Mexi-Dog

With the summer upon us and everyone out there grillin’ and chillin’, I’ve noticed a lot of hoopla surrounding hot dogs.  I subscribe to a good amount of foodie magazines and hot dogs seem like a big summer topic.  Not just what brand of hot dog is the best but what kind of toppings to put on your dog.  I have to admit, the first time I saw all the topics on a Chicago style hot dog, I was repulsed.  There was just too much going on for me.  But that was years ago and I’ve gotten more adventurous with my hot dogs since then!  Mr. Foodie and I decided to fire up the grill for lunch and do hot dogs.  He chose to go with a BBQ Bacon Cheese Dog, which is topped with exactly what it sounds like – bacon, bbq sauce and cheese.  I decided to get my creative juices flowing and came up with this Mexi-Dog.  I actually enjoyed it a lot.  It was definitely a step in a more interesting direction than my usual hot dog, which usually has some ketchup on it…maybe.

MEXI-DOG

Ingredients:

Your favorite type of hot dog, grilled

Bun (I suppose you could go really Mexican and use a tortilla but I didn’t.)

Toppings:

Avocado, diced

Onion, diced

Bacon Pieces

Jalapenos (seeded), grilled then diced

Mexican Crema

Cotija Cheese, crumbled

Directions:

1.  Place hot dog in bun (or tortilla) and top with as much or as little of the topping ingredients as you like.

Easy Strawberry Trifle

We recently had a new grocery store open up close to us and they had a special on strawberries.  Never one to pass up a deal, I purchased a whole bunch of them!  Foodie, Jr. is a big lover of the strawberry but even with his voracious berry appetite, I still needed to find a use for the strawberries overflowing in my refrigerator.  Enter Fourth of July.  We were headed to a family get together and I decided to throw together something to bring, involving – you guessed it – strawberries.  I threw together this very easy trifle.  So easy, it will make your head spin.  Everyone really seemed to like it a lot, it was gone anyway.  So, if you find yourself needing to use a bunch of strawberries or hard pressed to bring a potluck dish, I highly recommend this!

EASY STRAWBERRY TRIFLE

Ingredients:

4 Cups of Fresh Stawberries, sliced plus a few whole for garnish

1 Box of Instant Vanilla Pudding

1 Tub of Whipped Topping

1 Angel Food Cake, cubed

Directions:

1.  Prepare instant pudding then fold in whipped topping until well incorporated.

2.  In a trifle dish, or similar, start with a layer of about 1/3 of pudding mixture.  Next a layer of angel food cake and then a layer of strawberries.  You should be able to repeat this twice and then end with a layer of pudding mixture on top.

3.  Garnish with strawberries, whole or sliced, as you desire.

Gnudi

I had seen this recipe floating around several blogs recently but had never heard of it, or eaten it.  Gnudi, is basically a naked ravioli.  A dumpling of traditional ricotta/spinach filling served in a marinara sauce.  I used this recipe from Giada De Laurentiis.  I was puzzled at how the dumplings would stay together so I thought it best to follow the recipe as-is before I started making my own changes.  I recommend this recipe – it’s easy and tasty.  It’s also good if you are watching your carbs a bit.  Two things I think that are very important to this recipe are 1)  make sure your dumplings are well coated in the flour and 2)  use a low, rolling boil as a fast one will destroy the dumplings.  Happy Eating!

KC Masterpiece Buffalo Chicken Lumpia

I recently received a bottle of the new K.C. Masterpiece Buffalo Marinade through the Foodbuzz Tastemaker  Program.  Mr. Foodie and I both love buffalo sauce so I was excited to make something with this new marinade.  One of my favorite things to do in the kitchen is to come up with fusion recipes, I love taking the unexpected and putting them together.  I decided to make some buffalo chicken lumpia, a Filipino version of the spring roll.  We generally abide by the ‘anything fried is good’ rule around here and this was no exception.  The crispiness of the lumpia wrapper collided with the creaminess of the filling and it worked.  We enjoyed it.  We used three different dipping sauces – ranch dressing, the K.C. Masterpiece Buffalo Marinade, and a combination of the two.  Mr. Foodie loved dipping them in more of the marinade and I really liked the marinade/rancho combo.  Thank you to Foodbuzz and KC Masterpiece for the opportunity!

KC MASTERPIECE BUFFALO CHICKEN LUMPIA

Ingredients:

4 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts

1 Bottle of KC Masterpiece Buffalo Marinade

1 Packet of Ranch Dressing Seasonings

1 8 oz. Tub of Cream Cheese

50 Lumpia Wrappers

Water, for sealing lumpia

Vegetable oil for frying

Directions:

1.  Mix about 2/3 of the marinade with one packet of ranch dressing seasoning, set aside.

2.  Place chicken breasts in crockpot, cover with marinade/dressing mixture and heat on high for 5-6 hours.

3.  Once chicken is done, shred finely with forks and let cool completely.

4.  Let frozen lumpia wrappers thaw for about an hour (or per package directions, which may vary from brand to brand.)

5.  Once chicken is completely cooled, mix in cream chese.  (I did this by hand to get it mixed in really well.)

6.  Place about a tablespoon of chicken mixture on one end of the lumpia wrapper, rolling and folding in sides until formed.  Seal with water.

7.  Heat vegetable oil in skillet over medium heat.

8.  Fry lumpia in oil until golden brown, let cool slightly before serving with desired dipping sauce.