A Fork In Each Hand

Caramelized Onion, Gruyère, and Bacon Spread

If you like caramelized onions and need a tasty appetizer for any of the upcoming holidays, consider Caramelized Onion, Gruyere, and Bacon Spread. This creamy dip can be spread on crackers, crusty bread, or crisp vegetables. Onions are slowly sautéed until soft and golden brown before being mixed with gruyère cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream, chives, and bacon. I used light mayonnaise, fat-free sour cream, and turkey bacon in this dish which helped to lighten it in calories without sacrificing any flavor. I really like the addition of the chives in this dip – I just wish I liked onions more. Before I started this blog, I usually either left onions out of a recipe or used shallots instead. I’ve come a long way since then and cooked onions don’t bother me as much anymore but this dish was a little too ambitious for my taste buds. Don’t get me wrong, this is a tasty dip. Just make sure you like onions.

The ingredients:

Sauté chopped onion in non-stick spray over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low and cook onions for 20 minutes until golden brown.

Once onions have cooled, combine them in a bowl with cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream, chives, salt, pepper, and crumbled bacon.

Pour into an oven-proof dish and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of reserved cheese.

Bake at 425° for 20 minutes.

Additions: None

Omissions: None

Substitutions:

Light mayonnaise
Turkey bacon

Overall Rating: Like It

Source: Cooking Light Magazine

Jalapeño Corn Muffins

Yesterday, I introduced you to a delicious version of chili, perfect for colder weather. Now, I have the perfect complement to such a dish – Jalapeño Corn Muffins. I searched out this recipe after being surprised by a similar corn muffin during a training session lunch break at my job. I don’t remember anything else I ate for lunch that day, but I remember those spicy muffins. So, I went in search for something similar and found these. Not only do these muffins get a kick of heat from a jalapeño pepper but they also have pepper jack cheese for a double-whammy. But these aren’t just hot – they are also buttery, cheesy, and perfect for dunking in a bowl of chili.

The ingredients:

Sauté onion and jalapeño in butter until soft. Move to a plate.

In one bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In another bowl, whisk eggs, milk, buttermilk and melted butter.

Stir the wet mixture into the dry mixture.

Fold in the onion mixture and pepper jack cheese.

Pour batter into 16 muffin cups and bake at 425ºF for 12-14 minutes.

Additions: None

Omissions: None

Substitutions: None

Overall Rating: Like It

Source: All You Magazine

Jerk Chicken Chili

November 14, 2011
Shannon
3 comments
chicken, chocolate, food, soup, tomatoes

Chili is usually a recipe that I make the first weekend that football starts, no matter what the temperature is outside. So, making chili in November is pretty late for me. But this recipe for Jerk Chicken Chili was worth the wait. This recipe came from Glamour Magazine – a surprising source of tasty recipes. This chili is different than your regular chili but still just as hearty and comforting. The spices in this chili – chili powder, thyme, allspice, cinnamon – are cooked with onion and yellow pepper early on which brings out their natural oils and intensifies their flavor. Chicken is added and coated with the spice mixture before being simmered with the liquids, beans, and jalapeño. Fresh cilantro and (surprise!) chocolate are added at the end to deepen the flavor of every bite. I left the garlic out of this recipe for one reason only: the editors at the magazine included it in the directions but didn’t include it in the ingredients! Ugh! Anyway, the flavor in this chili goes deep to create an intense, soothing chili that digs down and warms you to the core. If you’re bold enough to try a different kind of chili, you won’t be disappointed with this!