Queso Dip

We're a few days away from the Super Bowl, and most likely, you're either hosting or attending a party.

Now I wish my team was still playing.  Wish the Seahawks were there, but you can't cry over a loss a couple of weeks ago. In the interim, I'll adopt a team and go fill up my plate with all sorts of finger foods while the game is on.  Can't go during the commercials, they're the best part of the game when you don't have a dog in the fight (sorry, bad Michael Vick reference).

At our parties, we're all assigned to bring some sort of snack food.  I've done a number of things in the past, and those recipes are listed in this post.

This year, I'm thinking of bringing a homemade Queso Dip.  Now you can go the quick and dirty method.  Add 1 pound of Velveeta and a 16 ounce can of your favorite salsa or chili to your favorite pan.  Melt the "Cheese" and stir it together.  There's nothing wrong with that...

But I like to give it more flavor than that.  And I worry about any food that has a half-life of 10 years.  So I'm going to make a Queso dip from scratch.  It'll take a few more minutes of prep time, but it tastes so much better.  And if you have a fondue pot like the one shown above, you can make it on the spot at the party. The pot above is about $50 and available on my Amazon store.  But it's not just for fondue.  Sure, it'll make a killer Queso and it's perfect for the Chocolate Fondue you're going to make for your significant other in two weeks.  But it can be used as a saute pan in a pinch.  It can make a small soup in a few minutes.  You can even mix up a marinara or other sauce quickly.  And best of all, it's non-stick and submersible in water, so cleanup is extremely easy to clean.

Cart this pot to the party, along with the veggies already diced and the other ingredients divvied up in ziplocs and tupperware.  Just saute the veggies in the pot, add the spices and cream, then slowly melt in the cheese and you're ready to go in about ten minutes.  If you don't have a good fondue pot (go buy one), you can do this over a saucepan on the stove and pour it in a dish for serving.

Queso Dip

2 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
1/3 cup diced poblano pepper
1/3 cup onion
1/3 cup petite diced tomatoes
2 minced garlic cloves

1 1/2 cups cream
1 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1 1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 1/2 cups grated cheddar

1 cup grated Mexican style cheeses

1 cup grated pepper jack cheese.

Heat your vessel to medium heat.  Add the peppers and onions to the put along with the oil and saute them until the onions and peppers soften.  Add the tomatoes and garlic and cook for another minute.  Add the cream and spices and continue to cook until it begins to simmer.

Slowly add the cheeses in small batches, stirring each addition until it melts into the mixture.   Once all of the cheese is melted, drop the heat to medium low (2 out of ten) and serve with tortilla chips, pita chips, veggies or any other dip delivery system you wish.

So make this or any other appetizer for the big game and eat yourself into a food coma.

All the Snack Food You Need for the Super Bowl

The Big Game is this weekend and you need snacks, lots of snacks, enough to feed the masses for a couple of quarters if the game is boring.  So I've compiled a bunch of appetizer recipes that will earn you some cooking credit from the football fans.

Baked Buffalo Wings - These are the classic buffalo wings, but we're baking them instead of frying them.  Why?  Well, first I like the taste.  Second, I'm going to have so many other fatty foods on that Sunday, I thought I would cut down on the grease by not frying.  And third, they can be cooked at the party, even if it's not at your house.  Just prep them and place them on some cookie sheets, arrive at the party a little early and pop these in the oven so they'll be ready a few minutes before kickoff.

Chicken Tenders - These tenders are GREAT!  The breading is tasty and depending on how much baking powder is added, they can be extremely crispy and craggy, perfect for collecting whatever dipping sauce you want to add.  You can also cut them into smaller bits and make then chicken nuggets instead.  I like frying them at the party, but if that's not an option, fry them ahead of time and then pop them in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes at the party to warm them up.

Cream Cheese Wontons - These Asian appetizers are very easy to make and can be made before leaving the house.  The recipe also gives you a few different folding options, so you can make them look any way you want.  If you want to add more flavor, add in some crab meat and use the dipping sauce recipe that's listed as well.

Buffalo Wontons - An extension of the Cream Cheese Wonton recipe.  Just prepare the filling, load it into the wontons, fry them up and you're ready to go.  You don't have to limit yourself to buffalo sauce.  You could sub out barbecue sauce, orange chicken sauce, or any other flavor you'd like.  Make a bunch of different flavored wontons and just fold them according to filling to differentiate between them all.

