Pots & Plots

In the category of things that make you go mmmmmmmmmmmm, I present to you, my mother-in-law’s sausage dip–lightened up, of course.  This pairs great with homemade tortilla chips or, as my husband prefers, Fritos Scoops.  With sausage and cheese, what’s not to love?  Your favorite carnivore will thank you

.Ingredients:

• 1 lb turkey sausage (original recipe calls for pork, but I slashed the fat by 74%)
• 1lb Velveeta cut into 1/2 ” cubes (I used 2% Velveeta, cutting more fat)
• 1 7 oz can of mushrooms, drained (I have yet to make this with fresh mushrooms.  If you try it, let me know how it turns out)
• 1 can of diced tomatoes and chiles
• skim milk

Directions:

1. Brown the sausage over medium high heat.
2. Drain and rinse cooked sausage to get rid of any extra grease.
3. In a 2 quart microwave safe dish (think Corningware), add the cubed Velveeta, the sausage, the undrained can of tomatoes and chiles and the mushrooms.  Add a splash of milk (This really depends on how thick or thin you like your dip.  I suggest starting with a splash and adding more as you get it melted.)
4. Microwave in 1-2 minute increments, stirring well after each session in the nuker.
5. It’s finished when all the cheese is melted and everything stirs together smoothly.
6. Reheats well.

You could also make this dip in a small crock pot, though I’ve never tried that either (don’t have a small crock pot).  This is great for a party.  We make it every Super Bowl.

One of our good friends has his 30th birthday coming up (well actually, it was yesterday, but the party is tomorrow), and his wife has requested my 7 layer dip. I took this to the New Year’s party, where it disappeared in about fifteen minutes. I can’t claim it as my original recipe. My boss’s partner Cindy passed this recipe on to me after I begged for it following one of their parties (where it also disappeared with great rapidity).

Ingredients:

• 1 pt sour cream (I use light)
• 1/2 pack taco seasoning
• 1 can black beans
• black olives
• green onions
• shredded cheddar cheese
• 3 haas avocados
• your favorite salsa
• lemon juice
• cumin
• cilantro
• lettuce

Instructions:

1. Puree the black beans (drained) with cilantro and cumin to taste (1/2 tsp each?). Layer on bottom of dish.
2. For fresh guacamole pit and dice three avocados, add 1/3 to 1/2 cup of your favorite salsa, a splash of lemon juice, a pinch of salt and cilantro. Mash well. Layer over bean puree.
3. Mix 1/2 pack of taco seasoning with the pint of sour cream. Layer over guacamole.
4. Layer shredded lettuce, then green onions, then 1 small can of drained, sliced black olives, and top off with a healthy layer of shredded cheddar (I find medium works best).

Serve with tortilla chips.

A few months ago, I tried an experiment with pita pizzas. They weren’t bad, but they didn’t come anywhere near to satisfying a craving for REAL pizza. So I’ve been exploring some methods of making them a little more like the real deal. One method that was frequently mentioned on various food blogs I frequent is doing them on the grill. So we tried this one last night. The first batch came out hideously charred and practically inedible–but that’s largely because I had a total brain fart and got them all topped before I realized I’d forgotten to put on the sauce. Duh. So I tried this method again today for lunch (tres rapide!) and it turned out better.

1. Preheat grill on high, then turn down to low. [The website I read said turn to medium low, but that’s part of how mine got charred, so I say go with low].
2. Brush both sides of pita with olive oil and sprinkle with Italian seasoning.
3. Some recipes I read recommend grilling one side of the pita for a couple minutes first, then flipping over to build the pizza, but I found it best to build your pizza before it goes on the grill (so you don’t forget important things like sauce). It’s possible that they meant grill it a couple minutes and then take it OFF the grill to build (which is another reason my first batch got charred), but for those of us without much of a brain at the end of the workday, these things should be spelled out!
4. Top with anything you like–some form of sauce or spread (might be an excellent use of leftover bruschetta topping–hmmm, must remember to try that), any meats or veggies you want (meat toppings should be precooked, as these won’t be on the grill long enough to cook raw meat all the way through), then add cheese.
5. Slide pizzas on the grill (again, to avoid charring, I turn the burner underneath the pizza off–hence I normally cook over the center and use the two side burners of my 3 burner gas grill).
6. Check after 5 minutes. Depending on how many you’re making, they should be done in 5-6 minutes.

The first time you do this, you probably want to check it sooner than 5 minutes since all grills cook a little differently. Adjust your cooking time accordingly.

These make great quick lunches, appetizers, or personal pan pizzas for all the picky eaters in the family.

I know, I know…it’s been ages since I updated. It’s not that I haven’t been cooking–I just haven’t made anything new or interesting enough that I felt it merited posting about it!

But I made a happy discovery recently. Sometime last year, I got into the notion of buying corn tortillas (one of those packs of 100 for like $4) and making my own chips–because I could both control the level of fat and it’s a WHOLE LOT cheaper! I tried several methods and recipes with varying levels of success and then just stopped trying. I kept having chips come out either too hard, or a little chewy, or overdone. And I really just got annoyed at having to flip them halfway through so that they cooked evenly.

Then it occurred to me that if I applied the same method I use for my oven fries (and I should post those here too, as they are a family favorite), I probably wouldn’t have to turn them. So I took out my big baking sheet and layered the whole thing with my wire cooling racks, baking the chips so they were suspended. And voila! Perfect chips! They come out crispy and firm (think Tostitos Gold) and GREAT for dips.

Ingredients:

• 8″ corn tortillas
• cooking spray
• kosher salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Spray one side of each tortilla and stack up (I usually do 5 at a time, as that’s all that will fit on my baking sheet).
3. Take a knife or pizza cutter and slice the stack into quarters or sixths.
4. Lay out the chips, sprayed side down on the cooling racks on your baking sheet.
5. Spray the top with cooking spray.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes (will vary from oven to oven, but they should come out golden brown around the edges).
7. Layout on a kitchen towel or paper towels to cool and sprinkle with salt or other spices as preferred.

This was a recipe born of needing to use stuff up before we leave on vacation. I had 2 roma tomatoes and a going to stale baguette, which isn’t quite enough to make bruschetta for more than one. So I decided to toss in roasted red peppers (which hubby will eat) and some of my favorite goat cheese.

Ingredients:

• roma tomatoes (I used 2 but I was making a very small batch)
• roasted red peppers (approximately the same quantity as the tomatoes)
• 1 tsp oil from a jar of sun dried tomatoes
• goat cheese
• basil (5-6 leaves, finely chopped–fresh is best, but dried if that’s not available)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• splash of balsamic vinegar (or more if you prefer)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 baguette

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Slice baguette on the diagonal, approximately 1/2 inch thick slices
3. Parboil the tomatoes for 1 minute to loosen the skin.
4. Using a sharp knife, remove the skin, then seed the tomato, also removing the stem portion.
5. Finely dice the tomatoes.
6. Finely dice approximately the same amount of roasted red peppers (this will vary depending on how many tomatoes you use!)
7. Peel and finely mince the garlic
8. Add tomatoes, red peppers, garlic, olive oil, oil from the sun dried tomatoes, the basil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper to a bowl and mix well. Set aside.
9. Arrange baguette slices on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. You may have to do this in batches.
10. Bake slices 5-6 minutes or until they just start to turn golden brown
11. Arrange bread on serving platter olive oil side up and top with bruschetta and crumbled goat cheese.