A Dress Party!

Last night we celebrated saying YES to the wedding dress! Woo! We had the family over for an appetizer dinner and cheap bubbly. It was the perfect excuse to 1) celebrate the dress with family, 2) try some new recipes, and 3) show off my fiesta!

I had my go-to Cabot cheese platter with Grandma's pickles, wheat thins, olives and some lebanon bologna we picked up at Reading Terminal. I made some Roasted Shrimp with Cocktail Sauce, I mean you can't go wrong with shrimp.

For some more hearty appetizers I made these marvelous Ham & Cheese Sliders (recipe below), spicy Buffalo Chicken French Bread, and some gooey Caprese Dip.

Everything was pretty delicious if I might say so.

This recipe had been popping up a lot on pinterest. There were so many different versions! Some used Hawaiian sweet rolls, other used white, potato, or biscuits. I used potato because it was the only type of dinner roll my store had. There was also variations on the type of mustard (I went with dijon) and debates over the merits of mayo, miracle whip or a mix (I used mayo). One thing I do know is that these were simple and delicious. I feel that these sliders were the overlooked winner of the night. Yes everyone was raving about the buffalo chicken french bread (and it was delicious) but it had a more in your face flavor punch that demanded your attention. These sliders had an understated yumminess to them without all the fanfare of buffalo chicken. They were amazing right out of the oven and still delicious cold at the end of the night when I was cleaning up. Another keeper....although next time I might put more than one slice of ham on them.

Ham & Cheese Sliders with a Poppy-Mustard Sauce

(Pinterest find!)

Ingredients:

24 dinner rolls
24 pieces good honey or maple ham (I used a fabulous maple ham)
24 slices swiss cheese
Enough mayo for spreading on the rolls
1.5 tablespoons poppy seeds
1.5 tablespoons dijon or yellow mustard (Dijon all the way!)
1 stick butter, melted
1 tablespoon minced onion
1/2 teaspoon worschestershire sauce

Directions:
1. Cut rolls in half but not all the way, leave the hinge intact! Spread desired amount of mayo on both sides of the roll.

2. Fold up one slice of ham and place on roll. Top with one folded slice of swiss. Close the rolls and place on a cookie sheet or large baking dish.

3. Mix together butter, poppy seeds, mustard, onion and worschestershire. Brush evenly over all the rolls (**I did not use all of it as some reviews mentioned that the rolls could get soggy bottoms**). Let it sit for 10 minutes. 

4. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes, until cheese is melted. Remove foil and bake for 2 minutes to brown tops. Serve warm.

I Heart Buffalo Anything

It's hard to go wrong with buffalo chicken: dip, mac & cheese, pizza, egg rolls, french bread...I've had amazing luck with all of them. This recipe was no exception. The original recipe was more intricate and called for fancy ingredients like fontina and gorgonzola but I went a more simple and traditional route. It was certainly a hit and very delicious for breakfast the next day. This is good hot or cold so it's the perfect party food. Obviously it's delicious right out of the oven when it's all cheesy and gooey but it was still fabulous at the end of the night. Plus it was very simple to make. Totally a keeper.

Buffalo Chicken French Bread

(Pinterest find! Adapted from howsweeteats.com)

Ingredients:
1 loaf of french bread, cut in half
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into half-inch pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
2/3 cup hot sauce, I like Franks
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 cup blue cheese dressing or dip
1 to 2 cups shredded mozzarella
4 green onions, thinly sliced
Directions:
1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add olive oil. Toss chicken with salt and pepper, then add to the skillet and cook until browned on all sides, about 10-12 minutes. Once cooked through, add garlic and stir for 30 seconds, then add in buffalo wing sauce and butter. Stir to toss and coat. If the sauce is too soupy: remove chicken with a slotted spoon and let the sauce simmer for a couple minutes to thicken up. Return the chicken and toss to coat. Let the chicken and sauce sit for a bit to absorb the flavors. I left mine in the fridge over night and it was even better with time!
2. Spread the blue cheese dressing onto each cut side of french bread, use as much or as little as you want. Sprinkle half of mozzarella on the bread. Add the chicken, spooning out all of the sauce in the skillet. Cover with remaining mozzarella. Broil on high for 5-6 minutes, until cheese is melted and browned.
3. Remove and top with green onions or additional buffalo sauce/blue cheese if desired. Cut into single serving pieces.

