BBQ, Beer, Bacon and other amazing dishes!
Pepperoni Pinwheels are the ultimate appetizer. They contain all of the ingredients from everyone’s favorite meal, Pizza! They are easily shared and can be dipped in your favorite pizza/marinara sauce. Pepperoni Pinwheels are like mini pepperoni pizza sans pizza sauce. Therefore you can eat them in your favorite white shirt without too much worry. This is quite possibly one of the best appetizers that I have ever made.
Smoked Bacon Wrapped Cheese Stuffed Chorizo Meatballs is a really long name, but super accurate and perfect for this amazing appetizer. This is an awesome appetizer that is perfect for tailgating, cookouts, sports games or any day. The spicy, smokey and cheesey flavors are a great combination. If you want a great appetizer and have access to an outdoor grill this recipe is for you!
I just got a new Traeger Smoker and I really love. The model is a Traeger Texas, and it makes some mighty fine Q. I am always working on ways to smoke more things. So when I picked up some huge mushrooms at the store, I figured that I should smoke them. This is a pretty traditional Italian stuffed mushroom recipe, with the exception of the smoke. I will tell you that the smoke flavor really added to the dish. They were freaking delicious!
Dana and I love southwestern food. For that reason, one of our favorite condiments is Salsa. To quench our thirst for salsa, I decided to create a fresh salsa. This salsa is crisp and refreshing, all the things jarred salsa are not. If you have never made fresh salsa, I totally recommend it.
We have been looking for a quick and simple party appetizer. So Dana and I, immediately thought of bruschetta and/or crostini. What is the difference? Well it all has to do with the bread. Bruschetta comes from the Italian word Bruscare which means to “roast over coals”. Basically it is toasted slices of wide Italian bread. Not what we think of in America, but lets go with it. Crostini is the toasting of smaller bread slices, typically a baguette. This is what we think of as Bruschetta in America. Oops, I have been wrong all of my life. Well that stops here. Check out this Mushroom Crostini.
Dana and I are huge fans of Green Chiles. We eat them whenever we can, but Hatch chiles are hard to come by in Virginia. A couple of weeks ago the fine people over at http://www.hatch-green-chile.com/ provided us with 5lbs of medium Hatch green chiles. These are top notch chiles, fire roasted, seeded and then flash frozen. They then deliver them right to your door in a cooler filled with dry ice. Pretty much the only way to get Hatch chiles on the east coast. We used a bunch to make some Green Chile Enchiladas and figured it would be great to use some in queso.
The first thing that you need is to get 3-4 chiles roasted, peeled and seeded. If you are lucky, the Hatch Chile Store already did this for you. If not you will need to roast, peel and seed the chiles yourself. I have directions in my Green Chile burger post.
To start heat olive oil and onions in a sauce pan over medium heat. Cook the onions till they are translucent. Roughly 5 minutes.
Then add the garlic and continue to cook for another minute.
Add the 1/3 cup milk and roasted chiles. Cook for 3 minutes or until the milk is warmed. Add the salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and cumin into the pan.
Then slowly add the 8 oz of White American Cheese and 4 oz of Monterrey Jack cheese. Stirring as you add the cheese.
Stir until melted.
Simmer for 5 minutes or until smooth and delicious!
Serve with your favorite chips.
We received medium spiced chiles from http://www.hatch-green-chile.com/ and they were not too spicy. However, it is noted that I have a high tolerance for spice. Next time I will opt for the hot chiles.
It is noted that we received the Hatch Green Chiles from http://www.hatch-green-chile.com/ for free, but did not get paid or compensated in any other way for this review. I am not an affiliate and I do not receive any compensation for any sales resulting from this review.
I love chicken wings! I love them so much that I purchase wings in bulk. You can never have too many wings. In my opinion the best way to cook a wing is over an open flame on the grill. That way you get crispy skin and that smokey caramelized flavor that you can not get with any other form of cooking. I always get asked how to make a spicy barbecued wing. Well this is the simplest way to do it. This recipe is a simple way to make any of your favorite barbecue sauces shine as a wing sauce.
Spicy Barbecue Buffalo Wings
I find that buying whole wing portions is cheaper than buying wingettes and drumettes. A whole wing includes the drumette, wingette and wing tip. Using a simple pair of poultry shears you can trim the wings in no time. I usually dispose of the wing tip as it has little to no meat and usually burns on the grill.
Once you have the wings trimmed. Place them into a zip top bag and season with salt, pepper and cayenne pepper (optional). I usually use a tad more cayenne than what is called for in this recipe as I like my wings spicy. Zip up the bag and shake the wings so that they are uniformly coated. At this point you could refrigerate these for up to 4 hours. However, you can use them right away as well.