Jalapeno Poppers - Here's your customary appetizer.  They're pretty easy to build and fry.  Just make sure that the breading covers all of the pepper.  If you have breaks in the breading over the cheese, you could lose some of it during the frying process.

Egg Rolls - While this is great as a side dish for any of our Asian recipes, they also make a great appetizer at a party.  This is one I'd recommend making "day of" so they stay crispy.  Just make them before you go to the party, then pop them in a 400 degree oven for 6-8 minutes to warm them up just in time.

Southwest Egg Rolls - If you've been to Chili's, you're familiar to these little nuggets.  Well, these are better and they're great with a side of queso or salsa.  If you want a really nice kick, make a half batch of enchilada sauce from our Beef Enchilada recipe and serve that as a dipping sauce. They can be warmed up just like the other egg rolls, so they're toasty warm just in time.

Lettuce Wraps - If you're looking for something with a vegetable...  OK, it's not much of a vegetable, but it's delicious and something different than all of the other fare you'll find on the snack table.  It's a self-assemble item and some people really like tailoring it to their liking.   Just nuke the filling as you arrive to the party and you're ready to go

Fruit-Cupine - OK, if you really want a healthier option, this it it.  It's a pineapple with a few dozen skewers of fruit stabbed into it.  I added a face just so the kids would get a laugh, and it was the hit of the party.  Use any type of fruit you'd like or whatever you can find at Costco at a reasonable price.

Chocolate Dipped Oreo Cream Pie

Here's another example of how my mind works when I have too much time on my hands.

The company Christmas party was coming up and there was going to be a dessert competition.  I could have brought something I've already made before, but I thought it would be a good opportunity to create something new.  I usually bring a new pie to the family Christmas party and this would be a great trial run.

So on the drive home, I started brainstorming ideas and came up with this monstrosity.  It's the basic cream pie recipe that is used for all of the basic pies, but I've overloaded it with Oreos.  There's an Oreo cookie crust, and then two layers of chocolate ganache surrounding the cream filling, just like the Peanut Butter Cup Pie.  For garnish, I added a little whipped cream and some actual chocolate dipped Oreos.  You'd think I was getting a subsidy from Nabisco or something...

The chocolate dipping is easy as long as you follow the basic chocolate tempering rules.  You need to warm the chocolate to 115 to 120 degrees, then allow it to cool to right around 90 degrees.  Keep the temperature between 90 and 94 as you dip the Oreos.  I melted the chocolate the quick way, by microwaving the chocolate in a mug for two 30 second intervals and then I checked the temp.  After that, I nuked it again for 15 seconds, checked the temp, and repeated until it was between 115 and 120.  Don't go over 120 or it will burn.

I gave it about a 5 minute rest and it had cooled to 92, so I started dipping the Oreos and stood them on edge on some parchment paper to dry.  That way, you can hide the point where the chocolate pooled at the bottom with the whipping cream.

Chocolate Dipped Oreo Cream Pie

Crust
1 package regular Oreos
1 stick butter

Scrape the filling off of the Oreos and place them in a large Ziploc bag.  Eat discarded filling…if you really want to.  Crush the cookies in the bag to your desired consistency, somewhere between very small chunks to almost powdered.  Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.  Once butter is melted, add the cookies and stir until the cookies soak up the butter.  Scoop the mixture into a pie plate and press the mixture flat until the entire plate is covered.  Bake the crust in a 350 degree oven for 8 minutes, then set aside to cool.


Ganache

1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter

8 ounces dark,semi-sweet or milk chocolate (according to your taste), chopped fine

3/8 cup heavy cream

1 1/2 tablespoon light corn syrup

Slowly melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium low heat.  Dump 6 ounces of the chocolate into the saucepan and stir until all the chocolate and butter is melted. Next slowly pour in some of the cream and mix until it's incorporated.  Keep repeating until all of the cream is included.  Finally, add the corn syrup.  Once it's all thoroughly combined, remove from the heat.  Pour enough of the chocolate into the pie crust to cover the bottom, then place the crust in the fridge to chill.  Place the rest of the ganache and the leftover 2 ounces of chocolate aside to use later (place in the fridge if you plan on taking longer than a half hour to complete the pie).

Oreo Filling
3/4 cup sugar
4 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup whipping cream
2 1/2 cups whole milk
4 egg yolks
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
8 Oreo cookies

Combine the sugar and the cornstarch in a medium saucepan and stir thoroughly, which will prevent lumps. Add the salt, whipping cream and milk and whisk to combine.  Separate your egg yolks at this time.  Place them in a small bowl, beat them together, and set it aside for later. 

