Appetizers For Football Parties!

This past Thursday was the opening game for the NFL season with Packers beating the Bears. With this sport comes a lot of parties and snacks! With so many chances to entertain; I have three recipes that I tested out for you guys that will be awesome to serve at your next NFL party! (Or just whenever you want an awesome snack!)

All three of these recipes are super simple and you don’t need loads of ingredients. Surprisingly only one utilizes a cheese from the Vineyard Market, the others use potato chips and some hot sauces we carry. Now onto our first recipe:

Broccoli Muffin Bites*

What you’ll need:

• 2 cups of broccoli, cooked and chopped
• 1 cup of Westminster Rustic Red shredded
• 12 – 14 Elki crackers, crumbled
• 1 egg

How to do it:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. spray a muffin tin with nonstick spray
3. cook your broccoli (I used a steam in bag frozen one for simplicity)
4. once broccoli is cooked combine with cheese, crackers, and the egg and mix until well combined (you can use a food processor if you’d like)
5. spoon mixture into greased muffin tins about 3/4 full (they do not rise much so you want them pretty full)
6. top with additional crackers if desired
7. bake for 12-15 minutes until crackers are browned and mixture is fully cooked
8. serve and dig in!

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I made some macaroni and cheese for dinner last night and used the broccoli muffin bites as a fancy topper.

Broccoli Bite Atop Garlic Chipotle Mac & Cheese

The next recipe I tested out is so simple and I can’t believe I never thought of it before. Football usually goes with buffalo wings, and everyone loves fries, so why not combine the flavours together!

Buffalo Ranch Fries*

What you’ll need:

• a bag of frozen fries (I used waffle, but use whatever you want or have on hand)
• 1/3 cup Dales Pale Ale Buffalo Sauce
• 1 packet of ranch seasoning mix
• ranch dressing for dipping (optional)
• green onions for garnish (optional)

How to do it:

1. preheat oven to whatever the frozen bag of fries says to usually 400 to 450
2. toss frozen fries with ranch packet and buffalo sauce
3. spray baking sheet with nonstick spray
4. spread in an even layer on baking sheet
5. bake 18 to 20 minutes or until fries get desired crispiness
6. serve with ranch dressing

For my third recipe, I breaded chicken with Kettle Brand potato chips. It was super delicious. Best part is you can create a different combination by using a different flavour of Kettle chip. I used the Chili Lime and Sea Salt flavour in my chicken recipe.

Popcorn Chicken Bites*

What you’ll need:

• 3 cups of Kettle Brand potato chips, (I used like a bag and a half)
• 1 1/2 cups of flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk (or half and half)
• 1 lb of boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
• salt and pepper to taste
• cayenne or cajun seasoning (in case you want more flavour than the chips)

How to do it:

1. preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. crush potato chips using a food processor until fine crumbs form (I used a plastic bag and a rolling pin and my hands so it was a little chunkier for the crumbs) add 1 cup of flour and any cayenne or cajun seasoning, mix till blended, add to shallow dish
3. place remaining flour in a shallow dish
4. whisk eggs and milk together in a shallow dish
5. rub a baking sheet with olive oil or spray with nonstick spray
6. bread your chicken in this order, flour, egg mixture, kettle chip mixture
7. make sure you press down so the chicken gets coated
8. place on baking sheet
9. bake chicken for 6 minutes, flip and bake on other side for 6 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and the potato chips have slightly browned
10. serve with dipping sauce of your choice!

Let me know if you guys try out these recipes. I think they will all be a hit at any get together, not necessarily just football related! Oh and for those of you interested here is a photo of the cheeses I used in my mac and cheese dinner. It’s also super simple, just a bechamel sauce with these two grated cheeses added.

Happy eating! =)

*Original Recipes From: Broccoli Bites, Buffalo Ranch Waffle Fries, Spicy Popcorn Chicken Bites

Cheesy Brunch Muffins!

I know we just recently posted a recipe using some potatoes, but everyone loves potatoes! I know I do! This past weekend I tested out this new recipe with my roommate Cory and we LOVED them! They are really simple to make and you will not be disappointed with the final product.

I used 3 different types of cheese in this recipe too!

1. Pepper jack, which gives a spicy kick
2. Aged Asiago, which gives some sharp depth and saltiness
3. Manchego, which gives nuttiness and creaminess

The whole recipe takes about an hour from prep to table and depending how hungry the crowd you are feeding is can be doubled easily.

What you’ll need:

• butter
• 1 red onion (diced)
• 1 or 2 jalapeños (diced)
• 2 bell peppers (diced) I used red and yellow because it’s what looked good at the grocery store
• 12oz package of raw breakfast sausage removed from casing (I used plain not maple flavour)
• 1 can diced chiles (drained)
• 2 whole eggs (depending on how much cheese, you may need another egg to bind everything together)
• cumin and adobo seasoning
• pepper
• 2 cups of shredded cheese
• 1 1/2 pounds of peeled russet potatoes grated (I went the simple route and bought a bag of refrigerated pre-shredded potatoes for hash browns)

How to do it:

Muffins ready for the oven!

