Appetizing Stuff

Appetizers!

Our church is a church filled with southern women and great cooks.... Many of these recipes come from Val Turner who is an AMAZING cook - and always has great recipes on her blog - so thanks for the great advice Val!! (and all the other great cooks at CCC!)



Bisquick Sausage Balls

Grate Cheese with Flour Hand Mixing Works Best Mix Until Smooth Bake on Tin Foil Eat and/or Store

We always mix up Bisquick Sausage Balls for the holidays. We take some to dinners and gatherings but also make up a batch or two for home.

The recipe is really easy for sausage balls — only three ingredients, but it can be a little confusing the first time making them. Once you get it all figured out, you can mix these up easily.

Bisquick Sausage Ball Recipe

2 cups Bisquick
10 oz. shredded cheese (or shred your own)
1 pound sausage

How to Make Bisquick Sausage Cheese Balls (with tips)

First measure the Bisquick into a large bowl.

If you're using pre-shredded cheese, pour that in with the Bisquick and stir. Shredded cheese is not as moist, so it stirs in easily and pretty evenly.

If you buy block cheddar, then grate around 10 oz. Since block cheese is moister, grate a little and fluff that to cover the cheese with Bisquick. Repeat. Repeat. This keeps the grated cheese from ending up as a big clump in the middle of the mixture.

At the top right is an example of cheese grated and then tossed to coat the little pieces of cheese.

Once the Bisquick and cheese are mixed together, it's time to add the sausage. Use a good grade of sausage for tastier sausage/cheese balls. The cheaper meat is fattier and the sausage balls are greasy.

I'm using a local brand here that I love. It's Frank Corriher sausage. To find something similar in your area, look for sausage wrapped in paper as in the photo above or buy bulk sausage in the fresh meat section.

I much prefer hot sausage, but it's fine to use mild. I just like hot foods in general.

To mix in the sausage, you really need to use your hands. This is not much fun. It's pretty gross to squash flour, cheese and sausage, but that's how to get it mixed up well.

It takes a while to get the sausage mixture nice and smooth. This is a great job to put off on the kids is possible. I did not get so lucky. The boys were off and gone when I made this batch. I also forgot to take off my ring. That's a mess. Remember to take off rings before making sausage balls.

When the mixture is done, it should be like the photo where the mixture is one big smooth ball. It will be one big ball and with all the ingredients evenly throughout the ball.

Once the mixture is ready, cover a cookie sheet with sides (so grease does not roll off into your oven) or a baking dish with tin foil. Sausage balls can be baked right on the pan, but that's pretty messy. I prefer to cover my pans.

Roll the mixture into small balls about the size of little ping pong or golf balls or walnuts and place them on the pan with a little room. They expand and spread out a bit when cooking. Not much though. You don't have to have a lot of space between sausage balls.

This recipe makes more sausage balls than might be expected. I use two small cookie sheets to make a batch of sausage balls.

Bake the sausage balls at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes.

The sausage balls should be lightly browned. Some spots will be a little darker than other spots.

Remove the pans from the oven and let them sit and cool. This is a good time to sample the sausage balls, because they are wonderful hot. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Once the sausage balls are cool, put them in airtight containers and store them in the refrigerator. Since they have meat in them, they need to be kept cold. The sausage balls you see in my Tupperware container are about 1/3 of the sausage cheese balls. We ate about 1/3 hot out of the oven, gave 1/3 to a friend and kept the ones you see to reheat and eat later.

Sausage balls can be served cold and are good, but we prefer to heat them up. Sausage balls can be heated in the oven or in the microwave. If I have time, I like to heat them in the oven right before serving. The sausage balls are a little crispier on the outside when over heated wrapped in tin foil and oven heated versus when zapped in the microwave.

Vals Creamy Deviled Eggs

12 eggs, hard boiled

1/2 c. mayo

4 t. apple cider vinegar

1 t. mustard

1 T horseradish

1/4 t. salt

1/4 t. pepper

paprika, for garnish

How to hard boil eggs: Place 12 eggs in a saucepan in a single layer. Pour cold water over the eggs - just enough water to barely cover them. Place on high heat until water is boiling. Once water is boiling, remove from heat and cover. Let eggs stand in hot water for 15 minutes. Drain hot water from eggs. Cool eggs by running cold water over them.

Once eggs are cool, remove the shells from eggs. Halve lengthwise. Carefully remove the yolks. Place yolks, mayo, vinegar, mustard, horseradish, salt and pepper in the food processor. Blend well. Spoon mixture back into hard boiled egg whites. Sprinkle with paprika.

If you need them to look fancy, spoon mixture into a plastic bag. Snip a corner and squeeze the filling back into the eggs. Sprinkle with paprika.

Vals olive tapenade.

1 c. pitted olives (suggested Kalamata), rinsed 1/2 t. anchovy paste or 2 anchovy fillets, rinsed
2 T capers
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 T fresh lemon juice
2- 3 T extra virgin olive oil
1 T Dijon, optional
1/4 c. sun dried tomatoes, optional


Finely chop the olives, anchovy fillets (if using), capers and sun dried tomatoes (if using). You can use a food processor to chop ingredients if you wish. Pulse a few times until you reach your desired consistency. I like a chunky tapenade made with small pieces, but some like their tapenade smooth, like a paste. Mince 1 clove garlic, add to other ingredients. Add anchovy paste (if using), lemon juice, olive oil and dijon (if using). Stir to combine.


