Super Duper Bowl Snacks

I've just been thinking:

Get a cheap pizza, the Red Barons at Fry's this week on the 10 item deal are cheap and if you're not having pizza for the main dish, then cut a pizza in little snack sized squares for one of the appetizers.

Use the egg roll idea in the appetizer section of the recipe list but instead of using cabbage and whatever, fill a crescent roll rectangle, or smaller, with shredded or diced meats and cheese. Add Bar B Q sauce if you're feeling wacky. Seal up. Bake to package instructions. You could also do cooked taco meat. Pepperoni, cheese and pizza sauce. Or go oriental and with chicken or pork and hosein sauce. Or corned beef and sauteed cabbage/carrot mix. Or pastrami and some saurkraut that the moisture has been taken out of.

Egg rolls

Egg Rolls I made egg rolls last night for dinner out of the Pillsbury crescent rolls. They were lacking something, either they needed more garlic salt or some ginger or soy sauce, I don't know. I'm not gonna lie, they were a little weird. But in a, "I am so going to make them again" kind of way.
My daughter liked them. I liked them. I don't think the male folk in the family did. Here's what I did:

I sauteed off a bag of cabbage and carrot cole slaw in butter and olive oil, sprinkled with Lawry's garlic salt and added some sliced scallions and shallot. I would have used some bean sprouts but couldn't find any fresh in the grocery store. For one tube of crescent rolls, you will probably only need a half of a package of slaw. Less if you're using bean sprouts. When soft I then let the cabbage cool completely. On the second try at this, I put some uncooked sliced scallions on before bakingI unrolled the crescent rolls and separated them into the rectangle shape and pressed the other perforations together. I put some chopped cooked shrimp on the rectange, then the cooked cabbage and rolled them up lengthwise and sealed the edges and the ends with my fingers. I baked them according to the crescent roll baking instructions. Made a nice side to our basil Tilapia and ham fried rice.

When I make them next time I will season the shrimp, or whatever protein I use, and the cabbage more with salt or soy sauce or ginger. The crescent roll is so bland and thicker than a normal egg roll wrap that the flavor of the egg roll needs to come from within.

Stuffed Mushrooms

Now I wish that I had taken a picture. What began as a way to use up the gorgeous mushrooms the husb. bought at Costco a few days ago before they went slimey turned into a victorious end to the experiment. I wanted to use them for dinner and as we were having potato soup for dinner, sauteed mushrooms didn't seem like they were a suitable accompiament. I couldn't find any sausage in the freezer that wasn't freezer burned, so I switched out hamburger. I decided to use Stove Top stuffing, the pork flavor for the stuffing part.

Stuffed Mushrooms

20-24 or so large button mushrooms
2 T. minced onion
1 pkg. Stove Top stuffing mix
1/2 lb. sausage or ground beef, browned
garlic powder or garlic salt or fresh garlic
Olive Oil

Pull the stems out of the mushrooms. Clean the mushrooms with a damp paper towel or rinse quickly and absorb the water with a paper towel, and set them in an 8x8 pyrex pan. Drizzle some olive oil on them. Chop the mushroom stems up finely. Saute the onion in some olive oil, add the mushroom stems and cook until soft. Add some water to the fry pan, maybe 3/4C.-1 C., add the stuffing mix and stir until the stuffing is a nice consistency, adding more water if you need it. Add the sausage or ground beef and some garlic powder or garlic salt to taste. The mushrooms will give off water when they cook in the oven, so the stuffing can be a little dry before you add them to the mushrooms as it will absorb some mushroom liquid while cooking. It needs to be wet enough to stick to the mushroom however. Stuff the mushrooms, drizzle more olive oil over the tops, cook at 350 for about 20 minutes. It could have been less, I didn't keep track.

Bruschetta

Few things get scarfed down in this house with the same intensity as this and a loaf of good french bread toasted to perfection do.

Bruschetta
from Sue S.

3 T. Basalmic vinegar

5 Roma tomatoes

2 T. finely chopped fresh basil

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 T. chopped garlic, or to taste (I use garlic salt or powder)

1 T. Olive Oil

Mix together everything, then drizzle the olive oil over all and toss.

Slice french bread, brush or drizzle with olive oil, and then put under the broiler to toast. Put a spoonful of mix on the bread and eat. Yummy!

Deviled Eggs

A non measure, eyeball it kind of recipe or instruction for making:

Deviled Eggs

As many hardboiled eggs as you'd like cut in half. If you'd like 12 deviled eggs, then make 7 or 8 hard boiled eggs. One or two always turn out ugly as they're being shelled. The whites of the ugly ones get slipped to the dogs.

Sweet pickle relish

dry mustard

Mayonnaise

Cut eggs in half. Slip yolks into a bowl. Mash yolks with a fork until fine. add a half to a teaspoon of dry mustard or how ever hot you want it to be. Add a spoon of pickle relish. Add enough mayonnaise to make it creamy or desire consistency. Spoon yolk mixture into the white of the egg. Sprinkle with paprika for color or add an olive slice or a sweet gerkin slice or some dill or parsley for color.

Sugared pecans

Or cashews, walnuts, almonds, hazel nuts, macadamias, peanuts. Once you learn this basic method, there are endless possibilities. I did this the other night and while I still don't have all the measurements, this is one of those recipes, let's face it, that you may have to do one or two times before you get it right. Some are just that way. So don't be afraid. But I will tell you what I've learned so that maybe you won't be wasting ingredients.

