Cranberry barbeque chicken dip

Ingredients:
1 can whole-berry cranberry sauce
1 bottle chili sauce
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 T coarse brown mustard
1 t red pepper flakes
1 T cider vinegar
4 c cooked chicken, shredded
2 pkg Neufchatel cheese, softened
1 lb Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
Small bunch of green onions cut up for garnish.

2 - 8" diameter oven safe serving bowls or a single 9x13 glass casserole dish

Instructions.

Preheat oven to 350° F

Lightly oil dishes with olive oil. Evenly divide Neufchatel cheese between the dishes and press out evenly on the bottom (put some oil on your fingers to make this easy.) Cover with a light layer of shredded Monterey jack. Set aside.

Put cranberry sauce, chili sauce, worschesher sauce, mustard, red pepper, and vinegar in a food processor. Pulse to combine. You want the cranberries to still have some texture, so don't puree.

Put chicken in a large bowl. Spoon about 1/2 cup of barbeque sauce over it and stir well. Keep adding a few spoonfuls until all of the chicken is coated and the mixture holds together. Add a bit more sauce along with about 1/2 cup shredded Monterey jack and mix just until combined.

Spoon an even layer of chicken mixture into the casserole dishes. Level with the back of a spoon.

Coat with the remaining shredded Monterey jack cheese.

Bake, uncovered for 30 minutes. Remove and top with green onions.

Serve immediately with snack crackers.

Red Pepper Hummus

Ingredients:

• 2 red bell peppers (roasted, skinned and diced)
• 1.5 cups (one 15 oz. can) cooked chickpeas, rinsed and drained if canned (equals 1/2 c dry beans soaked overnight and cooked for 45-90 minutes)
• 2-3 medium cloves garlic, peeled
• 1/4 cup raw tahini (sesame paste)
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon sea salt (or less if you prefer)
• 1/4 cup vegetable broth
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions.

• 1. If you are anal, skin the chickpeas. It will take a while. You might start to curse, or give up altogether.
  2. Roast red peppers directly over burner on stove until blackened on all sides. Put in a paper bag for 10 minutes. Peel off skin, dice into 1/8" pieces
  3. In a food processor, blend the garbanzo beans and garlic cloves very well. Add the tahini, lemon juice, salt, broth and oil and process until fully emulsified and creamy. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to ten days. For best results, allow to warm to room temperature before serving.
  4. Add 1/2 of the peppers to the food processor and blend (peppers should still be visible.)
  5. Serve hummus in a bowl and garnish on top with the other 1/2 of the peppers.

Moroccan Style Sausage Rolls & Red Pepper Hummus

Ingredients:

• 3 puff pastry sheets
• 1½ lb ground beef (use lamb if you can afford it)
• 2½T sundried cranberries
• 1½t ground coriander
• 1½t ground cumin
• 1T of lemon juice
• 1/4lb fresh spinach leaves, chopped
• 4 sprigs fresh coriander leaves, chopped
• 3 sprigs fresh parsley leaves, chopped
• 2 eggs lightly beaten
• 1 egg lightly beaten with 2T cold water (separate from above)

Instructions.

1. Remove the pastry from the freezer to defrost
2. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F
3. Put the chopped herbs and spinach, and spices in a bowl and blend well.
4. Put the ground meat into the bowl and mix by band until well blended
5. Add 2 beaten eggs and mix through
6. Split the mixture into three parts
7. One by one, layout each sheet of pastry on a lightly floured surface, rolling slightly to fix any splits and to make the pastry even.
8. Dab some of the egg/water mixture for about 1" along one edge.
9. Lay out 1/3 of the meat mixture along the opposit edge of the pastry and then roll the pastry up and over into a log, sealing with the egg dabbed edge.
10. Cut into 1" pieces
11. Put the pieces onto a baking tray lined with baking paper and brush with the egg/water mixture to glaze
12. Bake for 30 minutes
13. Remove from the oven and cool
14. Serve with Red Pepper Hummus

Savory corn pancakes with refried beans & salsa

Pancakes
Ingredients:
1 c corn flour
1 c corn meal
1/2 c rice flour
2 t baking powder
2 t cumin
2 t chili powder
1 t sugar
1 1/2 c skim milk
2 eggs

Refried Beans
Ingredients:
1/2 lb black beans
1/2 lb navy beans
1 lg yellow onion sliced thinly
1 green pepper chopped into 1/4" dice
1 T cumin
1 T chili powder
1/2 c red wine
4 beef bullion cubes
1 1/2 c boiling water

Instructions.
Preparing beans:
Soak beans in water for 24 hours rinsing every 8 hours. Keep covered with water.

Cook beans in a crock pot with water for 4-6 hours. Drain excess water and put beans in a food processor and process into a coarse paste (do this in batches).

Heat a large skillet add olive oil and saute onions until translucent. Add peppers and continue cooking. Add cumin and chili powder. Deglaze with red wine a reduce heat. Add beans and fold in onions & peppers.

