Buffalo Chicken Dip

1/3 – ½ cup Frank’s RedHot Cayenne Pepper Sauce

4 oz. light cream cheese

6 oz. plain green yogurt

1 cup shredded cooked chicken breast

½ cup Bolthouse Ranch dressing

1/8 cup reduced fat bleu cheese crumbles

¼ cup low fat shredded Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Combine ingredients (sauce through bleu cheese crumbles) and place into a greased baking dish.  Top with shredded cheddar.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until hot and bubbly throughout.  Serve with your favorite crackers or toasted baguette slices. 

Nutrition Facts per ¼ cup dip: 70 calories, 3.5 g fat, 200 mg sodium, 2 g carb, 6 g fiber

 

Now You're Cookin',

Chef Alli

Lazy-Butt Slow Cooker Beef Subs

As seen on Chef Alli's Farm Fresh Kitchen and WIBW 13 News This Morning, January 17, 2014, sponsored by Kansas Farm Bureau.  

1 chuck roast, 3-4 lbs.

3-4 garlic cloves, sliced

16 oz jar sliced pepperoncini peppers, with juice

12 slices Provolone cheese

Your favorite bbq sauce, I love Head Country!

1 generous batch caramelized onions (Learn how to caramelize onions in your oven!)

6 large Hoagie buns, split open and toasted

Using a sharp paring knife, make small slits all over roast and insert garlic slices.  Place prepared roast in slow cooker; pour pepperoncini and juice over roast.  Cover slow cooker and cook on low setting for 8-10 hours, or until beef shreds easily with a fork and is very tender. 

To make subs, place toasted buns on to a baking sheet. Dress buns with a bit of the bbq sauce; top with beef and caramelized onions; add provolone slices.  Pop subs into a very hot oven for just a few minutes until cheese melts. Serve at once!

Now You're Cookin',

Chef Alli

Ree's Buttered Rosemary Rolls

This is a Pioneer Woman recipe and my family ADORES these rolls.  I love baking them in my cast iron skillet. Super easy and super delish!  Once they raise, one bag of 12 frozen dinner rolls perfectly fills a 11-12 inch cast iron skillet. 

Butter
12 frozen, unbaked, unrisen dinner rolls
Coarsely chopped fresh rosemary or crushed dried rosemary, to taste
Coarse sea or kosher salt, to taste

Grease a slightly preheated 11-12 inch cast iron skillet with butter.  Place frozen rolls into warm skillet, leaving space between rolls.  Cover with a dish towel and place in a warm place to rise for about 1 1/2 - 2 hours.  When risen, rolls will be puffy and very soft.  Melt 2 Tbs. butter, then gently brush the butter onto the rolls.  Sprinkle the rolls with rosemary and salt.  Bake, uncovered, in preheated 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes. 

Now You're Cookin',

Chef Alli

Chewy "No-Bake Cookie" Granola Bars

These bars taste just like no-bake cookies, but with a sticky, chewy mouth-feel.  They were created when I failed to follow the recipe for Chewy Peanut Butter Granola Bars - oops! (Sometimes good things DO happen when you don't follow your recipe to the letter....)

1 2/3 c. quick rolled oats

1/3 c. packed dark brown sugar

½ c. granulated sugar

1/3 cup oats, ground into flour

¾ tsp. kosher salt

1 ½ cups dried fruits and nuts (10-12 oz. total, I used ½ c. each: dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds, and chopped pecans)

1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 c. shredded toasted coconut

¾ c. roasted peanuts

1/3 c. creamy peanut butter

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

6 Tbs. unsalted butter

4 Tbs. light corn syrup

¼ c. honey

1 Tbs. water



Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a 9 x 13 pan with heavy duty foil, making sure there is extra foil extending at each end of the pan to form a foil “sling”. Lightly grease foil with a bit of butter.  In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients, including dried fruits, nuts, chocolate chips, coconut and peanuts.  In a small saucepan over low heat, combine peanut butter, vanilla, butter, corn syrup, honey and water; whisk together until combined and butter is melted. Let peanut butter mixture cool just slightly, then pour over dry ingredients in mixing bowl, stirring until well combined.  (Some of the chocolate chips will melt.)

Spread mixture into the prepared baking pan and bake, uncovered, for 20-25 minutes, until lightly browned around the edges. (Don’t over bake or bars won’t be chewy.) Cool for 10 minutes, then use foil sling to lift bars from the pan and place onto a cooking rack to cool, pulling foil back from edges of bars.  When bars have cooled just a bit, cut into bars.  Wrap cooled bars in plastic wrap and place into an airtight container or baggie.  Will keep 3-5 days or in the freezer for up to 6 months. 