Take a small nonstick fry pan. Leave it dry. Put it on the burner and I then crank it up to high heat. I put 1/3 C. of white sugar in the pan. Have the nuts ready. How many nuts you ask? I had enough to make a layer over the sugar in the pan. I didn't measure them, but I'm thinking it was 3/4 to 1 C. of nuts. If I am using them for salads, then I usually chop them once or twice with a large knife. Now you have two choices here. If you want a hard crunch glazy type coating on the nuts, then let the sugar totally liquify. You may want to turn the heat down ever so slightly but either way you have to work fast and get those nuts in the pan, stir them around and then bam onto parchment paper to cool. The sugar goes brown and if you mess around too much it will get burnt tasting. Or taste burnt, whatever is correct English here. Or you can go for the second option and put the nuts in when the sugar just starts to liquify or liquifies halfway. Then coat, get onto a sheet of parchment paper or waxed paper or a sheet pan on your counter (if using the sheet pan I would spray a thin spray of PAM onto it before putting the caramelized nuts on it). If you do it the second way the nuts will be sugary and crunchy but not as hard or evenly glazed as the other way. I like them the second way actually but I am usually messing around and don't get them in the pan fast enough and they turn out the first way. You're actually making caramel, so do it when you don't have to answer the phone and when the kids are not in the kitchen with you. Send the dogs outside even. Oh, and sometimes, when the sugar is in the fry pan, I like to sprinkle a little cinnamon over it. Or over the nuts once I've added them. You could experiment with other spices also, sweet or savory type spices. These are great in salad with blue cheese or feta, craisins and/or mandarin oranges. You'll save a lot of money by making them yourself instead of buying them already sugared. You may eat most of them as is before they make it to your salad bowl.

Jalepeno poppers

These look great for snacking for New Year's Eve.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/07/bacon-wrapped_j/

or this variation from her cookbook:

BBQ Jalapeno Poppers
from the Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook, pg. 14

18 fresh jalapenos
one 8 oz. package cream cheese
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 green onion, sliced
18 slices thin bacon, cut into halves
Bottled BBQ sauce
toothpicks
rubber gloves or plastic bags for working with the jalapenos

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees.

Cut jalapenos in half legthwise, wish a spoon scrape out the seeds and membranes. If you want some heat, leave some seeds or membranes. Don't touch with your hands and then to your eyes after handling the peppers.

In a bowl, comine the softened cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and chopped green onion. Mix the ingredients together gently.

Stuff each hollowed jaapeno half with the cheese mixture.

Wrap bacon slices around each half, covering as much of the surface as you can. Be careful not to stretch the bacon too tightly around the jalapeno, b/c it will contract.

Brush the surface of the bacon with your favorite BBQ sauce. Chutney or apricot jelly works well, also.

Secure the jalapenos with toothpicks and pop them in the oven for 1 hour, or until the bacon is sizzling.

Rumaki

Bacon cut into fourths, water chestnut on top

Rolled and secured with a toothpick and lined
up on a baking sheet.

Top couple of rows have been dipped in BBQ

sauce and the rest haven't. Need to be dipped

and then go back into the oven for a second baking.

Rumaki

3/4 lb. of bacon
2 cans of water chestnuts
1 bottle BBQ sauce

I cut the bacon into fourths, then I wrap each water chestnut and secure with a toothpick. Put them on a baking sheet and cook at 450 degrees for 20-30 minutes until the bacon is almost done. Take out and carefully drain the grease off of the baking sheet. I then put the BBQ sauce into a small bowl a little bit at a time and dip each bacon covered water chestnut into the sauce and put back onto the baking sheet. Then cook another 5-10 minutes being careful not to burn. The more sugar in the BBQ sauce, the quicker it will cook. Remove from oven when bacon looks done. Let cool for a few minutes, then serve. Or make ahead, refrigerate and then microwave to heat when your guests arrive.

I am estimating that 2 cans makes aproximately 60 pieces. I didn't count but when I packed them up to take to the party they all fit into an 8x8 pyrex dish and didn't look like a lot. They got gobbled up fast also.

Your baking sheet will be nasty after baking. Pour some water on it and let it sit for a couple of hours before trying to clean it.

Asparagus Beef Roll Ups

Roast beef slices in halves, spread with horseradish
sauce and blanched cooled spears of asparagus layed
on top. Looks like a flag doesn't it? Or if you're LDS
I couldn't help but think of the Title of Liberty. LOL.

Those "five flags" all rolled up.

All of them, all bundled up in their roast beef

blankies, nestled together and ready to go out into the cold (45 degrees, I know it's laughable) to the party. The above picture is pretty much one and a half pounds of asparagus. When we do have leftovers of these, they make a pretty tasty cold lunch. My daughter would even like them in her lunch.

I guarantee you, if you serve these to a crowd where there are asparagus lovers that the plate will be clean in about 30 minutes.

Asparagus Beef Roll Ups
Jenni C.

Asparagus
Roast beef slices, deli style
horseradish cream or sauce

Rinse the asparagus and snap it at the stems to trim. Blanch or steam in water until crisp tender, drain. Then I just add ice cubes to the pan of hot asparagus to stop the cooking process. Then drain and put on paper toweling and blot dry. Lay out roast beef, cut slices in half or thirds, spread a little horseradish sauce on top, then lay an asparagus spear on top and roll up. In the picture it looks like I have spread a lot of horseradish sauce on. I made my own out of sour cream, lemon juice, and horseradish so it wasn't very hot. Beware of how much prepared horseradish sauce you put on the roast beef slices. Do remaining spears. Chill.