Set up your grill for two-zone cooking. If using charcoal pour the coals into half of the grill. If using gas, only turn on half of the burners.
Once the grill is preheated, place the wings on the indirect half of the grill. The half with no heat source. Close the lid and cook for 20 minutes.
While the wings cook, it is time to prepare the spicy barbecue sauce. In a saucepan over medium heat, add the hot sauce, butter, barbecue sauce of your choice and vinegar. Cook until the butter melts, then remove from the heat.
Reserve half of the sauce in a large bowl. This will be used to toss the wings in after they cook.
After the 20 minutes of indirect cooking is up, remove the lid and baste the wings with the sauce. Then grill them over direct heat, flipping and basting with sauce. Grill until they are crispy, delicious and the juices run clear (roughly 165 degrees). Roughly 3-5 minutes per side. I recommend doing this in batches. Only transfer the number of wings that you can keep an eye to the direct heat side. That way you can make sure that they do not burn. These wings are delicious and you do not want to sacrifice any of them to the grilling gods.
Once they are cooked move them back to the indirect side while you finish grilling the remaining wings.
After all of the wings are crispy and delicious, remove them to the bowl with the reserved sauce.
Toss the wings and serve immediately.
Grilled wings are the best and this recipe is a simple way to make any of your favorite barbecue sauces shine.
Nothing says football like buffalo wings. I have compiled a list of the best buffalo wing recipes on Savoryreviews.com. Each of the wing recipes below use a different sauce and each uses a different method for cooking. Feel free to browse and then mix and match the sauces with the various methods of cooking. My favorite is the grilled method. It produces a crispy skin with a light smokey flavor. A winner every time.
Simple and delicious, nothing beats a boneless wing. These take minimal effort to make and even less effort to eat. If you are looking for a simple big game treat that is easy to eat. This is you wing.
Grilled wings are the best way to clear out the kitchen. Move the cooking outside and keep the house calm and cool.
A sweet heat is the way to go. You can use this sauce on boneless, grilled or traditional wings. It is a winner each and every time I make it.
Sick of having chicken bones all over your house after a party. This is the easiest solution. Throw the chicken on a pizza and you will score a touchdown in no time.
The sauce that made me famous. Well famous in my own mind. This sauce won me the cup and will definitely win you fans at your big game party. Takes a little prep, but is well worth it. You can use this sauce on boneless, grilled or traditional wings.
Hope these recipes will help you out on this super Sunday. If you have any questions regarding your game day wings feel free to email me using the Ask Rex link in the menu above. I will be available all day to help you through your game day prep.
Merry Christmas to all of my readers. Since it is the holiday season, I wanted to share some of my favorite appetizers from the blog. I have compiled my list and put them below. Enjoy!
Cheddar Bacon Ranch Pull Bread
While these are my favorites from the blog you can see more here and here. Have a safe and fun Christmas and Happy New Year!
My Father-In-Law Bill has a great garden and has been harvesting tomatoes for the past couple of weeks. He utilized the fresh tomatoes to make a great homemade bruschetta. It is a delicious recipe with extremely fresh ingredients. It is a must try. So here is Bill’s first guest post. Take it away Bill.
Bruschetta
It’s that time of the year- the tomatoes are starting to ripen and it’s time to make one of my favorite appetizers- bruschetta! Made with the freshest ingredients from the garden, it’s simple, quick and simply delicious.
Cut the tomatoes into quarters, remove the cores and the seeds, then dice and place into a bowl. Finely dice the onion slice and place in the bowl ( the red onion will give a much stronger onion flavor so only use it if you really like onion) along with the minced garlic.
Pour 2 teaspoonfuls of extra virgin olive oil over the ingredients along with 1/4 teaspoonful of salt and pepper, mix everything well and chill in the refrigerator for about half an hour.
While the ingredients are chilling, prepare the bread by slicing the baguette on the diagonal, making the slices amount 1/4 inch thick.
Brush each side of the bread with extra virgin olive oil and rub with a clove of garlic. Place in the toaster oven and toast for about 4 to 5 minutes until the slices become firm and very light golden brown.
Plate the slices and put about 2 teaspoonfuls of the tomato mixture on top and finish off with the basil.
Serve with a nice glass of Cabernet (The Little Penguin really complimented the bruschetta nicely).
Dana and I are getting ready for Easter and we wanted to dye some eggs. Then we discovered that it was going to take a huge pan to hard boil all of the eggs that we wanted to dye. So we looked for an alternative. It just so happens that this alternative is the easiest way ever to hard boil an egg. The best part is that it takes the boiling right out of the equation. Place the eggs in some muffin pans and you are good to go.
Hard Boiling Eggs in the Oven
Preheat the oven to 325 degree Fahrenheit.
