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Baked Sweet Potato Chips + a GIVEAWAY!

April 11, 2012 in sides

Happy Hump Day! How’s about a giveaway to make this Wednesday a little less painful?

I was recently sent a mandoline slicer as part of the OXO Blogger Outreach Program. I was pretty stoked about it because I’ve wanted a mandoline forever but those dang TV chefs had me completely scared of them. I mean seriously, those chefs talk like the sole purpose of a mandoline is to cut off your fingertips. But as it turns out, it’s really no big deal. And this handheld slicer from OXO comes with a nice little food holder that keeps your fingers far from the blade.

I knew immediately that I wanted to make some sort of veggie chip. I love those veggie chip mixes that you can find in bulk bins. LOVE them but how horrible are they for you?! The veggies don’t taste or look like their original form once they come out of the deep fryer.

So I sliced a sweet potato with my sparkly new mandoline and then baked them for what seemed like days. They turned out to be everything I hoped for and more. My oldest, who doesn’t like sweet potatoes, went crazy over them! They do take a verrrrry long time to bake but I promise it’s worth it. And don’t crank the oven up to speed things along – you’ll end up with black sweet potato chips. Not that it happened to me or anything… ahem.

And now for the giveaway!!

I have an OXO mandoline slicer to give to one lucky reader! All you have to do is answer:

What would you make if you won the mandoline?

Rules:

US only, please.
Giveaway will run until Sunday April 15, 2012 at 10 pm Mountain time.
Winner will be randomly chosen. I’ll email the winner and he or she will have 48 hours to respond before I have to choose another person.

GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED! The winner is Abbi!

One year ago: Slow Cooker Macaroni and Cheese

Baked Sweet Potato Chips
4.8 from 5 reviews
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Ingredients
  • 1 large sweet potato, sliced thinly with mandoline slicer
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • salt (and/or cinnamon)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 225F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. Place sliced sweet potato in a large bowl. Drizzle olive oil over top; sprinkle with salt (or other seasoning). Toss the potatoes with your hands to make sure all are covered.
  3. Lay the sweet potatoes out in a single layer on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for about 1 1/2 hours (may be longer), rotating the sheets halfway through. until the sweet potatoes are crispy.
  4. Let cool slightly. Best eaten the day they are made.

I was sent a mandoline to test out but was given no further compensation. All opinions are my own. 

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Southwestern Deviled Eggs

April 2, 2012 in appetizer

More eggs, y’all!

I made a bunch of deviled egg recipes one day before my husband left (best day of his life) and this was his favorite. He loves everything spicy so of course I knew he would love it. I did not, however, expect him to kill the whole batch within 30 minutes.

It’s a pretty basic deviled egg recipe but you add a bunch of minced pickled jalapenos and then top it with another jalapeno slice. If you’re looking for a way to spice up your eggs, this is perfect!

So who’s already dyed their eggs? We’re waiting until later this week, I think. Maybe sooner if I run out of ways to entertain the crazies. I had planned on doing the silk-dyed eggs but I never got around to searching for silk ties. Boo! Hopefully next year!

Spicy Southwestern Deviled Eggs
5.0 from 1 reviews
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adapted from Southern Living
Ingredients
  • 1 dozen large eggs, hard-boiled and peeled
  • 6 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 2 to 4 tablespoons sliced pickled jalapeno peppers, minced
  • 1 tablespoon mustard
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • pickled jalapeno slices, for garnish
Instructions
  1. Cut eggs in half lengthwise; remove yolks. Place yolks, mayonnaise, minced jalapeno peppers, mustard, cumin, and salt in a bowl; mash everything together. Spoon or pipe the mixture into the egg whites. Garnish with sliced jalapenos. Refrigerate until serving.

 

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Caesar-Stuffed Eggs

March 27, 2012 in appetizer

If your house is anything like my house, you’re going to have A LOT of hard-boiled eggs hanging around soon. Since I have 2 kids who are old enough to dye eggs, I have to buy two kits because – help me – they can’t agree on which one they want. So that’s 2 dozen eggs. And then I have to dye my own, of course!

So what do you do with 3 dozen hard-boiled eggs if you aren’t really a fan? You make deviled eggs!

These are the weirdest eggs I’ve ever tried but also one of the best! It’s tastes just like caesar dressing – which duh, I should’ve expected since it’s all the same ingredients you use in caesar dressing, including the eggs!