Dissolve bullion in water. Add to bean mixture as needed to smooth it out. Set aside.

To serve put beans in a dish, coat top with grated cheese and microwave for a couple minutes to melt cheese.

Preparing pancakes:
Put dry ingredients in a large bowl and blend thoroughly.

In a separate bowl whisk milk and eggs. Add milk and eggs to dry ingredients and whisk.

Heat a griddle or skillet. Spray with oil. Pour 1/8-1/4 c of pancake mixture onto skillet. Allow to cook. Check edges and flip when brown. When cooked remove and repeat for the rest of the batter.

How to serve:
Place pancake on a plate. Top with several tablespoons of bean mixture. Top with salsa.

Spanokopita Swirls with Skordalia

Spanokopita
Ingredients:
1 pkg puff pastry
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
4 oz feta cheese
4 oz cream cheese (Neufchatel) (room temperature)
1 1/2 c fine chiffonade fresh Spinach
Parmesan cheese for rolling

Instructions Preheat oven to 375 F

Line two baking sheets with foil & parchment on top.

Saute onion in olive oil until clear and just starting to caramelize.  Remove from heat and cool.

Blend cream cheese and feta in a food processor.  Add onion. Set aside.

Coat rolling surface with a light layer of Parmesan cheese.  Layout a sheet of puff pastry dough. Coat lightly to prevent rolling pin from sticking and roll until even - 1/8" - 3/16" thick.

Spread 1/2 of cheese mixture evenly, leaving 1/2" at one edge for sealing later.

Spread 1/2 of spinach evenly, again leaving 1/2" at one edge for sealing.

Start rolling from edge opposite the 1/2" uncoated edge.  Keep the roll tight and even.
Roll until the 1/2" edge is left.  Wet that 1/2" edge with water and finish rolling, sealing the roll.

Repeat for other sheet of pastry.

Place both rolls in the freezer on a tray with the seam edge down for 10-20 minutes.

Remove from freezer and slide into 1/2" thick disks with a serrated knife and place on covered baking sheets.

Bake for 10-20 minutes until pastry puffs and browns.

Skordalia
Ingredients:
4-5 potatoes, peeled and cubed
6-10 cloves of garlic, pressed with a garlic press
1 c olive oil
1/4 c lemon juice


Instructions.
Boil potatoes in water until tender, drain.

Mash with a potato masher or ricer to a coarse texture.

Blend in garlic.

Put mixture in a food processor.  Pulse, slowly adding olive oil and lemon juice.  Mixture should remain coarse, but be well homogenized by pulsing.

Serve warm in a bowl with Spanokopita.

Can be served as a potato side dish as well.

Cremini with Hummus and Feta

24 oz Cremini mushrooms, cleaned and stemmed (save stems)
4 oz Feta
1 lg Yellow onion Caramelized
1 c  red pepper or onion Hummus
Olive oil

Preheat oven on broil. Line baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Chop mushroom stems, saute and cool then blend into hummus.

Coat each mushroom lightly with Olive oil and place on baking sheet.

Spoon 1 t of hummus mixture into each mushroom. Place a small amount of caramelized onion on top. Place a few pieces of Feta cheese on top.

Place baking sheet in the oven to broil for about 5 minutes until cheese browns. Reduce heat and to 375 and bakecfor another 10 minutes until mushrooms are heated through.

Remove and serve.

Puff Pastry Cheese Straws & Sweet-Savory Dipping Sauce

Puff Pastry Cheese Straws

Ingredients
1 pkg Puff Pastry (two sheets)
1/2 c Shredded Parmesan Cheese

Sweet-Savory Sauce

Ingredients
2 c sugar
1 c water
1 c red wine
1 t oregano
1/2 t rosemary
1 t smoked paprika

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Prepare two baking sheets with a layer of  aluminum foil covered by parchment paper.

Thaw puff pastry per package instructions. Separate sheets. Coat counter or table top with parmesan cheese and unfold one sheet of pastry on it. Lightly cover the top of the pastry sheet with more parmesan cheese. Roll out to about 1/8" thickness. With a pizza wheel or long knife, slice the pastry into 1/2" wide strips. Twist each strip 6-8 times, fold in half and place on a baking sheet leaving about 1/2" between each strip.

Bake each sheet for 10-12 minutes until puffed and the cheese is browned. Remove from oven and cool.

In a large saucepan, put sugar in the pan over medium-high heat. Whisk constantly until the sugar melts completely.  Continue heating to caramelize the sugar to a mahogany brown color. Just when the first puffs of smoke start, remove from heat and CAREFULLY add 1/2 c water. THIS WILL BOIL AND SPLATTER THE HOT SUGAR. BE VERY CAREFUL! When you can safely begin whisking again, stir all of the water into the sugar.  Put the pan back on the stove to heat, whisking constantly.  When the mixture returns to a simmer, add the red wine and spices.  Simmer to reduce slightly for 20 minutes or so.

Serve both the pastries and sauce together. To serve, put a couple Cheese Straws on a small plate and drizzle sauce over them.