, tequilla, olive oil, cumin, oregano, cayenne pepper, paprika, garlic and salt and pepper.  Place chicken in zip-top bag and cover with marinade.  Refrigerate and let chicken marinate for 1-4 hours.

2. Combine all ingredients for dressing.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

3. Heat grill to medium high heat.  Remove chicken from marinade.  Grill chicken until cooked through, about 5 minutes on each side.  Let cool, then slice into strips.

4. Place a layer of tortilla chips on plates, then top with lettuce cilantro, tomatoes, avocados, black beans, onions, cheese, and chicken strips.  Finish with dressing as desired.

Red Hot Chipotle Sauce

Published August 16, 2012 by jenmatteson

I made this at the same time as making my garlic hot sauce; they were both my first attempts at crossing off another 30 Before 30 item (only a little under a year left!).  Head over to the garlic hot sauce post if you’d like to read more details about getting started with hot sauces.

The garlic hot sauce sounded amazing, but I was much more excited for the red hot chipotle sauce.  I was really hoping this one would be extremely spicy, but also have some good flavor, and I was right.  The flavor was pretty smokey, but packed a serious punch.  I’m a happy girl!  Too bad the pictures aren’t more amazing – not really sure hot to photograph a seemingly boring bottle of hot sauce.

Red Hot Chipotle Sauce

Source: Midwest Supplies
Servings: Yields about 1/2 cup

Ingredients:

3/4 cup fresh tomatoes, pureed
1/2 cup distilled vinegar
2-4 whole dried Habanero chilies
4 whole dried chipotle chillies
8 whole dried de arbol chilies
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp Xanthan Gum

Directions:

1. Put on gloves and keep them on while handling the chilies (these are especially hot and you don’t want to be touching your mouth, nose, and especially eyes – contact wearers – after handling them).  Remove the stems from chilies and place in medium-sized bowl.  Pour boiling water over chilies to rehydrate.  Press down with a spoon to be sure all chilies are submerged, and let rest for 10 minutes.

2. In a food processor, puree tomatoes and chilies with the vinegar and salt.  Transfer to a small sauce pan and simmer sauce for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add Xanthan Gum and mix in until dissolved.

* If you are taking the pH level of your sauce, now is the time to do so.  Hot sauce ingredients are high in pH levels and can spoil easily without proper acidification.  It is important to cook the sauce at a proper temperature for a sufficient time so that undesired organisms will be destroyed.  Additionally, the pH should be adjusted to below 4.6, preferably below 4.2.  Typically, vinegar-based hot sauce has a pH in the range of 3.0-4.0.  To acidify hot sauce, add more vinegar, lime juice or other low pH substances.

* After your sauce has boiled, everything that comes in contact with it from here on out must be sanitized.  One-Step or Star San sanitizers are recommended to ensure a sanitary environment without the need to rinse.  If you do not have cleaner to sanitize your bottles, place empty bottles (without cap or dripper insert) in a pot, cover and fill the bottles with water.  Boil for 10 minutes.

3. For a milder sauce, immediately strain your sauce through a fine mesh strainer.  For a hotter sauce, leave the solids in the sauce for up to two weeks, then strain.  Bottle the sauce and let it age for at least one week in the fridge.  I let this one sit for a week before straining and bottling it.

Garlic Hot Sauce

Published August 16, 2012 by jenmatteson

There is nothing I love more than spicy food, and near the top of my 30 Before 30 list is homemade hot sauce.  Midwest Supplies, where we purchase most of our beer making ingredients, also sells ingredients to make your own hot sauce.  One of the first times we were in there, we saw a hot sauce making kit.  I assumed I needed this because I had no idea where to start when making my own hot sauce (uh, hello, internet??).  We didn’t purchase it that day since we were buying so many other beer brewing items, but the next three or four times we went, they were out of kits.  I couldn’t possibly pick out my own ingredients and wing it, could I?  So finally, the last time we were there picking up more bottles, the kit was there!  Nate said I could get one as part of my birthday gift, YES!