One year ago: Toffee Bar Brownie Torte
Two years ago: Pretzel Bites
Three years ago: Chicken Shawarma

Caesar-Stuffed Eggs
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Yield: 6 – 8
adapted from Rachael Ray
Ingredients
  • 12 hard-boiled eggs
  • 1/2 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 1 teaspoon anchovy paste
  • 1/4 cup Parmesan, grated
  • juice of 1/2 lemon
  • salt and black pepper
Instructions
  1. Slice the eggs in half. Place the whites on a serving platter and the yolks in a mixing bowl.
  2. To the bowl with the yolks, add the worcestershire sauce, garlic, mayonnaise, anchovy paste, Parmesan, and lemon juice. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  3. Spoon a bit of the mixture into each egg white. Garnish with extra Parmesan and black pepper. Store in refrigerator until ready to serve.

 

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7-Layer Chili Dog Dip

February 27, 2012 in appetizer

We celebrated my oldest’s 5th birthday this past weekend. Five! How am I old enough to have a 5 year old?!

We had a small party including cake, a pinata, and way too many Power Rangers toys.

(Him on his 1st birthday and on his 5th! Is that not the chunkiest baby you’ve ever seen?)

I made this dip for his party because the boy loves hot dogs. And yes, this does have actual hot dogs in it!

It’s 7 layers (obviously) of things you might put on your hot dogs – chili, cheddar, bacon, red onions, sour cream, and cilantro. The hot dogs being the 7th layer, of course. ;)

When I first saw this recipe, I thought it sounded way too bizarre to be any good but I saved it anyway. I mean, hot dogs in a dip? On chips? Weird.

But so good. Seriously. I don’t know why, I don’t know how, but this is good stuff. I cut my hot dogs lengthwise and then sliced them maybe 1/2″ thick so they weren’t super noticeable but they still added that unmistakable hot dog texture and taste to the dip.

7-Layer Chili Cheese Dog Dip
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adapted from Rachael Ray via Taste and Tell
Ingredients
  • For the chili:
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 cup beef stock
  • 1 can (14-oz) diced tomatoes
  • For the Dip:
  • Chili
  • 1/2 pound bacon
  • 4 hot dogs, diced
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1/4 cup diced red onion
  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
  • 1 bag tortilla or pita chips
Instructions
To make the chili:
  1. Heat the olive oil over medium high heat in a large pot. When the oil is hot, add the ground beef and onion. Cook, breaking up the beef, until it’s browned and the onions have softened. Drain, if needed. Add the chili powder, cumin and coriander; cook another minute or 2, just until the spices are nice and fragrant.
  2. Add the beef stock and tomatoes and allow to come to a boil. Cook for about 10 minutes, until most of the liquid has evaporated.
To assemble the dip:
  1. Preheat oven to 375.
  2. Heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Add bacon and cook, flipping as needed, until the bacon is crisp. Drain on paper towels; crumble once cool. Set aside.
  3. Pour off all but about a teaspoon of the bacon fat. Add diced hot dogs and cook, stirring frequently, until the hot dogs are browned. Remove from the heat and set aside.
  4. Spread the chili in the bottom of an 8×8-inch baking dish. Top with the hot dogs and then the cheese. Bake for 12 – 15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
  5. Top with bacon, sour cream, red onion, and cilantro. Serve hot.

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Fried Pickles

February 4, 2012 in appetizer

One last Superbowl idea for you!

I don’t usually like doing fried foods when I’m entertaining. They take a lot of time and since you can’t really do them ahead of time, you wind up spending most of your time standing over the stove.

But as we all know, fried foods are almost always crowd-pleasers! These fried pickles take no time at all so they’re perfect for cooking up right as your guests are walking through the door

And umm… fried pickles? One of man’s greatest inventions!

(I am never going to get rid of that Natural Light that my husband’s friends left in my fridge. I’ve been cooking with it at least once a week but it seems to be multiplying. Send beer recipes.)

Fried Pickles
5.0 from 1 reviews
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Ingredients
  • 2 cups pickles, drained and patted dry
  • 1 egg
  • 1 – 1 1/4 cup beer
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • oil, for frying
Instructions
  1. Pour oil into a heavy pot, a couple inches high. Heat over medium-high.
  2. Whisk together egg, 1 cup beer, flour, and salt until smooth. If batter is too thick, add in the other 1/4 cup beer.
  3. Once oil is hot, dip pickles, one at a time, in the batter. Allow excess batter to drip off and then drop the pickles in the oil. Fry until golden brown, about 2 minutes on each side.

 

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