1. In a medium pan, melt butter and add the onion and peppers. Saute for 5 minutes and then add the sausage. Cook until the meat is no longer pink, breaking up larger pieces as you saute, about 4 or 5 minutes. Strain off grease and discard.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
3. In a large bowl combine the can of chiles, eggs, spices, cheese, shredded potatoes, and the cooked sausage mixture. Stir together.
4. Take a muffin tin and either coat each one with butter or spray with nonstick spray for easy removal of the muffins.
5. Divide your potato/sausage batter between each cup. Do not press the batter down, let it fall naturally in and tidy up your edges.
6. Place muffin tin in oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. (If you are using a dark muffin tin shorten time by 5 minutes, unless you want them really crispy!)
7. Remove and let stand for 3 minutes to cool, slide a butter knife around the edges of the muffins for easy removal.
8. Dig in and enjoy!

I hope you guys try out this recipe, you can even make up your own blend of cheeses to change it up! Let us know if you do! We love coming up with new concoctions and cheesy blends!

Have a cheesy brunch all! (By the way these go great with a mimosa with some Luca Grucci Prosecco!)

Original recipe from here!

 

Butternut Uppercut

Pasta has to be one of my favourite things on the planet. Seriously. I would do anything for a nice bowl of pasta. I mean look at this face! >>>

Does this look like a face that says no to pasta?

I don’t think so.

So when my co-worker, Kerby, came in with this beautiful creation using only items I carry, I was excited. Plus, it uses Mia’s Kitchen’s Butternut Bourbon Pasta Sauce, a newer item the Vineyard Market added to our vast list of delicious products. And you know me, I’m all about finding a pairing to enjoy with your meal.

This time it’ll be our wine of the month instead of a cocktail. This month we have Piattelli Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 2016. Finding a perfect summer Cabernet is hard, but we’ve made it easy with this fantastic wine. At $10.98 this is a great value for this Argentinian gem. With it’s well-rounded dark berries, hints of spice and chocolate, and smooth tannic finish; this is the perfect bottle to enjoy all year long with any meal.

But today, we’re going to enjoy it with some Butternut Bourbon Bratwurst Pasta.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1 jar Rao’s Roasted Red Peppers
• 1 jar Mia’s Kitchen Butternut Bourbon Pasta Sauce
• 1lb Garofolo Pasta (whatever type you’d like)
• 16oz Brooklyn Bangers Cheddar Bratwurst (ground or cut into pieces)

Add water to a pot with a touch of salt and begin to boil. Once boiled add pasta and cook according to instructions on container.

Take the pasta sauce and peppers to another pot and put on medium-low. Use an emmulsion blender to mix the two together, leaving it some chunks of peppers. Cut up the bratwurst and add to the pasta sauce.

Once the pasta is cooked add both to a bowl and serve. I added some fresh grated pecorino romano to mine and it was divine!

Note the rouge noodle in the background. How dare it not be apart of this wonderful meal.

Macho Gazpacho

I was looking for a way to cool off with all this hot weather that’s been (finally) coming our way. And lo-and-behold, I found something I always forget is an option: Gazpacho. This perfect chilled dish is exactly what you need on the hot days to come this summer, plus it lets you enjoy soup more than just when your sick or it’s winter.

I’ve taken a normal tomato gazpacho and made it super simplified.

Here’s what you’ll need

• 2 jars (64oz) Rao’s Marinara Sauce
• 1jar (12oz) Rao’s Roasted Red Peppers with Pine Nuts
• 2tbsp Chef Mandala’s White Balsamic Vinegar (it’s become a favourite of mine if you couldn’t tell)
• 3tbp Divina Olive Oil
• 1 Medium Cucumber (diced)
• 1 Medium Red Onion (diced)
• 1 bulb Garlic (or 3 tsp Minced garlic)
• 1 Baguette
• Salt & Pepper
• Garlic Powder (for baguette)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut up baguette into small pieces to make croutons, use some olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder to season. Toast in oven until crisp, about 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Place Tomato sauce, Roasted Red Peppers, cucumber, garlic, and onion in a pot and use an emulsion blender to mix all ingredients together.  I wound up not having enough cucumbers, but I was able to use Chef Mandala’s Cucumber Vinegar on top of the little cucumber I had left to give it that flavour and texture it needed. Stir in the oil, vinegar, salt and pepper and mix. Add additional salt and pepper as needed. Add croutons to each bowl or place on table for guests to add as generously as they’d like.

This was so simple and so delicious, I’ve been asked to make it three separate times for family functions. And if you know you’re having a party soon, but know you’ll be overwhelmed, it’s the perfect dish to prepare early and freeze until you need it!