Parmesan-Turkey-Ranch Rollups

I was flipping through my recipe files looking for something easy to prepare for this past Super Bowl Sunday.  I made Beef Stew for dinner, but wanted to have some snacks to munch on between church and the game.  

Lovey is pretty hard to cook for because he's such a picky eater.  This one seemed to be a good choice because it has several elements that he likes; flour tortillas, roasted turkey, lettuce, tomatoes, well....they had the right stuff.

 
There's not a lot of prep work.  Turkey is from the Deli (I had it sliced very thin),  veggies are diced, and the Parmesan grated.


The base of the rollups is Ranch dressing.  I prefer Hidden Valley made from scratch rather than purchased pre-made in the bottle; and I'm partial to the mix that calls for buttermilk.  Use whichever floats your boat.




Use 6" to 7" flour tortillas.  I laid all mine out on the counter and prepared them assembly-line style.  Spread each tortilla with the dressing.


Sprinkle each with the cheese, green onions, and tomato


Lastly, add the turkey then the lettuce.  Roll them up cigar-style and secure with toothpicks.  I suppose you could slice these into individual bites, each secured with its own toothpick.  I knew Lovey would just pick up a whole one and eat it so I didn't bother.

I also set out a small bowl of extra ranch dressing for dipping.  I thought they benefited from a little extra dressing
 
They were easy and Lovey approved; that in itself was satisfaction.



Parmesan-Turkey-Ranch Rollups
Yield:  8 rollups

Ingredients:
3/4 cup ranch dressing + extra for dipping
8 (6" - 7") flour tortillas
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 green onions
1 medium tomato
2 cups chopped iceberg lettuce
12 ounces thinly sliced deli turkey

Mise en Place:

• if making from scratch whist together the ranch dressing
• grate cheese
• dice the green onions (white and green parts)
• seed and dice the tomato
• chop the lettuce

Method:
Lay out all of the tortillas on the counter (I placed mine on wax paper).  Spread the dressing evenly on 1 side of each tortilla.  Sprinkle evenly with Parmesan, green onions, and the tomato.

Divide the turkey among the tortillas and top with the lettuce.  Roll up the tortillas and secure with toothpicks.

Herbed Ricotta Dip with Spring Vegetables

Who can resist a good dip.  Especially on football game day.  Even more especially on an Oklahoma State Homecoming Football game day!  

This dip requires a high quality ricotta.  Don't buy the stuff in the tub at the grocery store.  Find a good cheese store in your area to get your ricotta from.  In the DFW area we are fortunate to have the Mozzarella Company.  You can visit this cheese factory and watch the women making cheese.  Luckily, you can also purchase their cheese in certain stores in the DFW area.

Here are the herbs that will lend their flavor to the dip.  Notice that they are in their little herb pods.  These have been in the refrigerator for over a week now.  They stay so much more fresh for a longer period of time than if I simply plop them in a vase like this....

 

 This cilantro was purchased on the same day as the 3 herbs shown above.  I've read some negative reviews about the herb pods, but they work great for me. 

Mix all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix thoroughly.  Season with the salt and pepper.

Cover and let sit in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours to allow the herbal flavors to meld.  Serve up with your favorite dipping vegetables; carrots, celery, cherry tomatoes, radishes, etc.

Okay, here's my take on this dip....
I basically liked.  Since we grazed on it all afternoon it was especially nice because I felt I was eating a little healthier compared to most other dips and snacking foods.

I think it would be best if served with salted pita chips.  The dip is so bland (and I don't mean that in a negative way).  Bland is not always bad.  But when you have bland vegetables dipping into a bland dip you get bland all the way around.  I think this dip would be much better served with something that had a little more zing than a piece of celery.  My vote is pita chips.

Herbed Ricotta Dip with Spring Vegetables
Serves 4 to 6
Adapted from Diana Henry's recipe


Ingredients:
1 pound absolute best-quality ricotta (this will make or break your recipe - find a good quality ricotta).
1 garlic clove, peeled and grated (I grated)
1 Tbsp. snipped fresh chives
2 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley
1 Tbsp. minced fresh mint
1 lemon, both the grated zest and a good squeeze of half of the lemon
3 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste

Blend well all of the ingredients together.  Taste and adjust the seasonings accordingly.  Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours (but no more) to allow the flavors to meld. 