After reading through the ingredients and instructions, I realized I really didn’t need a “hot sauce making kit”.  Here is a list of what came in my kit:

  • 3 Hot Sauce Bottles
  • 3 Pair Black Nitrate Gloves
  • 1 oz whole dried Habanero chili peppers
  • 1 oz whole dried Morita chipotle chili peppers
  • 1 oz whole dried arbol chili peppers
  • 1 oz cayenne powder
  • 1 oz jalapeno powder
  • 1 oz aji amarillo powder
  • pH paper 2.8-4.4
Now I know for next time.  The only additional items I needed to get started was fresh tomatoes and Xanthan Gum.  I’ve never heard of Xanthan Gum previously, so I did a little research and learned that it’s generally used in gluten-free baking and sold at specialty grocery or health food stores.  This meant I couldn’t just pop over to Cub or Rainbow, I had to make a Whole Foods trip.  Boy, do I love Whole Foods!  Unfortunately, I can’t really justify doing all my shopping there; it’s not quite in the budget.  Plus, the closest one to me is about 25 minutes away.

The next day I was looking forward to making hot sauce after work all day long.  Nate would be at class, so I’d have the kitchen to myself, not that I don’t normally, but I just really like to cook in an empty house.  I got the Xanthan Gum and my fresh Bushel Boy tomatoes and I was ready to start making some hot sauce.  Nate and I both like heat, but I’m quite a bit more tolerable to it than he is.  I thought this was the perfect excuse to make two kinds of hot sauce.  One with lots and lots of heat, and another with a healthy combination of fire and flavor.  The first one I made was the later of the two, which was a Garlic Hot Sauce.  The recipe is from Midwest Supplies and came in the kit.  I think I’ll start with a few of these before I venture down the experimental hot sauce path.  I can’t wait for that!!  I also made a Red Hot Chipotle Sauce, but left that to sit with its solids in the fridge for a week before I strain it.  Then it’ll be nice and spicy!

Garlic Hot Sauce

Source: Midwest Supplies
Servings: Yields about 1/2 cup

Ingredients:

3/4 cup fresh tomatoes, pureed
1/2 cup distilled vinegar
4-6 fresh cloves of garlic
2-4 whole dried Habanero chilies
10 whole dried de arbol chilies
1/2 tsp Aji Amarillo powder
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/8 tsp Xanthan Gum

Directions:

1. Put on gloves and keep them on while handling the chilies (these are especially hot and you don’t want to be touching your mouth, nose, and especially eyes – contact wearers – after handling them).  Remove the stems from chilies and place in medium-sized bowl.  Pour boiling water over chilies to rehydrate.  Press down with a spoon to be sure all chilies are submerged, and let rest for 10 minutes.

2. In a food processor, puree tomatoes and chilies with the vinegar, aji amarillo powder and garlic salt.  Transfer to a small sauce pan and simmer sauce for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add Xanthan Gum and mix in until dissolved.

* If you are taking the pH level of your sauce, now is the time to do so.  Hot sauce ingredients are high in pH levels and can spoil easily without proper acidification.  It is important to cook the sauce at a proper temperature for a sufficient time so that undesired organisms will be destroyed.  Additionally, the pH should be adjusted to below 4.6, preferably below 4.2.  Typically, vinegar-based hot sauce has a pH in the range of 3.0-4.0.  To acidify hot sauce, add more vinegar, lime juice or other low pH substances.

* After your sauce has boiled, everything that comes in contact with it from here on out must be sanitized.  One-Step or Star San sanitizers are recommended to ensure a sanitary environment without the need to rinse.  If you do not have cleaner to sanitize your bottles, place empty bottles (without cap or dripper insert) in a pot, cover and fill the bottles with water.  Boil for 10 minutes.

3. For a milder sauce, immediately strain your sauce through a fine mesh strainer.  For a hotter sauce, leave the solids in the sauce for up to two weeks, then strain.  Bottle the sauce and let it age for at least one week in the fridge.  I strained this one right away and bottled it.

Recipe Swap: Sloppy Joes

Published August 13, 2012 by jenmatteson

The theme of the most recent recipe swap was “Too Hot to Cook”, so all the recipes submitted were ideally no cook recipes, so at least no stove/oven, but grilling and slow cooker were allowed.  I submitted my Chili Lime Shrimp Salad.  I received Tina’s blog, Tasty Treats by Tina, and she submitted sloppy joes.  This was originally a swap recipe she’d received in the past, but altered to her own liking the second run, so I went off of her recipe.

I was a bit hesitant as I’m very particular about sloppy joes, and I’ve only liked my mother’s recipe growing up (and still).  My only change to her recipe is to use ground turkey instead of ground beef.  No biggie.  Nate and I love them; I guess I should blog it sometime – though I’d have to get permission from Mrs. Pigzilla ;)

Anyway, I did the same thing with Tina’s recipe and substituted turkey meat for ground beef, and omitted tarragon, really just because I didn’t want to buy any just before leaving on vacation.  I also adjusted the measurements for my own taste.  After tasting it after it’d been in the slow cooker for a while, it was a little too tomatoy for my taste, so I did add more mustard to combat that.

