Want something quick and easy to bring to your next get together? This recipe is the one for you. I like this recipe for a wide variety of reasons. First, it is very easy to assemble. Second, and this is perhaps my favorite reason, it’s small enough to minimize waste but large enough so that everyone can have some of it.
I think that has been my bug-a-boo about most cheese balls. A lot of recipes make a cheese ball that is big enough to feed an army. And what always seems to happen is a lot left overs. So, with good intentions you wrap it up and put it back in the fridge. The problem is I don’t know a lot of people who eat cheese balls outside of a party venue. So the remainder sits in your refrigerator until you wind up throwing it away. But not with this one. It’s just the right size. And if you need a bigger cheese ball, just double the recipe. But my experience has been that when there are lot of appetizers to choose from, making an appetizer that is smaller in size eliminates a great deal of waste.
So let’s talk cheddar bacon ranch cheese ball…
Lesson Learned 1: I found a great shortcut for adding bacon to recipes. The last time I was at the grocery store I noticed a package of Boar’s Head fully cooked bacon. It comes in a box and is not refrigerated. Inside there are two vacuumed sealed packages of cooked bacon with approximately 6 pieces per pack. One pack was perfect for this recipe. I avoided all of the grease and clean up associated with cooking bacon. Since then I’ve used it on salads and in other recipes. I love the taste and convenience of it. You may want to try some. It really makes putting together this cheese ball a snap.
Lesson Learned 2 – Grate your own cheese versus using the packaged kind. Although I just touted the convenience of using precooked bacon, I don’t recommend using the grated cheese you get in a bag in any recipe. It may take a few seconds more to grate your own cheese but for flavor and health reasons I strongly recommend it.
First, grating your own cheese is less wasteful less expensive and it tastes so much better. But the main reason I grate my own cheese is an additive put in bags of grated cheese know as cellulose. Cellulose is actually derived from wood pulp, yes wood pulp, and is added to packages of grated cheese to prevent the cheese from clumping together. Now I don’t know about you, but I’m not a big fan of adding wood pulp to my diet if I can avoid it. So next time, take the couple of extra seconds and grate your own cheese. Your body will thank you for it.
This recipe couldn’t be any easier, is perfect in size and is tasty as all get out. So try it and let me know what you think…
Cheddar Bacon Ranch Cheese Ball
INGREDIENTS:
1- 8 ounce package of cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
5-6 pieces of cooked bacon, chopped
1/2 package of ranch dressing mix (you can add more to taste if you like)
1/8 cup fresh chives, chopped
1 cup chopped pecans
DIRECTIONS:
In a medium bowl combine all of the ingredients except the chopped pecans. Mix well and form into a ball.
Roll the cheese ball in the chopped pecans until the ball is completely covered. Cover the ball with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.
Mixed Ingredients
Roll Into A Ball And Place On Top Of Chopped Pecans
Completely Cover With Pecans
Well, that is what this recipe is all about. I wish I could take credit for this but I can’t. I was at the grocery store looking for something to make, like a quick bread or muffins and I picked up this box of Krusteaz Cranberry Orange Muffin Mix. I looked on the back of the box to see if I could use this to make a quick bread and lo and behold on the bottom right hand corner was the recipe for this cake. All it required was a few extra ingredients, namely almond extract and fresh plums. The picture of the cake looked so good I just had to try it. Needless to say, it was fabulous and very easy to make so I felt I had to share it with all of you. Nobody has to know that this cake is semi-homemade.
Lesson Learned 2 – Create the plum arrangement you want on top of the cake on a paper plate first: I found I had to play with the plums a little to create the arrangement I wanted. You don’t want to be doing that on top of the batter. I took a dinner size paper plate and created my plum arrangement on that. When it came time to put the plums on top of the batter I simply moved them from the plate to the cake just like I arranged them. It was a piece of cake, no pun intended!
1 box Krusteaz Cranberry Orange Muffin Mix
1 8 oz. package of cream cheese, room temperature
I’ve had a lot of practice making appetizers this Summer as my condo association hosts a happy hour every Thursday and although you’re not obligated to bring anything I like to use it as my recipe tester event. So last Thursday I made this dip and it was a hit.
Lesson Learned 3: Serve this with veggie straws. I’m not sure how I got the idea to use veggie straws but they were the perfect compliment to the dip. I think people just get tired of the usual potato or nacho chips and this was a welcome change. They also lend themselves well to scooping some dip on the straw which makes this appetizer great finger food.