Turn the heat up on the saucepan to medium and begin to cook.  Stir the mixture continually to prevent any scalding or scorching.  After 7-10 minutes, the consistency of the mixture will change from milk to a half-way set pudding.  While still stirring the main mixture, spoon a small amount out of the saucepan and into the egg yolk bowl and immediately start stirring that as well.  Repeat this two more times.  This will warm up the egg yolks so they won't curdle when introduced into the saucepan.  After the third time, pour the egg yolks into the main saucepan and continue to stir for another 3 minutes.  It will thicken up even more.

Add the butter and vanilla and stir until the butter melts into the mixture.  Remove from the heat, crush the Oreo cookies in your hand and mix them into the filling.

Remove the pie crust from the fridge and pour the filling into the crust, leaving about a quarter inch at the top for the final step.  Set the excess filling aside to snack on later.

Not put that small saucepan with the ganache in it back on low heat.  Add the remaining chocolate and stir until it melts into the ganache and it smooths out.  Remove from the heat and pour over the top of the pie.  Use a spatula to smooth it evenly over the top all the way to the edge.   Let it sit on the counter for 15 minutes so the chocolate sets, then cover in plastic and refrigerate for at least two hours. 

Serve with whipped cream and any other garnish you'd like.

Red Hot as Hell Chili - Made with Radio From Hell Red as Hell Ale

Almost a year ago, Squatter's released a new beer, the Radio From Hell Red as Hell Ale.  I've had a bottle of it in my house for most of the time since the unveiling.  And that's something, since I'm really not a beer drinker at all.

It's flavor is rich, deep, and wonderful, which makes it perfect for cooking. If you recall, a few months ago, I used it to make Fish and Chips.  It was also the main ingredient for one of the best Garlic Cheddar Beer Breads I've ever made. I took it into  the Radio from Hell show and they loved it.  By the way, the recipes I've brought to Kerry, Bill and Gina are all available on the As Heard on Radio from Hell tab at the top of the page.

I was making a batch of chili a couple weeks ago during a rather long cold snap. It turned out a little thicker than I expected, so I added about half a bottle of the Red as Hell Ale and it worked wonders.  Not only was it a great consistency, the deeper tones of the beer built up the flavors of the spices like you wouldn't believe.

You'll notice that there are no beans in the recipe, and that's by design.  I'm not a fan of beans in chili.  They do stretch the recipe, creating 2-4 extra servings, but at the cost of the taste.  In my opinion, they dull the flavor.  So try this recipe once without beans and see how the the tomatoes and spices blend together and all the meats become the focus of the chili.  After that, it you still want to use beans, be my guest.

Now this is a thick and hot chili.  It can sit like napalm on your tongue if you use all of the hot sauces and peppers listed.  So if you're not a heat freak, drop half the jalapenos, the habanero and one hot sauce of your choice and you'll end up with about 20% of the heat and a chili that will perfectly warm your insides during a horrific inversation.

One last word of warning.  Since we're dealing with jalapeno, and more importantly, habanero peppers.  MAKE SURE to be careful when you're handling them.  If you cut up the peppers and then touch your hands to your face or eyes, prepare to live in a world of unending pain.  Prevent this new hell by following a few rules.

1.  Keep other people away when you chop into the hot peppers.  Especially little children.  We don't want some residual oil ending up on their hands and then ending up in their eyes, or in their brother or sister's eyes, or on the pet.  Nothings worse than a cat running laps through the house in terror after licking habanero oil off it's fur.

2. Use protection.  If you have latex gloves, it a good idea to use them.  Disposable gloves are even better.

3. Wear eye protection if you have it.  There is no shame in wearing your glasses, sunglasses or even swim goggles to prevent any oils from accidentally ending up there.

4. Clean the prep area thoroughly afterwards.  These oils don't just evaporate immediately.  They can sit there and dangerous for a while.  I'll wipe down the counter a couple of times using a disinfectant cloth to collect all the oils.  And I'll wash my hands a couple of times as well.  Try pouring a little milk over your hands between a pair of washings. Just how a glass of milk can help kill the heat in your mouth, milk can help wash away the pepper oils.