Place each egg into a cup of a muffin pan.
Bake for 30 minutes.
Immediately remove the eggs and place into a ice bath. Chill for 10 minutes and you are done.
Quite possibly the easiest and most fool proof way to hard boil large eggs.
These are the easiest hard boiled eggs that I have ever peeled. The peel comes right off. Super simple!
Possible Issue When Dyeing Eggs
The one issue when dyeing the eggs is that the eggs released some microscopic residue out of the shell during baking, which left some brown spots. The cure is to gently wipe the eggs while they are in the ice bath. A little water scrub cured this issue. The eggs looked nice and bright white.
While I was New York I accompanied Dana’s Father to a nice market. This market has a small wheel of Camembert cheese on sale for half off. Yeah, I could not pass up on the offer. So I thought about making a wheel of Camembert wrapped in puff pastry. Then Dana’s dad said that he had some fresh asparagus and it was on. Time to make some delicious appetizers with cheese and pastry. This recipe is short, but it packs a punch. Especially if you serve it with nice honey mustard!
Camembert Asparagus Puffs
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Thaw two sheets of puff pastry. Then cut the pastry into 12 equal squares. Also whisk an egg in a small bowl and set aside.
Wash and dry the asparagus spears. Then either cut off the tips and save. To save on some moolah you can use the whole spear cut into 1 inch sections, but I like the asparagus tips. What can I say, they are delicious!
To form, spread out 1 square of puff pastry on a cookie sheet. Then coat the edges of the square with a light coating of the egg wash.
The place a cube of Camembert cheese and a piece of asparagus on each square.
Fold over the puff pastry and then using a fork, press the edges together to form a tight seal.
Repeat for the remaining squares.
Then using the remaining egg wash, coat the top of the pastry squares. The egg wash will give them a rich golden color when they are done.
Place the pans in the oven and cook for 12-15 minutes or until the puff pastry is puffy and golden brown.
Remove and let cool for a couple minutes before eating. This is an important step as the filling is like molten lava right out of the oven. No joke. Molten lava.
Plate the puffs and serve with a nice honey mustard.
This was an awesome appetizer! Quick, simple and delicious!
I was recently asked by Kettle Brand Chips to create an original recipe chip dip for one of their different varieties of Kettle Brand Chips. This task allowed me to indulge myself in the flavors that I love. As a new father, my wife and I don’t get to go out as much as we used to. Our favorite date night was a trip to the steak house which included a nice wedge salad to start things off. The iceberg lettuce topped with tomatoes, blue cheese and bacon was a flavor that we haven’t had in a long time. So I decided to turn our favorite indulgence into a chip dip that we can enjoy every day.
After varying the ingredients and amounts, I came up with an extremely tasty dip that reflected our favorite flavors from a wedge salad. The dip is not a light dip and requires a real potato chip to handle the indulgent dip. Kettle Brand Chips can handle the pressure of lifting up this awesome dip. Kettle Brand cooks real, unpeeled potatoes in small batches for a superior taste and a signature crunch that allows them to be the perfect match to this hearty dip while others crack and crumble under the pressure.
The Wedge Kettle Chip Dip
Add the sour cream, mayonnaise and milk to a bowl and mix until creamy and smooth.
Add the Worcestershire sauce, parsley, garlic powder and salt. Mix to combine.
Finally add the bacon bits, blue cheese and tomato and fold them into the dip.
Make sure to reserve a 1/4 tsp of each of these to top the dip before serving. This little bit will highlight the ingredients so that your guests can see the flavors of the dip. A big tip when entertaining is to make everything appealing to the eye.
Refrigerate the dip for at least 4 hours before serving. This is a crucial step as it was soften the parsley and cause the dip to thicken up.
Finally scoop into a serving dish and top with the reserved tomato, blue cheese and bacon. I prefer to serve these with classic sea salt kettle chips, but the dip will work with any of the 14 varieties of Kettle Chips.
The bacon and blue cheese added a nice contrast to the fabulous crunch of the Kettle Chip. This dip is awesome and really drives home the wedge flavor. Now you can indulge yourself everyday with the taste and flavors of a steakhouse.
Overall this dip hit each and every flavor of the wedge salad. It was a huge success and both Dana and I loved it! This is definitely going to become a staple at our house. Now tell me, what is your favorite dip to be entered in to win a $100 Visa gift card.
I was reimbursed for my ingredients and the Kettle Brand Chips in this post. While I was compensated for my time, the review found on this blog is truthful and honest in my opinion, it is not an advertisement. I was not obligated or encouraged in any way to only provide positive reviews. Opinions found on this blog are those of the individual reviewer and do not necessarily represent the opinions of SavoryReviews.com.