A whole vanilla bean will give you the equivalent of approximately one teaspoon of vanilla extract. Adding this to the two teaspoons of vanilla already in the recipe and it gives a wonderful but not over powering vanilla flavor to the zucchini bread. And that’s what makes it so luscious.
Lesson Learned 2 – Use a food processor to shred the zucchini: Although you can use a box grater, a food processor is a faster and easier way to shred the zucchini for this recipe. One medium to medium-large size zucchini will give you the two cups needed to make the bread. The food processor shreds the zucchini to just the right size so there are small strands in the bread. You don’t want to the zucchini shreds to be too big. They are designed to add moisture to the cake without providing any noticeable flavor. Also, make sure to pat down the zucchini shreds in your measuring cup. You want them slightly compacted.
Lesson Learned 2 – I used pre-made roasted tomatoes: In the specialty cheese section I found some roasted tomatoes marinated in garlic olive oil. Bingo! The package had about 7 ounces of roasted tomatoes that I diced up and put on top of the pepperoni. It was fabulous. If you can’t find them pre-made you can roast tomatoes yourself and then let them marinate in some olive oil. You’ll still get the same result. But this was a whole lot less work and gave the bites a great flavor!
Lesson Learned 3 – I used a specialty feta cheese: You can certainly use plain feta cheese but I found a roasted pepper and basil feta cheese and I decided to use that. What I liked about this choice was that it added the flavor of basil to the appetizer without having to use basil leaves. You could certainly use basil leaves as well. If you do I would put the basil leaf on top of the pepperoni and then put the tomatoes on top of that. That way the leaf is secured. The great thing about this appetizer is that you can be creative and it will still be fabulous!
Lesson Learned 1 – Learning how to know when the glutens in the dough have been developed properly: This was the biggest take away for me from the cooking class I attended. I learned you can underdeveloped, develop and overdevelop the glutens in your dough. Underdeveloped glutens will give you a heavy dense dough that may fall in on you when you bake your bread. Overdeveloped and your bread will be too dry.
Lesson Learned 5 – You can separate your dough into as many strands as you want for braiding: I did a traditional 3 strand braid. You braid it just like you braid hair. The picture to the right shows my strands. In hindsight I should have made the bottom one thinner and all the strands more even in size. In the end it really didn’t hurt anything as you leave the braided bread to rest on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet for at least an hour and the dough rises and sort of fills itself in.
Lesson Learned 1 – This is a great way to use some of the homemade pesto you’ve made from growing basil: pesto is what adds zip to this recipe and homemade pesto is the best. If you don’t have your favorite 
Lesson Learned 2 – If you want to serve these standing up versus lying down you will need to cut a flat surface on the bottom of each mozzarella ball: I learned this lesson the hard way. I started assembling the skewers and found that they would not stand straight. The round bottom of the ball prevented them from doing so. I tried pushing the bottom flat but that didn’t seem to work so I started cutting the bottoms off the balls and then figured out that I liked the presentation of the skewers better with the skewers lying on their sides. So I opted to serve them lying on one side versus standing up. There is no right way to serve these, but I found that serving them on their side created quite an impressive looking appetizer as you can see from the picture below…
1 small container of cherry tomatoes
Lesson Learned 1 – Use LOTS of shrimp: I used a 12 oz. bag of frozen cooked and deveined shrimp. I thawed the shrimp in the refrigerator overnight and then chopped it up into small bite sized pieces. I kept a couple of shrimp to garnish the top of the dip (of course you don’t have to do that) and all the rest went into the dip. My point being this is a shrimp dip – the more shrimp the better.
Lesson Learned 3 – If you can, make this recipe the day before: Like almost any dish, the more the ingredients are acquainted directly relates to upping the wow factor of the flavor. So it is with this dish. It is such an easy dish to make that it shouldn’t be too difficult to make it the day before and let it sit overnight in the refrigerator. But if you’re in a rush and need something quick, you can serve this the same day and it will still be very good.
1 – 8 oz. package of cream cheese, room temperature
I’ve tasted many iterations of soda bread over the years and, to be honest, most of them were less than stellar. There was only one other time that I can remember having fabulous soda bread. That was when I was working at the Chicago Park District and one of my co-workers, Carol Diver, brought some to work. Carol was Irish through and through with an infectious laugh and a heart as big as all outdoors. And her soda bread was to die for. Unfortunately Carol is not longer with us and I’d never asked her for her soda bread recipe. But from then on, her soda bread was the standard to which I held all others. As time went on none would ever compare, until now.
