In October, with football season in full swing, we randomly pulled a theme out of a little brown bag and shazaam! Tailgate food it is!
Katelyn's Ramen Noodle Salad
This was delicious folks, it was probably my favorite thing on the menu.
Ingredients:
1 pkg. ready made slaw salad
1/4 cup finely chopped green onions
1/2 cup toasted almonds
2 pkgs. ramen noodles, chicken flavor, broken into small pieces
3/4 cup of olive oil
1 Tbsp. pepper
4 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
4 Tbsp. sugar
1 pkg. chicken flavoring from ramen noodle package
Directions:
Pour, toss, and chill overnight!
Lizzy's Buffalo Chicken Skewers
Ingredients:
2 pkgs. boneless chicken tenders
"Slap Yo Momma" Cajun Seasoning
Ranch Dressing
Skewers
Directions:
Fill a large bowl with water and let the wooden skewers soak while you prep the chicken. Start your grill over medium heat, or if you are using charcoal start your grill before you do anything. Season the chicken generously with Cajun seasoning. Thread chicken onto the skewer, one tender per skewer. Grill over medium heat for about 6-8 minutes per side or until cooked through. Serve with Ranch Dressing for dipping.
Chelsea's Spinach Artichoke Dip
Ingredients:
2/3 cup sour cream
1 cup cream cheese
2 tsp. garlic, minced
2 cups parmesan cheese
1 (10 oz) box frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 (14 oz) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix together parmesan cheese, artichokes and spinach. Combine remaining ingredients and add to spinach mixture. Bake for 20-30 minutes. Serve with crackers, tortilla chips or toasted bread.
Courtney's Cowboy Caviar
Ingredients:
2 cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cans of black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
2 cans of yellow corn, drained and rinsed
1 small diced red onion
3-4 celery stalks, diced
3-4 diced bell peppers (all colors)
Ingredients for Marinade:
1 cup of oil (canola, vegetable, or sunflower)
2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 cup sugar
1/2 Tbsp. salt
1/2 Tbsp. pepper
Directions:
Combine salsa ingredients in a large bowl. Combine marinade ingredients on the stove and heat until sugar dissolves then let cool completely. Once marinade is completely cooled, pour over salsa. Let salsa marinade overnight and drain the next day. Serve with tortilla chips, on fish tacos, etc.
Amanda's Chili
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 lb. extra lean ground beef
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
2 cups water
1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce from the can, seeded and minced
2 tsp. adobo sauce from the can of chipotle
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
salt and fresh ground black pepper
1 (15.5 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15.5 oz) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15.5 oz) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
Directions:
Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over moderate heat. Add the onion, bell pepper and carrots, cover and cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the cumin and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the ground beef; raise the heat to high and cook, breaking up the meat with a spoon, until the meat is no longer pink. Stir in tomatoes, water, chipotle and adobo sauce, oregano, salt and pepper. Simmer, partially covered, 20 minutes longer. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
Chelsea's Mini Cannolis
Ingredients:
For cups-
Flour for dusting surface
1 Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust
3 Tbsp. natural sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
For filling-
1 (15 oz) container of ricotta cheese
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar, plus extra for dusting finished cups
2 Tbsp. white sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions:
In a large bowl with an electric mixer, combine all ingredients for the filling except the chocolate chips and mix well until creamy. Place the filling in a 1-gallon plastic storage bag and chill while you make the cups. Filling may seem thin but will firm up slightly when it's refrigerated.
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Unroll the pie crusts onto a lightly floured surface and sprinkle the top of each crust with the natural sugar and cinnamon are pressed until the dough.
With a 2 1/2-3 inch round biscuit cutter or cookie cutter, cut out circles and lightly press them inside an ungreased mini muffin pan to create a pastry cup. Bake for about 10 minutes or until cups are golden. Remove from oven and allow cups to cool. Once cups are cool they can be removed from the tin and filled.
Remove filling from refrigerator, cut one of the bottom corners off the bag and pipe a little less than a tablespoon into the cooled cannoli cups. Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips and dust with powdered sugar to serve.
Lora's Cheesecake Brownies
(I was bad and didn't get a good picture of these pretty little things- they are the ones in the bottom corner)
Ingredients:
Cheesecake Topping-
8 oz reduced fat cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 large egg
Brownie layer-
2 oz. semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 Tbsp. canola oil
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. fine sea salt
Pinch cayenne pepper
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup lowfat buttermilk
2 large egg whites
2 tsp. vanilla extract
Directions:
Position the rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8x8" pan with the foil so it hangs over the edges by about 1". Spray with cooking spray.
Cheesecake topping: In a medium bowl and using an electric mixer at medium speed, beat the cream cheese until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Beat in the sugar and the vanilla until very smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in the egg until well blended. Set aside.
Brownie layer: Put the chocolate, butter and oil in a small microwave-safe bowl and heat for 30 seconds. Stir and microwave again until melted and smooth, about 30 seconds longer. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and cayenne in a medium bowl. Combine the brown sugar and granulated sugar in a large bowl. Whisk in the buttermilk, egg whites and vanilla. Add the chocolate mixture and whisk vigorously until fully incorporated and the batter is thick and glossy. Gradually add the flour mixture and stir just until it disappears.
Reserve 1/2 cup of the brownie batter and set aside. Scrape the remaining brownie batter into the prepared pan. Pour the cheesecake mixture evenly over the top. Drop the reserved brownie batter in large dollops over the topping. Draw the handle of a wooden spoon through the two batters to create a swirled effect. Bake until the top is just set, 40-45 minutes. Let cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Lift brownies out of the pan by the foil and peel off the foil. Spray a knife with cooking spray and cut into 2" squares.
Chelsea even brought a sparkling bubbly called Just Peachy in honor of Mrs. Paula's home state of Georgia. It was mighty tasty!
The highlight of the night y'all (Paula style) was Lizzy never ceasing to impress by getting us a bonafide, signed picture addressed to our dinner club from the one and only Paula Deen herself!!! "Best Dishes and love to the DeFuniak Springs Dinner Club!" Squeeeeeeeaaaaaaallllllll!!!
How cool is that y'all!!?
Here's a little looksy at our menu (which was a huge hit and pretty phenomenal- thanks Paula!)
So here goes.... First off for our appetizer Lora made the Fisher Nutty Bacon Cheeseball. To. Die. For!!! It was yummy folks!
Amanda and Chelsea made the Lady and Sons Chicken Pot Pie. (winner winner chicken dinner!) Someone, had never had a chicken pot pie before and her first experience was a glorious one!
We used smaller au gratin dishes and did mini pot pies. We also did fun cut out shapes for fall since we are in the heart of the season to be a little festive on our dishes.
Other Chelsea did Paula's Stewed Collared Greens. This one took the prize for the night. PHENOM!!!
Chels got the trophy for the month and bragging rights with Paula!
Lizzy tried to one-up herself after getting the signed picture of Paula and she did her Creamy Macaroni and Cheese. We actually put it in a bowl so it would look prettier. We're all about presentation you know.
Courtney had Paula's famous Sweet Tea. There are valuable things to learn from sweet tea y'all. Steep too long and it will be bitter, pour boiling water in a glass container and it might bust, and of course, you need to take the tea bags out of the water before you pour it in the pitcher because they just might bust... love you Courtney!
And last but definitely not least, Katelyn had the Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake. DELISH!!!
That's it for this time. Stay tuned in the first of December. We are taking on Christmas cookies and candy!
Best Dishes and Love y'all!!!