In the end, they were pretty tasty.  Nate commented that they were a little too sweet, and I even lowered the amount of brown sugar it called for.  Next time, I’d probably omit the sugar as I find it unnessicary.

Sloppy Joes

Source: Tasty Treats by Tina
Servings: 4

Ingredients:

i lb ground turkey
1/2 large onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tbsp cider vinegar
1/4 cup yellow mustard
5-8 leaves fresh basil, chopped
2 tsp Cajun seasoning
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup ketchup
1 can tomato paste
salt and pepper

Directions:

1. In a large frying pan, brown turkey meat over medium heat.  Drain and add to slow cooker.  Add remaining ingredients, mix, and cook on low for 6-8 hours.  *Since I only used 1 lb of turkey meat (vs. Tina’s 2 lb ground beef), I only cooked my sloppy joe’s on low for about 4 hours.

2. Serve on toasted bun.

Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies – A $250 Recipe?

Published August 10, 2012 by jenmatteson

Chocolate chip cookies are usually one of those recipes that you grow up with; it was your mother’s, or grandmother’s, or great great grandmother’s.  Maybe it was Toll House ;)  My point is, most people usually stick to the same chocolate chip cookie recipe for most of their lives.  Growing up, I always used my mother’s, which I think may have been passed on to her.  It was basically the Toll House recipe with a few small alterations.  Once I got in my 20′s, I started using a recipe containing vanilla pudding.  This kept the cookies ultra moist.  Generally, I still use that recipe.

However, I saw this recipe online about a year ago and thought the story behind it sounded interesting.  Legend has it, a woman and her child were shopping at Neiman Marcus and stopped in their cafe for a little snack.  They each had one of their chocolate chip cookies.  The woman liked them so much, she asked the waiter for the recipe.  He said he could give it to her, but he’d have to charge her “two-fifty”.  She said, “that’s fine, just add it to my tab,” and he handed over the recipe.  When she received her credit card bill in the mail a few weeks later, she was shocked to find that the cost of the recipe was $250, not $2.50.  Since she already saw the recipe and her card was charged, she decided she’d plaster it all over the internet.  Ha!  I suppose it’s not like she got her money’s worth, but at least the rest of the world never had to pay $250 for their “secret recipe”.

I printed this recipe at least a year ago, and of course didn’t keep any links to where I actually found it.  After Googling it, I did find the exact same recipe on allrecipes.com.  Sadly, it seems the story behind the cookies are an urban myth, and Neiman Marcus has never charged for their recipe.  Furthermore, after researching it, there are a handful of recipes similar to the one I used, as well as other recipes that claim to be the $250 secret recipe, but include oatmeal and do not have the espresso powder.   I don’t know which is the “real” recipe, but I had to try the one with espresso powder in it!  They were super moist, packed with chocolate (YUM!) and the espresso powder really gave it an extra kick!

Where did you get your chocolate chip recipe from?

Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies

Source: All Recipes
Servings: Makes 30 cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar
3 tbsp sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp instant espresso coffee powder
1 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugars at medium speed until light and fluffy.  Add egg and vanilla extract and mix until well combined.

2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Slowly beat into the butter mixture at low-speed until combined.  Stir in the espresso coffee powder and chocolate chips.

3. Drop 1 oz scoops of dough on greased baking sheets.  Bake for 16-18 minutes, until nicely browned around the edges.  I take mine out at exactly 16 minutes so they stay a little chewy in the middle.

Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers

Published August 9, 2012 by jenmatteson

I haven’t posted anything in quite some time – I promise, I’m  not giving up on my blog already.  Summer has gotten the best of me and we’ve had too many events, gatherings and parties to do much of any cooking at home.  Add in some life changes, and blogging has taken a backseat.

But, we did host our tasting group, albeit a very small tasting group, on Saturday.  This one was sort of last-minute, it was changed around so many  times, and people are so busy in the summer that it wasn’t as well attended as they usually are.  However, it was still an awesome time with some great friends!  The theme of this party was Olympics, so contestants had to bring a drink that was at least one color of the Olympic rings.  Nate and I made the Panty Ripper; a drink that was introduced to us in Belize.  Check out that post for the winner of the drink tasting and a deliciously refreshing summer beverage!