Lesson Learned 1 – There are many ways to make ganache: I am going to share with you the simplest way. The ratio is easy to remember 1:1. Use as many ounces of heavy cream as semi-sweet chocolate. It couldn’t be easier.
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate squares cut into small pieces
Lesson Learned 1 – Make sure to cut the potatoes to the correct size: For the purposes of this recipe you need to keep the pieces close in size (approx. 3/4 inch pieces). Here’s a little trick to help you achieve that. Using your chef’s knife cut a thin slice off of one of the longer sides of a peeled potato. Set the potato on the cut side and slice crosswise into even planks. Stack several planks and cut crosswise. Then rotate and cut crosswise again. This will give you evenly sliced potatoes.
Lesson Learned 2 – You can cook the pieces of potatoes two different ways, on the stovetop or in the microwave: (I will include both methods in the recipe printout). I chose to cook them on the stove. The process is not much different than making mashed potatoes. The only difference is you want to monitor the potatoes as they boil to make sure they don’t get overly soft, otherwise they’ll break apart. You want them to hold their shape. I would boil them for about 7-10 minutes and check their consistency. If they are still hard, check every couple of minutes until they are just becoming fork tender.
Lesson Learned 5 – Don’t continuously move the potatoes once they are in the skillet: In order to get the potatoes nice and brown you have to let them sit for a while in the skillet. The whole browning process can take about 20 minutes and you don’t want to be flipping the potatoes continuously during that time. If you want to check to see if they are ready to flip, turn one of the pieces or look on the sides of the pieces to see if the bottoms have started to to turn color. You’ll get a much better result if you are patient during the browning process.
2 large russet potatoes, peeled and sliced into 3/4 inch cubes
Lesson Learned 1 – Learn what parts of the asparagus spears you can use: Quite often you’ll see on television the way to trim asparagus is to bend it and where it breaks off is where you should trim your bunch. I’ve found that sometimes that wastes too much asparagus especially if you’re making soup. I learned early on that even with a very sharp knife, there can be a part of the spear that will very hard to cut – you almost always have to use two hands pressing down on the knife to cut it. That is the part you want to throw out. That still leaves some of the tougher parts of the asparagus, but as long as a knife will go through it without a lot of force you can use it in the soup. Keep in mind that soup is designed to use as much of the asparagus spear as you possibly can so don’t be afraid to use some of the tougher parts of the spear. As long as you can cut through it without a lot of force it will be perfectly fine for the soup.
3 Tbs. butter, separated
Lesson Learned 2 – Only use coconut oil in this recipe: If you use olive oil you simply will not get the same flavor. The coconut oil renders a subtle sweetness that, along with the cinnamon, makes the squash taste so good. Now, can you use olive oil if you don’t have coconut oil – of course you can. But I wouldn’t recommend using cinnamon with olive oil. I don’t think the flavors would compliment each other as much.
Lesson Learned 3 – Be careful how much cinnamon you add: In this recipe it is important for the oil and cinnamon to balance each other out in order to get the correct flavor and sweetness. For that to happen the correct proportions need to be used.
One more note… from time to time I will also focus on making recipes for two. It’s just my husband and I that I cook for now unless we are having a party and sometimes I find if I make too much we either throw stuff out or eat leftovers. And some recipes are more conducive to leftovers than others. These days it is hard to cook for two since grocery stores seem to sell bigger portions. But I found this particular recipe can be adapted in many ways and one of them is the amount you make. So I am writing this recipe for two people but keep in mind you can increase the ingredients proportionally to serve more.
Lesson Learned 2 – Adapting this recipe: I originally wanted to use some spinach in this recipe but didn’t have it on hand and didn’t feel like going to the grocery store to buy some. But I did have some flat leaf parsley and so I used that. If you use spinach just saute it with the onions and only use a couple of handfuls. The spinach should act as the accompaniment to the recipe and shouldn’t overpower it. The same applies to flat leaf parsley. I only used a little more than a tablespoon (and of course I used some for garnish), just enough to enhance the flavor.
