Buffalo Wing Dip

Recipe Review: crack in the form of an appetizer.

Warning. This dip is dangerously addictive. I'm serious. Proceed with caution because once you make this you are going to want to make it again, and again and again. A friend used to make this dip at parties and people would go crazy for it. I bugged her for the recipe but she was always really vague and would never give it to me. Eventually a roommate discovered that identical results could reproduced by following the recipe from the Franks RedHot website. 

Buffalo Chicken Dip

from: FranksRedHot.com

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup Franks Red Hot Buffalo Wing Sauce

1/2 cup ranch or blue cheese dressing

2 cups shredded chicken

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Start by adding softened cream cheese to a deep baking dish. Stir until smooth. Mix in cheese, hot sauce, and dressing. Stir in chicken. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes until hot and bubbly. 

I usually shred the chicken a day before. Just boil the chicken for about 30 minutes until cooked through,  and then use two forks to shred while still warm. The dip can also be made in advance, and refrigerated overnight, but will need double baking time. This is the perfect football party food. It has all the great tastes of wings rolled together. The flavors work well with tortilla chips, but it's also good on crackers, toast, or with veggies. I try to only make this when there will be other people around, because if I was alone I would probably eat the entire thing. 

Warm Tomato Bruschetta

Recipe Review- Classic Bruschetta- capers are the secret ingredient!

One of my hobbies outside of the kitchen is running. (Gotta work off all that food somehow!) One of the best parts of going on a long run is knowing that you can eat something amazing afterwards, and also getting to carb load before a big race. Kevin and I were getting ready for the La Jolla Half marathon, so we invited a few running friends over and made a big pot of pasta, chicken Parmesan, garlic bread, and some bruschetta as an appetizer. Bruchetta is one of my favorite things to make when people are coming over for dinner. The prep is rather simple, everyone seems to like it, and I'll take any excuse to eat some capers.

Guacamole

Recipe Review- Fresh Made Guacamole- My favorite! Put it on your taco, burrito, or just gobble it up on chips

One of the best parts of living in Southern California is the overwhelming prevalence of avocados in daily life. We put avocados on our omelette's, sandwiches, sushi, I've evn had tempura fried avocados, and obviously tons of avocados go into the Guacamole we eat with the delicious Mexican food that omnipresent. Ever since I moved here I've been trying to make the perfect guacamole. It turns out different every time, but I seem to have worked out a general idea of what makes it how I like.

Hummus

Recipe Review: Mom's favorite hummus recipe, great for a healthy appetizer or snack

While I was home over the holidays I took advantage of my mom's food processor and made some flavored hummus to bring to a New Years party I was attending. My mom insists that the hummus from the Moosewood Restaurant cookbook is the best hummus and shes been making it for years. I prefer flavored hummus, and this one is a good base, but its strongly flavored with tahini, and I would probably cut that down if you want to add another flavor to the hummus, since it overpowered some of the variations that I tried. I made avocado cilantro, olive, and artichoke hummus but the best variation was the olive. I'm just going to write up the basic recipe, which can be customized with add ins or is great alone!