Serve with whole wheat pita chips, crackers or veggies. Whole wheat pita chips- Cut pita bread into 8 sections. Brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and dried rosemary. Bake 6 to 8 minutes at 400 degrees.

Vals white bean dip.

White bean dip makes a tasty, healthy appetizer. It is similar to hummus. You can serve it with veggies, pita chips, or crackers. Kashi's whole grain crackers would be delish with it. White bean dip also makes a yummy little sandwich on toasted whole wheat pitas.

1 (15 oz) cannellini beans
1/4 c. olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/2 lemon, zested
1/2 t. rosemary, optional
1/2 t. dill, optional
1 T fresh mint, optional
salt and pepper to taste


All ingredients go into the food processor (or magic bullet). Process until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.


whole wheat pita chips- Cut pita bread into 8 sections. Brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and dried rosemary. Bake 6 to 8 minutes at 400 degrees.


pita sandwich- Brush pita with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and dried rosemary. Place under broiler for 1 to 2 minutes.

Vals mini mexi pizzas.

whole wheat tortillas, small or large
1 recipe for homemade taco sauce
cheddar cheese, shredded
parmesan cheese, shredded
toppings - I used leftover diced fajita chicken, grilled red and yellow peppers, grilled onions, and lettuce. But any combination of sausage, black beans, corn, green onions, green chiles, jalepenos, fresh cilantro, etc. would also be delicious!


Bake tortillas for 4 minutes at 350 degrees. Preheat the broiler and adjust oven rack, if needed. Brush on a thin layer of taco sauce. Top with cheddar and parmesan cheese. Add your toppings. Place under the broiler for 1- 2 minutes, just until cheese is melted.

diana's mexi dip "animal style".

Vals easy bean dip.

The Classic Recipe: choose your own amounts, use a glass or metal pan, any shape.
-layer of cream cheese (I always use 1/3 less fat, tastes the same and makes me feel better about myself.)
-layer of refried beans
-layer of salsa
-layer of cheese-- cheddar or monteray jack

--bake until melty.

The variation in this picture:
-Substitute seasoned black beans for the refried beans.

Vals pimento cheese spread.

VALS Tips:

I recently threw a party to help out my friend Sarah with her new business. Miss Anita and I were in charge of the food, so we decided to use skewers to make dinner seem more like fun appetizers. We skewered strips of marinated chicken after soaking the skewers for 20 minutes. Then grilled the chicken on the grill just like normal. I was in charge of the fruit and veggies. Here are some fun ways to serve normal party food.


Veggie Platter with Bell Pepper Dip Bowl-


For this veggie platter I used carrots, celery, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, tomatoes, cucumbers, and broccoli. I alternated my orange and red colored veggies with the green veggies on this platter. Squash and yellow or orange bell pepper would also be beautiful, colorful additions.


Bell Pepper Dip bowl- Any color bell pepper will work for this dip bowl. Cut the pepper in half widthwise or lengthwise. If you are serving two dips with your veggie tray, try to make the cut as even as possible to allow use of both pieces of pepper as dip bowls. Carefully remove the seeds. Rinse your pepper inside and out with water. Fill your dip bowl with dip of your choice.

I also kept the top of my bell pepper as a holder for toothpicks to help pick up the tomatoes.

Festive Fruit Skewers-

For these fruit skewers, I decided to use strawberries, grapes, pineapple, and cantaloupe. Rinse strawberries and grapes. Cut the top off the strawberries and cut any large strawberries in half. Cut the pineapple and cantaloupe into bite size pieces. Skewer your fruit. I used a small, circle watermelon for this party of 10 girls. For a party of more people a larger, oval watermelon would probably be the best choice. Cut the watermelon in half- lengthwise or widthwise depending on the shape you are wanting for your arrangement. Place flesh side down on platter of your choice. Cut the other half of your watermelon into bite sized pieces and use in your fruit skewers. Place the skewers into the watermelon. Start in the middle and work your way down and out.

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Vals guacamole.

Vals southwest chicken over nachos.

Southwest Chicken:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, defrosted

3 T olive oil

1/2 lime, juiced

1 T. cumin

2 t. chili powder

1 t. paprika

1 t. salt

1/2 t. pepper

Mix spices together in a small bowl. Place chicken breasts in between layers of plastic wrap. Pound chicken with a mallet until 1 inch thick. Rub each chicken breast with the spice rub. Heat olive oil in a skillet over med heat. Cook the chicken a few minutes on each side. Cut chicken in half to make sure it is fully cooked. Sprinkle cooked chicken with lime juice. Let chicken rest for a few minutes. This chicken is great as the main dish or you could dice or shred the chicken and add to a dish of your choice.

The dish of our choice tonight was nachos! To make nachos, preheat your oven to broiler. Move an oven rack to the highest possible position in the oven (make sure whatever you are going to cook the nacho on has enough room to fit still). Put a layer of chips of your choice down on an oven safe pan or tray. We used a cookie sheet. Cover the chips with cheese- we used cheddar and monetrey jack cheese for ours. Place the diced or shredded chicken over top. Heat in the oven under the broiler for about 2 minutes, just until cheese is melted. Top with your favorite nacho toppings. Kennedy added nothing to his half, but my half has black beans, green onions, sour cream, and homemade guacamole on it.

Vals hummus.

I'm not quite sure where I got this recipe from, I have adapted it to my liking:

2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup water
1 14 oz. can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup tahini
1 tsp. sea salt
2 tbsp. olive oil

-Process in a food processor until smooth.

You can also vary the recipe by adding roasted red peppers or substituting black beans for the chickpeas to make black bean hummus!