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Hot Crab Dip!



This "Hot Crab Dip" is cheesy and delicious!  Spread it on crackers, dip tortilla chips in it or spread it on sliced baquettes!  This is a great party appetizer or game day treat!  It's also really easy.  Make it up the night before and just bake the next day right before your gathering. 

 Here is what you will need:

8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
3-4 green onions, sliced thin and including the green tops
1 cup shredded mozzarella, divided
1/2 parmesan cheese, divided
1 tsp. hot sauce (I used Tabasco)
pinch of cayenne pepper to taste
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
8 oz. crab meat (whatever is available in your area)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

I a mixing bowl, blend the cream cheese, mayonnaise and sour cream until smooth. Stir in 3/4 of the green onion.   Stir in half of the mozzarella and 1/2 of the parmesan cheese.  Add in the hot sauce, cayenne pepper, garlic powder and Worcestershire sauce.  Add the crab meat last.  If you use canned crab meat, drain it really well.  If you are using fresh lump crab meat, break it up just a bit.   Pour this into a 2 quart baking dish that has been sprayed with nonstick spray.  Top with the other half of the parmesan cheese and the other half of the mozzarella cheese.


  Place in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until the top is just browning and bubbly.  Wait about 5 -10 minutes before serving.  This allows it to set up a little.  Sprinkle the top with the rest of the green onions.  I like it served on buttery crackers.  I will warn, this is a bit addictive!



Fresh Cranberry Chutney!


I am one of those people who just have to have a little cranberry sauce with my turkey and dressing.  That tart yet sweet flavor just goes so well with the richness of the turkey and dressing with gravy, of course.  I am not ashamed to say that I even like the canned jellied kind. 

 I also love any type of chutney, so I wanted to come up with a "Fresh Cranberry Chutney" and this is it.  I must say, it is wonderful.  I could eat this anytime of the year and I think it will be really good with pork and chicken also. 

This is really easy and it tastes so much fresher and better than anything you buy at the store.  Here is what you need: 

1 large orange, halved
10-12 dried cloves
orange zest
1 (12 oz.) bag of fresh cranberries
1 cup water
1  1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
dash of salt
1 Tbs. lemon juice
2 apples, peeled and diced a little bigger than the cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts


In a large saucepan, squeeze the juice of half of the orange.  Zest this half and place the zest in the pan. Be careful to only zest the outer orange part of the skin and none of the white or pith. It tends to be bitter. 

Stud the other orange half with the dried cloves in the cut side and place it cut side up in the pan.  This makes it easy to remove the cloves when this is finished. Add the cranberries, water, sugar, lemon juice, salt, and ground cinnamon. Bring up to a boil and boil for a couple of minutes. 

 Cover and cook on medium for about 10 minutes or until the cranberries pop.  Add in the diced apples, cover and cook on medium low for about 20 - 25 minutes or until the apples are soft. Discard the orange half and cloves at this point.  Stir in the chopped walnuts.  Allow to cool.  It will thicken as it cools.  Jar it up and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve or you can serve it immediately when it has cooled some.


This is so delicious and just really accents turkey, chicken or pork! 




Butterscotch Delight!



This "Butterscotch Delight" is such a scrumptious dessert!  It's a layered dessert and each layer has it's own distinct yumminess.   The one thing that makes this recipe so extra good is that the butterscotch layer  is made from scratch instead of a pudding mix. 

 However, if you want to take a shortcut I will give you instructions for using the instant pudding.   This is a wonderful dessert for the holidays and it can be made a day or two ahead of time.

  Here is what you will need:

 Crust
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
2 cups self rising flour
1/2 cup nuts, chopped (pecans or walnuts)

Cream Cheese Layer
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Butterscotch Layer*
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
pinch of salt
3 egg yolks
2 cups milk
4 Tbs. cornstarch
1/4 stick of butter
1 tsp. vanilla

12 ounces frozen whipped topping, thawed
maraschino cherries for garnishing or additional chopped nuts

*You can substitute 2 (3oz.) pkgs. instant butterscotch pudding and 3 cups milk for the butterscotch layer, but the scratch recipe is so much better! 

Melt the butter in a 9"x 13" baking dish.  Add the flour and the nuts to the butter and mix.  Press in the bottom of the dish to make a crust.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes or until just lightly browned.  Cool completely.

Beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla flavoring.  Fold in 1/2 cup of the whipped topping. Spread evenly over the crust. 

Mix cornstarch, sugars, and salt.  Beat egg yolks with milk and add to dry ingredients in a medium sauce pan over medium heat.  Stir constantly and cook until it thickens. You can also do this in the microwave.  Cook for about 2 minutes on high, remove and whisk well, return to microwave and cook on high for another 4 minutes or until it is thickened. Once thickened,  add butter and vanilla and beat well until blended.   Set aside to cool completely.  You can put plastic wrap right down on the pudding mixture and refrigerate it a little bit to cool quicker.   The plastic wrap keeps it from forming a tough skin on top. 

Once this is cool, spread over the cream cheese mixture.  It if is too thick to spread, once cool,  add a few tablespoons of milk and beat with the mixer again.

If you are using the pudding mix, mix it with the milk until thick and then spread over the cream cheese layer. 

Spread the whipped topping over the top of the dessert and garnish with maraschino cherries or some additional chopped nuts or go all out and do both!!!   Refrigerate until ready to serve!

This is one delicious, rich and yummy dessert!





Mississippi Comeback Sauce!




 "Mississippi Comeback Sauce" is a zesty dipping sauce that is great with fried foods, with seafood, on sandwiches or even as a salad dressing.  I paired it here with Fried Green Tomatoes!   It would also be great with Fried SquashFried Okra, or even for dipping your Fried Dill Pickles in!  It's also great for dipping your chicken fingers or shrimp in or think of it as your own 'special sauce' for your burgers or sandwiches!

This sauce originated at a Greek restaurant in Jackson, Mississippi called The Rotisserie.  I think it was their house dressing.  It became so popular other restaurants in the city started making their own version of it.  It's easy to whip up and you can keep it refrigerated for using for several days.  Here is what you will need:

2 Tbs. grated onion
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup chili sauce (I actually used a sriracha ketchup made by the Red Gold company)
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. seasoned salt
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
pinch of cayenne or to your taste
dash of hot sauce to taste (I used Tabasco sauce)
1 Tbs. lemon juice

Grate the onion as fine as possible or process it in a food processor.  I grate it with my finest grater and it is just onion juice when I am finished so you don't hunks of it in the sauce.   Place the onion and all of the other ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk it until it's smooth.   Taste it for your own taste preference.  You can spice it up or down to your liking.  You know I like spicy so I used both a little cayenne and some hot sauce, but you could make it milder. 




Pour it up in a mason jar and chill in the fridge until you are ready to use it!



This sauce is so good and really enhances whatever you use it on!  It's really similar to a remoulade sauce, but this is smoother and has a little more spice!




Chicken and Herb Stuffing Bake!


Sometimes I get a craving for Thanksgiving dinner, when it is not Thanksgiving or even near Thanksgiving.  I do bake turkey and make dressing year round, but sometimes I just want the flavors in a much easier form.  This little casserole fits the bill.

  It is easy as can be and bakes in just an hour. The chicken  is fork tender and it even makes it's own gravy you can put on some fluffy mashed potatoes.  

 Here is what you will need:

9 boneless, skinless chicken breast tender fillets or 3 large chicken breasts, cut in 3 pieces each
1 tsp. seasoned salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning
1 (10.25 oz.) can cream of chicken soup
1 (10.25 oz.) can cream of celery soup
1 cup sour cream
1 cup half and half cream or whole milk
1 (6 oz.) box of Stove Top Stuffing mix for chicken or turkey
4 Tbs. of butter


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the chicken in a 9"x13" baking dish sprayed with nonstick spray.  Sprinkle the chicken with the seasoned salt, black pepper and poultry seasoning.


In a bowl mix the soups, sour cream and milk.  Spread evenly over the chicken.



Sprinkle the stuffing and herb mixture evenly over the soup mixture. Dot the top with pats of butter.  Cover tightly with foil and place in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour.  Uncover and just brown the top for about 5 minutes.


This forms a nice gravy that is so good over mashed potatoes!  The chicken is so flavorful and tender!



Add some green beans and dinner is served!  It's so yummy and couldn't be any easier!

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