Lesson Learned 3 – Those tricky potatoes: I don’t know about you but, for me, potatoes are tricky when using them in a casserole, specifically sliced potatoes. I’ve experienced many instances where they were hard and not cooked through. This time they turned out perfectly. This is what I did. I used two medium sized yukon gold potatoes and boiled them with their skins on until I could easily stick a fork in them. Then I put them in a colander and let them cool. It is important to let them cool. If you try to cut them when they’re hot they’ll fall apart. Once they cool you can easily peel and slice them. Can you leave the peel on? Of course you can. My husband prefers them with the peel off. I sliced potatoes into half inch thick rounds and they were delicious. One of the first things my husband said when he took is first bite was, “the potatoes are good”. Success!!
2 medium sized yukon gold potatoes, pre-boiled
Lesson Learned 1 – Working with the refrigerator dough: Using this kind of dough is very convenient but you do have to work it a little bit. I cut the pieces along the pre-perforated edges as best I could (I wound up with 9 rounds and I should have only had 8 if I followed the perforations exactly – oh well…) and rolled each piece into a ball. I flattened each piece with my hand and then used my thumbs to create a crater inside the dough. The crater is important because that’s where you put the cream cheese and cherries. Making the crater as deep as possible helps to prevent the cherries from falling off. But don’t worry, if they do once you pull them out of the oven just use a small spoon to push them back on top. Once they cool they will stay put.
Lesson Learned 2 – Making the glaze: Making glaze for any type of cake or pastry couldn’t be easier. All it requires is some confectioners sugar, some liquid and perhaps some sort of additional flavoring. You can use water, milk, or heavy cream for your liquid and you can use a little extract, juice or zest to enhance the flavor of the glaze. More often than not I use milk as the liquid and in this particular recipe I used a little vanilla extract to enhance the flavor.
Lesson Learned 4 – Use instant espresso powder to enhance the flavor of the chocolate: In any recipe that includes chocolate I’d recommend adding at least a quarter teaspoon of espresso powder. It brings out the chocolate flavor so much more. Try making a chocolate recipe without it and then make the same recipe with it. You’ll be amazed at how much it enhances the flavor of the chocolate.
Take a silicone brush and lightly coat the bottom and sides of the skillet. You really don’t want a lot of oil sitting on the bottom. That will give you a greasy crust. And make sure you use a good quality olive oil. I used a garlic infused olive oil when I made the rosemary parmesan bread and a mild flavored premium olive oil for the cranberry walnut bread. If you don’t overdo the oil the crust will have just the right amount of crispiness and will taste heavenly. Just make sure you use a good olive oil. I prefer the crust in this method compared to the crust you get when using an enameled cast iron dutch oven (in the process you do not oil the pan). That crust, to me, is a little tougher. But don’t get me wrong, both methods produce wonderful bread.
Lesson Learned 3 – This cake freezes beautifully: This recipe produces a large cake that really only stays fresh for a couple of days. If you’re not making it for a party or to bring to work I suggest you take what you don’t think you’ll eat in a couple of days and freeze it. I wrapped mine in 2-slice portions. Make sure you wrap the pieces tightly in plastic wrap and then put them in a freezer bag(s). Let as much air out of the freezer bag as you possibly can. By doing this you’ll have fresh moist cake for a month!
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
This recipe came out of my desire to finally tackle making bruschetta and my need to bring an appetizer to a community event. Since I’d never made it before I decided to start out with a basic recipe that included only tomatoes, onion, sautéed garlic, garlic infused olive oil, some fresh lemon juice and fresh basil. It was divine! You can tell your appetizer is a hit when it’s completely gone while others still remain. This one was eaten up quickly.
1 6oz. French baguette loaf, sliced in 1/4 inch slices
The picture above shows you the amount of 1 inch rounds you get from a small-medium sized eggplant. It is very important to salt both sides of the rounds and then let them rest. The salt will “sweat” out the eggplant and remove any bitterness. After 20-30 minutes you will be surprised at how much clear liquid is on each slice. Wipe them off with a paper towel and you are ready to go.
So when we had the first meeting of our book group in my condo community I thought what a great time to experiment with another type of cheese ball. This time with a little salted caramel flare. And once again it was a huge hit!
2 – 8 oz. packages of cream cheese, softened
I would also time the process and not leave it up to your memory. You will actually see the mixture double in size and become more thick when you beat it for that length of time. That’s what you’re looking for. Be careful. Don’t try to shortcut this part of the process. If you do you will be left with a somewhat flat coffee cake.
but you can make it has hot as you like. McCormick has a few varieties of seasonings and if you can’t find a seasoning mix that gets you the heat you crave you can always add red pepper flakes. This seasoning mix contains a blend of chili pepper, paprika, cumin, onion salt and garlic. I also add about a teaspoon of chili powder and this combination of seasonings gives us the kind of chili we prefer.