Now You're Cookin',

Chef Alli

Tomato Dill Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons

This is an adaptation of an Ina Garten Recipe from her book The Barefoot Contessa, Foolproof.

2-3 Tbs. good olive oil

2 yellow onions, chopped

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp. dried dill

4 cups chicken stock

28 oz. can crushed tomatoes

1 tsp. granulated sugar

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

½ cup orzo, cooked until al dente

½ cup whipping cream

1 grilled cheese sandwich, cut into crouton-size squares

In a large stock pot or Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat; when hot, add onions and sauté for 12-15 minutes or until softened and translucent.  Add the garlic and dill and cook for 1 more minute; add the chicken stock, crushed tomatoes, and sugar; season with salt and pepper.  Bring soup to a boil, then lower heat and let soup simmer gently for 15-20 minutes.  When ready to serve soup, stir in orzo and half and half and cooked until heated through.  Serve soup topped with warm grilled cheese croutons. 

Now You’re Cookin’,

Chef Alli

Tam's Enchilada Soup

4 cups milk

2 small (10 3/4 oz.) cans  Campbell's cream of chicken soup

2 small (10 3/4 oz.) cans of Campbell's nacho cheese soup

2 small (10 oz.) cans red enchilada sauce

2 (10 oz.) cans diced tomatoes and green chilies

Meat from one rotisserie chicken, shredded

In a large sauce pan, whisk milk with soups until smooth; stir in enchilada sauce, tomatoes and green chilies, and chicken; simmer for 30-45 minutes and serve. 

Now You're Cookin',

Chef Alli

Chai-Spiced Fruit Compote with Almonds and Yogurt

Original recipe by Ellie Krieger, from Fine Cooking, by way of Amber Groeling, Hy-Vee Topeka Dietitian, Probiotics Class, Jan. 2013. Recipe makes about 2 cups of compote - this recipe is easy to double or triple.

2 chai tea bags
3 Tbs. honey  
1/2 cup dried apricots, each chopped into 8 pieces 
1/2 cup pitted prunes, each chopped into 8 pieces 
1/2 cup golden raisins 
3 cups 2% low-fat Greek style yogurt
1/3 cup sliced or slivered natural almonds, toasted  

Bring 1-3/4 cups water to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan. Turn off the heat, add the tea bags, and steep for 5 minutes. Discard the tea bags. 

Add the honey, apricots, prunes, and raisins to the saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the liquid thickens to a light syrup, 18 to 20 minutes. (It will thicken further as it cools.) Transfer to a bowl, cover, and chill for at least 4 hours and up to 3 days.

Divide the yogurt among 4 small bowls. Serve the compote over the yogurt, topped with the toasted almonds.

nutrition information (per serving):
Calories (kcal): 370; Fat (g): 9; Fat Calories (kcal): 81; Saturated Fat (g): 2.5; Protein (g): 18; Monounsaturated Fat (g): 3.3; Carbohydrates (g): 61; Polyunsaturated Fat (g): 1.3; Sodium (mg): 65; Cholesterol (mg): 10; Fiber (g): 5;

Now You're Cookin',

Chef Alli

Classic Pot Roast with Garlic-Thyme Gravy

Adapted from Cuisine at Home

Makes 6 servings

3 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 boneless chuck roast, trimmed, 3-4 lbs.
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 Tbs. tomato paste
1/2 cup white wine
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1 Tbs. woozy sauce (Worcestershire sauce)
2 onions, sliced thick
6 carrots, cut into 3" pieces
3 celery ribs, cut into 3"pieces
6 cloves garlic, chopped
3-4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves

Remove roast from fridge and let sit on the counter for 30 minutes to remove the chill.  Season roast on all sides with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat.  Sear roast on all sides, approx. 8-10 minutes total.  Transfer roast to slow cooker.  Add flour to sauté pan; cook 1 minutes until nicely browned.  Add tomato past and cook 1 minute longer.  Deglaze pan with wine, cooking until wine evaporates.  Stir in broth and woozy sauce; bring to a simmer, scraping any browned bits on the bottom of the pan.  Transfer broth mixture to the slow cooker; add onions, carrots, celery, garlic, thyme and bay leaves.  Cover and cook until meat if very fork-tender, on high setting for 4-5 hours or on low setting for 8-9 hours.  Discard thyme and bay leaves before serving.

Now You're Cookin',

Chef Alli