Cheesy Caprese Dip

There were a couple different versions of caprese dip floating around on pinterest, one added cream cheese and parmesan for a more creamy version. For the sake of time and less calories I went with the basic version: mozzarella, tomato, and basil. It was very good but a little messy due to the stringy nature of the cheese. It was super easy and required little effort and had minimal ingredients. Some of the comments mentioned that it could get soupy due to the liquid releasing from the cheese and tomatoes. By the end of the night one dish had a little extra liquid but the other did not. I tried to do my best to seed the tomatoes and wrapped them in a paper towel overnight to absorb the leftover liquid (I did a lot of prep work the night before). The brand of fresh mozzarella I purchased didn't have any extra liquid in the packaging like some do, I'm sure that helped eliminate some liquid.

Caprese Dip

(Pinterest find! Adapted from howsweeteats.com)

Ingredients:
1 cup of grape tomatoes, halved and seeded
1 ball of fresh mozzarella, cubed
Your desired amount of fresh basil, chopped (I put in a fair amount)
Directions:
1. Cut grape tomatoes in half and scoop out the insides. Dry the tomatoes as much as possible with a towel. Cube the mozzarella and chop the basil.
2. Mix everything together and place in an oven safe dish.
3. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes until melted and then broil until golden.

**You can always add more or less tomatoes or basil depending on your tastes**

Shrimp Toast!

Mrs. T and I planned an appetizer night for the boys and it was (mostly) a success. I was drawn to this recipe on pinterest because the picture looked amazing. The original recipe was fried in oil which I wasn't a fan of (although I'm sure it tasted 10x better) so I found another recipe that broiled the shrimp toasts and cooked them that way. This recipe has potential. I liked it but I felt that it was lacking a little something....some zip or pop of flavor. I will keep experimenting with shrimp toasts! (that is if the price of shrimp goes down...)

Spicy Shrimp Toast

(Pinterest find! Adapted from forkspoonbacon.com)

Ingredients:
½ inch piece ginger, peeled
2 garlic cloves
1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 cup water chestnuts
1 egg white
1 green onion, thinly sliced
1 1/2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 loaf sourdough bread, cut into 1 inch squares
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
Directions:
1. Put garlic and ginger in a food processor and pulse.
2. Scrape down sides of bowl and add remaining shrimp paste ingredient, pulse until you get a paste.
3. Cut up bread and place on cookie sheet. Broil for a couple minutes to toast.

4. Spread 1 tablespoon of shrimp mixture on each toast, sprinkle with sesame seeds and broil for 5 minutes or until toasted.

Cheesy

Yet another Party Post! I think this is the last one from our basketball party. This served it's purpose but I was not overly impressed with it. It worked in a pinch and it made a HUGE cheese ball (seriously, I'd only make half) but I'm still on the lookout for a better cheese ball recipe. At least my plate was super adorable!

5 Cheese Cheese Ball

(adapted from Ritz)

Ingredients:
2 (8 oz) packages of cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 C 4 cheese blend (Make sure there's cheddar!)
3/4 C fresh grated parmesan cheese
1/2 C mayonnaise
1/2 bunch green onions, chopped
2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 C chopped pecans
Directions:
1. Mix together parmesan cheese, cream cheese and cheese blend. Add in green onions, red pepper flakes and mayonnaise.
2. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
3. Shape into a ball
4. Press pecans into the cheeseball until coated (I rolled mine in more cheese)

On a Stick!

Another Party Post! This recipe was always a special treat for the Dork and I growing up. I'm not quite sure why....it's simple and quick! This was one of the top disappearing dishes at the party. Make sure you soak the bamboo skewers in water so they don't catch on fire or anything....

Marinated Beef on a Stick!

(from the Mother Unit)

Ingredients:
1.5 pounds boneless top sirloin
2 teaspoons canola oil
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (I also added some fresh grated ginger too!)
Directions:
1. Cut steak across the grain in 1/4 inch slices.
2. Mix everything in a bowl and add steak. Cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
3. Weave strips onto skewers then grill 4-6 inches from coals, turning once. Cook until browned (4-5 minutes total for medium rare). Or broil in oven until cooked.

Crescent Roll Heaven

Our friends brought these yummy snacks to our basketball party. I don't have the recipe but it seems that all the filling consisted of was some caramelized onions and chopped up sausage. It was wrapped up in a crescent roll and therefore an amazing creation (I love crescent rolls). There was some extra filling and crescent rolls left over so we made some tonight for dinner. We added a piece of swiss cheese to each puff which made it even better. I followed the directions on the package and baked them for 11 minutes at 375.