Super Bowl Party

The Super Bowl was a great excuse to have people over to eat, drink, and watch the game. While neither Joe nor I are big football people, he went to college in New Orleans and has strong emotional ties to the city. We had taken several trips to New Orleans during Mardi Gras and were excited that the Saints were going to play in the Super Bowl. Our guests contributed with delicious appetizers and desserts, but I'll show you all what I made.

Buffalo Chicken Dip
source: Frank's Red Hot

Ingredients
8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup blue cheese or ranch salad dressing
1/2 cup any flavor FRANK'S® REDHOT® Sauce
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese or shredded mozzarella cheese
2 cans (12.5 oz. each) chunk chicken breast in water, drained

Preparation
Combine cream cheese, salad dressing, buffalo sauce, and cheese. Mix in chicken. Either bake in an oven-safe dish at 350-degrees for 20 minutes or place in small crockpot for several hours on low. Serve with celery sticks or crackers.

Bourbon Slush
source: Evan Williams Cooking with Bourbon

Ingredients
12 oz frozen lemonade juice concentrate
6 oz frozen orange juice concentrate
2 1/2 cups brewed tea, cooled
1 cup sugar
2 cups bourbon
6 cups water

Preparation
Mix ingredients together until well-blended. Place in freezer until slushy. This will go quickly, so you might want to double the recipe!

Joe actually made these all by himself while I was prepping everything for the chili!

Jalapeno Poppers
source: The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients
Jalapenos
Cream cheese
Bacon

Preparation
Halve jalapenos and remove seeds and membranes. Fill with cream cheese and wrap with bacon. Bake on a pan with a rack at 375-degrees for 20-25 minutes.


I don't normally make beef chilis, so I didn't have a go-to recipe, though I had bookmarked this one a long time ago. It was delicious and had a lot of spice. I offered cheese, avocados, cilantro, green onions, sour cream, and green onions to top everyone's chili with. I doubled the recipe, which fit perfectly into my Dutch oven and fed everyone.

Paula Deen's Spicy Chili
adapted from Reservations not Required

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground chuck
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 jalapeno, minced
  
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
• 2 (15-ounce) cans ranch-style beans
• 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (10-ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles

Preparation

In a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat, brown ground chuck, until beef is crumbly. Stir in onion, bell pepper, jalapeno, garlic, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper.

Stir in beans, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and green chiles. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes uncovered, stirring occasionally.

Brie En Croute

I am fortunate enough to come from a family of baked brie fanatics. The first time I had baked brie was at the Breckenridge Brewery many years ago. I fell in love with the creamy cheese in the bread bowl that came with thinly sliced apples for dipping. And when I lived alone, one of my favorite dinners was a few slices of French bread topped with Brie and melted for a few minutes in a warm oven.

So baked brie made an appearance at both Thanksgiving and Christmas as an appetizer and was quickly gobbled up. My dad tends to collect preserves, jams, and jellies, so there is always something delicious open in the refrigerator. At Thanksgiving we used peach preserves, but for Christmas, I decided to try the boysenberry preserves that were open.

I had a minor kerfluffle with the puff pastry as it was stuck together, but that was quickly remedied by rolling it out on a lightly floured surface. My brother made the mistake of going to take a shower shortly after the brie had come out of the oven, and when he was finished, there were only a couple of bites left!


Brie en Croute

• 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed (follow directions on puff pastry box)
  
• 8 oz wheel of Brie
• fruit preserves
• slivered almonds
• 1 egg (optional)
  

Preheat oven to 350-degrees.

Cut the wheel of Brie in half and spread preserves on cut half. Top with slivered almonds and stack Brie halves on top of each other.

In the center of the puff pastry, spread a layer of preserves slightly larger than the area of the cheese. Sprinkle with slivered almonds and place the Brie on top. Fold up the puff pastry, pinching to seal. Place the puff pastry seam side down on a greased cookie sheet or jelly roll pan. Brush top with egg, if you so choose.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until pastry has puffed and cheese is melted. Serve with crackers or thinly sliced apples.

Dinner Party

I don't entertain often, okay, ever, but the past two Fridays, I've had people over. This last Friday was a couple where the guy is a fellow anesthesia intern with Joe, and we've been meaning to have them over for dinner. It ended up being a blast. We stayed up really late, even though we had a flight to San Diego in the morning! I was also glad to get to use some of the things we received for our wedding, like our white napkins and napkin rings.

Menu:

Appetizers -
Bacon-wrapped Jalapeno Poppers (see below)
Pita chips with roasted garlic and red pepper dip (a WC gift exchange gift)

Dinner -
Spicy Turkey Peanut Noodles

Dessert -
Zebra Cake (even though mine didn't turn out very zebra-y)

Drinks-
Red wine
Oliphant gin (a great gin to sip, even if you think you don't like gin)



Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeno Peppers
source: Pioneer Woman

There's not much to this recipe. Basically, chop fresh jalapenos in half and scoop out the seeds and membrances. Fill with cream cheese, and wrap with bacon. Secure with a toothpick. Bake in a 375-degree oven for 20-25 minutes on a rack over a pan.


These are crazy good, and a great appetizer because you can make as many or as few as your little heart desires. For four people, I made 18, and they disappeared pretty quickly.