For snacks, I made jalapeno poppers, one more thing on my 30 Before 30 list.  There are so many different ways to make jalapeno poppers, some are breaded and fried, some are just stuffed, some are even wrapped in bacon.  Well, the bacon wrapped version sounded good to me, and it sure was!  I de-seeded the jalapenos, so they definitely weren’t as spicy as they could have been, but I wanted to make sure they weren’t too hot for my guests.

I didn’t alter the original recipe much.  I added green onions and par-baked the bacon so it would get crispier on the grill without flaring (too much) or overcooking the jalapenos.  I thought about omitting the sun-dried tomatoes, as they seemed like an unusual ingredient in this mix, but I didn’t because I love them.  It was a great addition and really gave the poppers some deep flavors beyond the bacon and cream cheese.  They seemed like a pretty big hit.  These are wonderful for a party or even tailgating – football season is approaching fast!

What’s your favorite tailgating recipe?

Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers

Source: Adapted from Food Network
Servings: Makes 20 poppers

Ingredients:

20 jalapenos (larger are easier to stuff, but smaller are spicier)
12 oz cream cheese, softened
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped
4-6 leaves fresh basil, chopped
1/4 cup green onions, chopped
salt and pepper
2 lbs bacon

Directions:

1. Slice jalapenos lengthwise on one side, careful not to slice all the way through the jalapeno.  Remove seeds (or leave if you like them spicy).  You may need to slice just below the stem in order to get the seeds out and make an opening large enough to stuff.  Make sure to keep stem in tact.

2. In a large bowl, mix cream cheese, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, basil and onions.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Transfer mixture into piping bag, or a zip top plastic bag with small corner cut.

3. Carefully fill each jalapeno with cream cheese mixture.  There should be a liberal amount in each pepper, but not too much so the filling doesn’t leak out during grilling.

4. Wrap each filled jalapeno with a slice of bacon and secure with a toothpick (I used two toothpicks in each popper).  Grill over medium-low heat until bacon is crispy, turning a few times, about 12-18 minutes total, depending on size of jalapenos and thickness of bacon.  Be sure to stay close as the bacon grease can flame up in hurry.

5. Remove from grill, let cool slightly, and serve.

Panty Ripper

Published August 9, 2012 by jenmatteson

Our last drink tasting party was Olympic themed.  You might be wondering how a drink called Panty Ripper has anything to do with the Olympics.  Well, did you know that at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, 100,000 condoms were distributed to the athletes in Olympic Village, which breaks down to 14 per athlete?  Did you know they ran out (Waoh Naija)?  The 2012 Summer Olympics are slightly higher.  There were over 150,000 condoms distributed to Olympic Village, averaging about 15 per athlete (Housing Works).  That means that athletes were getting it on about 30 times in a two-week time period (of course, that’s assuming they are only hooking up with each other – and let’s be honest, if you had a body like Ryan Lochte, wouldn’t you only hook up with someone as equally hot as you?).

Well, that is not at all why we made the Panty Ripper for the Olympic themed drink tasting, you sicko.  The rules were to bring a drink that was at least one color of the Olympic Rings.  Did I tell you this was a last-minute tasting? Anyway, the Panty Ripper is yellow, one of the allowed colors.  The first time I had one was in Belize, the country’s unofficial national drink.  In Belize, you’ll find it on menus and hear it pronounced as “panty rippa”.  It’s a simple concoction of coconut rum and pineapple juice with a maraschino cherry.  Sounds so easy, and it is, and it’s also very refreshing.  My mother, who is not generally a drinker, would put down 4-5 of these before and during dinner.  She absolutely loved them!  And they were making them “light” by any means ;)   Everyone else on the trip seemed to like them too; I think we each had a few per day while we were there.

We brought home the gold with this drink, although I must admit that we tied with Leah and Dan.  They made Olympic Dreams, Russian Style.  This drink was a mix of fruit punch flavored vodka (I didn’t even know they made that), 7Up, grenadine, and a splash of lime juice, garnished with a cherry.  It was tastey, but slightly on the sweet side for me.  It tasted like a strawberry soda!  Dave and Shane didn’t bring their “A” game and came with watermelon pucker.  But, lucky for them, they took home the bronze.  We had a ceremony and everything – Leah and I represented the top stair of the “podium” for our gold medals (although no actual medals were distributed).

Panty Ripper

Ingredients:

coconut rum (I like Parrot Bay)
pineapple juice
maraschino cherry

Directions:

1. In a tall glass filled with ice, add 1 part rum and 2 parts pineapple juice.  Garnish with a cherry, mix as desired, and serve.

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