Red Hot as Hell Chili - Made with Radio from Hell Red as Hell Ale

Makes 4-6 servings


1 medium onion
1 medium bell pepper
2 tablespoons oil
4 cloves garlic, minced fine
2 more tablespoons oil
1 pound sirloin steak, chopped into small pieces
1 pound ground pork or the sausage of your choice
1 pound ground beef
2 28 oz can diced tomatoes
2 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
2 6 oz cans tomato paste
12 ounces Radio From Hell Red as Hell Ale
1/2 cup chili powder
3 tablespoons cumin
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
2 chipotle peppers, chopped
1 tablespoon chipotle sauce (adobo sauce packed with the chipotle peppers)
1 teaspoon of your favorite hot sauce (like Tobasco, Cholulu, Tipatio, etc)
1 tablespoons Frank's Hot Sauce
3 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped and seeds removed
1 habanero pepper, finely chopped and seeds removed for the LOVE OF GOD!


In the bottom of a large stock pot, heat the oil over medium high heat.  Add the onion and the pepper and saute for about 3 minute until the onions begin to become translucent.  DO NOT ADD the habanero or jalapeno here or your eyes will be in a world of pain. Add the minced garlic and saute for 1 more minute.  Remove to a bowl for the time being.  Add the additional oil and all of the meat and cook until thoroughly browned.  Pour the onions, peppers and garlic back into the pot and stir to combine.  Pour in the Red as Hell Ale and stir, to deglaze all of the brown flavor bits off the bottom of the pot.

Drain the excess liquid off of the diced tomatoes, then pour the diced and crushed tomatoes into the pot.  Stir to combine.  Next add the chili powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, oregano, paprika, and salt and mix until it's well blended.  Taste it and add more spices according to your palette   While the chili warms, chop the chipotle peppers.  Add them to the mix along with the chipotle (adobo) sauce and other hot sauces and stir for 3 more minutes.  Now carefully add the jalapenos and habanero to the mixture and incorporate them into the mix.

Continue to cook over medium high heat until it lightly boils.  After 10 minutes, reduce the heat to medium low (2 on a scale of 10) and simmer for 30-60 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve in a large bowl and garnish with grated cheddar cheese and chopped onions.

Package the leftovers in serving size containers and store in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

So the next time you're chilled to the bone, make a batch of this and I will guarantee you'll be sweating and begging for water in no time.

Taco Soup

Since it's $%#!ing  freezing cold outside, I'm looking for anything to keep the old bones warm.  Having highs in the teens and lows below zero just saps the warmth and the energy from your soul.

Especially when we're hit by one snowstorm after another.  It's frustrating as hell to spend an hour shoveling 5-6 inches of heavy wet snow off the driveway, only to have it covered with another 6-7 by the time you wake up in the morning.

Sure, the kids love it, but after an afternoon of sledding and snowball fights, even they are frozen to the core.  There's nothing like a quick bowl of soup to warm you from the inside out.

I've never been a fan of the soups in a can.  I just don't like the taste, and the fact that most of the Campbell's varieties have your daily allowance of salt in a REAL serving of the soup.  I may look 40 pounds heavier with my puffy winter coat, but if I eat a couple can of those soups, I'll look that puffy without the coat.   I still hold a place in my heart for Ramen, but can't live off it as I did in college.  By the way, there's a rice noodle, ramen-like soup made by Thai Express that you can pick up for about 75 cents a pouch.  It has a decent flavor and only about 35 % of your salt for the day.

But if we have an hour, we'd rather make a soup from scratch.  This particular soup is a recipe Liz brought to the marriage.  It's a a great, extremely easy, flavorful-spicy (not hot-spicy) soup that's very simple to make.  She learned it from her awesome roommate, Lynley.  It's made of a number of pantry staples that you may already have on hand.  If you don't, just buy all of the ingredients and squirrel them away for an extremely cold day.  Best part, it can be made in less than a half-hour.  Here is the recipe, with her instructions in her own words...

Taco Soup

1 pound ground beef
1 tablespoon onion flakes
1 can of stewed tomatoes
1 can of crushed or diced tomatoes, your choice
1 can of tomato paste
1 can of black beans
1 can of red beans
1 can of whole kernal corn
1 can of creamed corn
1-2 packets of taco seasoning, or just a good amount from the big bottle from Costco.

In a large stockpot, brown the ground beef.  Add the onion flakes and stir.  Liz doesn't like the real onions, because they can be to strong, but if you want to use then instead, go ahead.  Then add ALL of the other canned ingredients.  Do not drain off any of the liquid.  Direct quote from Liz: "Add enough of the taco seasoning until it tastes 'taco-ey'", I'm guessing about a packet and a half.  Heat it up until it's warm all the way through and then serve topped with cheese and/or sour cream.  You can also add tortilla chips if you want.