The ingredients for this recipe are not all that complicated, cream cheese, scallions, cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, worcestershire sauce, mayo, spices and some almonds. Easy enough.
2. Choose any herb blend you think will work well with salmon: I used a Tuscan Garlic Seasoning Blend. It contains onion, garlic, spicy red pepper and lemon peel. I like it because it gives a gentle spicy kick to the salmon. If you’re not sure what to use read the label on the jar your considering. Quite often it will tell you whether it works best with meat, poultry or fish. Think of the herbs you enjoy and find a blend that resembles that. Or mix up a blend of your own.
The ingredients in the recipe are a little unusual. For instance, you don’t use any eggs just butter and lemon juice – you use powdered sugar in place of granulated sugar – and you mix the flour with cornstarch. Sounds a little strange but the result is what, as a child, I called sand cookies. And although sand cookies doesn’t sound very appetizing, it was my term for cookies that literally melt in your mouth. The combination of ingredients in this recipe creates a melt in your mouth consistency that is amplified when you ice them with the lemon frosting. All I can say is yummo!
Lesson Learned 1 – Make sure you chill the dough: The consistency of the dough is not like most cookies – it will be softer and stickier. It’s important for the dough to chill in order to form the cookies and bake them off. Divide the dough in half and make two eight inch logs. Cover the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to two hours. My dough was nice and firm after an hour and a half, so check your dough at that point to see if it is ready to go.
Lesson Learned 2 – The batter will be thicker than you think: I was surprised at how thick the batter was in this recipe. But the combination of a thick batter and strawberries creates the perfect balance for a moist and flavorful muffin. All the magic happens in the oven, so don’t worry about how thick the batter is.
2 cups flour
Lesson Learned 1 – Buy chicken breasts with skin and ribs and debone the chicken yourself: You want to do this for a couple of reasons. First it is much less expensive to buy chicken this way. Second by leaving the skin on it keeps the breast nice and moist during the slow roasting process. Invest in a good boning knife and regularly maintain it with a hand sharpening tool like the one pictured to the left. It is surprisingly inexpensive and will keep your knife nice and sharp for a long time and boning the chicken breasts will be a breeze. These days it’s pretty hard to find boneless breasts with the skin still on so this may be the only way to do it.
Lesson Learned 2 – Use a rice mixture for an extra flavor boost: Go ahead, be adventurous and use a rice mixture instead of just plain white rice. You can use wild rice, basmati rice or the mixture that I use which is a combination of white, brown, wild and red rice and pictured to the right. You’ll be amazed at how it punches up the flavor volume and makes the dish even more interesting.
INGREDIENTS:
Lesson Learned 1 – Try to use chicken breasts with the skin on: I normally buy chicken breasts with the skin on and rib portions attached. First they are cheaper when purchased that way and second it’s easy to remove the rib portion and you’re left with a skin-on breast. Chicken can dry out very easily in a slow cooker and often can get overcooked. With the skin on it gives the breast meat more moisture during the cooking process and that is what you’re looking for. But sometimes you just can’t find them that way and that’s ok as well. Both times I made this recipe I had skinless breasts in the freezer and so I used them. But in my experience with other recipes, skin on breasts are preferred when cooking them in a slow cooker.
Lesson Learned 3 – Don’t overcook the chicken: I know, easier said then done, but most people overcook chicken breasts no matter what cooking method they are using. Chicken breasts can be moist as well as cooked through but there is a fine line between when that occurs and dried out chicken.
Lesson Learned 4 – You can cook a veggie with the chicken if you want to: The first time I made this recipe I only cooked the chicken in the bbq sauce mixture. The second time I added carrots. When it came time to shred the meat I just pulled out the carrots, put them on a baking sheet lined with foil and sprayed with cooking spray and kept them in a warm oven until dinner was served. Make sure you use cooking spray on the foil as the remnants of the bb sauce on the carrots will stick to the foil and you don’t want the carrots sticking. Also make sure you don’t use overly thick carrots – they won’t cook through in six hours.
3 large chicken breasts, skin on preferred
You Betcha Can Make This! 