Seven Cold-Blasting, Inversion-Busting Soups

It's %#^@ing cold outside.  Tongue stuck to the flagpole cold.  Ice sheet sealing the car door cold. Snow super-freezing so it squeaks like styrofoam cold. 

Yes, it's that wonderful time of year where high pressure traps frigid air in the Salt Lake valley, along with all the pollution.  So not only is it bone-chillingly cold, but the air is so thick that you can chew it.  And it looks like we have at least another week of this crap, so what can make you feel slightly better?  Soup.  Homemade, hearty, delicious soup.  And it doesn't have to take hours for a great soup, you can let it cook on the stovetop in around 30 minutes or just let it simmer in the crock pot all day.

Here are seven recipes guaranteed to warm your insides after a few hours spent in a Hoth-like frozen wasteland.

Chicken... or Turkey Noodle Soup with Fresh Noodles

OK, you can always fall back on the tried and true classic.  If you have the time, you can take the carcass of the leftover bird of your choice and create your own chicken broth.  I have a recipe for that here... but trust me, I rarely have time for this and it's not a necessity.  Buy some quality broth (low-sodium if available, your heart and blood pressure will thank you).   Then use all the customary veggies.  Once again, if you have an extra 15-20 minutes, you can make your own noodles.  They're better than anything you'll find in the noodle aisle.  But if you don't have that time either (I do not judge you, I have three kids, I know what that's like), you can use store-bought.  I recommend the Kluski type noodles, but because they're thick, chewy, and eons better than the standard egg noodles.

No-Bean Chili to warm you up as it cools down

Look, the classic chili didn't have beans.  Beans were added in later recipes to stretch the recipe and to add a few more calories for the hungry masses.  Trust me, leave the beans out of the recipe and allow the tomatoes and different meats shine through.  All sorts of spices are added and when you read it, you'll think that it's WAY too much, but remember that we're spicing up quarts of liquid and trying to build a thick and flavorful base.  It'll all work out in the end.  And this freezes well, so you can portion out the leftovers into small plastic containers and have a very filling and tasty lunch any day of the week

French Onion Soup

Here's the soup I could be fed interveniously.  The sweet and savory taste of the onions in a deep warm stock just makes my stomach happy.  And the little bit of wine just punches up the flavor like you wouldn't believe.  The key to great onion soup is a long, slow, low cooking of the onions.  It gives them the chance to caramelize and all that dark, deep flavor dissolves into the broth, making it absolutely delicious.  And don't forget the bread and your favorite meltable cheese on top.

New England Clam Chowder

Good clam chowder is achievable even in land-locked, arid Utah.  The key is good ingredients and lots of fatty liquids.  Yes, this one is not diet conscious at all.  There's lots of cream in the sauce.  If you like the taste, there are the options bacon pieces as well.  One thing I would recommend is obtaining fresh clam meat from your local fishmonger or butcher shop.  Utah has Market Street that occasionally has fresh clam meat.  But if not, you can use canned and it will still taste great.

Beef and Vegetable Soup

If you're looking for a crock pot soup that can cook for hours while you do your normal daily chores, this is your huckleberry.  Dump the beef, veggies and broth in a crock pot, let it cook for most of the day and serve it up whenever you'd like.  If you are going to be around the house, you can half of the veggies just a few hours before you intend to serve.  That way, they are a little firmer.  But if that doesn't matter, toss them in whenever and consume in mass quantities at the end of a long, cold day.

Chicken Tortilla Soup - Stovetop and Crock Pot versions

This particular soup has become much more popular over the past few years and I can see why.  Creamy and spicy, meaty and warm, perfect for after a long commute over snow-covered roads.  You can make in on the stove top in around 40 minutes, but you could also add all of the ingredients into a slow cooker and let it simmer all day long so it's ready when you walk in the door.  Make sure to have some sour cream, tortilla strips and a little bit of freshly diced onions for garnish.

Hot and Sour Soup

Not only is this soup delicious, but it's a great cure for the common cold.  I fall back on this whenever I'm sick and I can still eat some solid foods.  The normal level of heat in the soup is enough to tingle the tongue slightly, but if you add a few more peppers and heat to it, it'll clear out sinuses better than any decongestant out there.  I'll be able to breathe about 10 minutes after consuming a bowl.  Besides that, it's a great first course to any Chinese main course or just a perfect dinner to warm every fiber of your being.