I'm sharing this recipe at I Heart Cooking Clubs

Toasted Walnut-Chicken Salad Spread

I participate in a neighborhood book club.  December is our month to vote on the eleven books we'll be reading for the next year and who will be the hostesses each month.  Since we don't review a book in December we come together with food and wine.

Well, we do that every month anyway, but it's more of a pot-luck in December. Our December hostess provides us with a dessert, coffee and wine and the rest of us bring appetizers.  I made this chicken salad spread to be served with crackers.  I adapted it from 'Cozy Country Christmas', a Gooseberry Patch book.  I was able to prepare it the night before which was really nice since my train normally gets me home about 20 minutes before I need to head over to the hostess' house.

I realize that the above photo looks like I just threw it on the serving plate.  And I did, really.  I just gathered up a big ol' spoonful and slapped it down on the plate.  No time for fussiness tonight.  I blame the Trinity Railway Express for getting me home so late.  By the time I pulled into the driveway I should have already picked my neighbor up and been at book club.  So yes, I literally threw it on the plate; didn't care at the moment if it looked like a pretty ball or not.  Oh yeah, I rushed to take a photo of it as well.

 I toasted the walnut halves and chopped them up once they were completely cooled.

 

When cooking the chicken breasts, I went simple.  I didn't want a lot of other flavors to dominate in the chicken salad so I did a simple simmer with homemade celery salt and celery tops with lots of leaves.  Once the breasts cooled I chopped it up finely in the food processor.

I minced the celery and onion up quite tiny since I wanted them to be in bite-sized pieces.  I used a center stalk of celery so it would be more tender.  I did not do my mincing in a food processor because I wanted the celery and onion to have definite shapes.

Once combined with the mayonnaise the spread was covered and put in the refrigerator over night.  The walnuts weren't added at that time.  I added the chopped toasted walnuts right before serving so they would be nice and crunchy.

My thoughts on this recipe:  Prior to adding the walnuts to the spread I tasted it and thought it was OK but no different than any other chicken salad or chicken spread.  But once I added the walnuts, W-O-W!  The walnuts turned a blah,  so-so spread into a spread that was crunchy with a great toasted flavor.

I kept a little bit of the spread for my lunch the next day and Lovey tried it.  He normally won't even eat chicken salad but he tried this for some reason and he told me that it was really good.  And that's really surprising coming out of his mouth.

Keeper.

Toasted Walnut-Chicken Spread
Yields 2-1/2 cups
Adapted from a recipe by Mary Ellen Jernigan from Chesapeake, VA

Ingredients:
1-3/4 cup cooked chicken (about 1-1/2 to 2 boneless chicken breast halves)
1/2 cup walnut halves
2/3 cup Hellman's mayonnaise
1 stalk celery
2 Tbsp. red onion
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
assorted crackers

Mise en place:

• measure out mayonnaise
• finely dice celery
• finely dice onion
• measure out salt
• measure out garlic powder

Method:
Toast walnuts.  Spread walnut halves onto a baking sheet with sides. Toast in a 350°F oven for about 10 minutes, or until browned and aromatic. Allow to cool completely. Once cooled roughly chop and set aside.

Place chicken in a pot and cover with water.  Add celery salt and celery tops to the pot.  Bring to a boil then turn down heat and simmer until done, about 20 minutes.  Skim off any white foamy scum as it forms on the surface.  Drain and allow to cool.  Roughly chop and place in bowl of food processor.  Pulse until finely shredded.  Pour into large mixing bowl.

Add celery and onion to chicken and combine thoroughly.  In a small bowl combine the mayonnaise, salt and garlic powder.  Add to chicken mixture and mix well.  Cover and chill.  At this point you can cover and refrigerate over night.

Just prior to serving fold in the toasted walnuts.  Serve in a small bowl or form into a ball shape on a plate.  Serve with an assortment of crackers.

Potato Salad Bites

Our neighborhood hosts a Christmas Party each year.  Two residents open up their homes to everyone in the neighborhood.  It provides a nice opportunity to visit with neighbors you know and meet new neighbors you haven't met.  There is also a lot of great food and wine.

One of the reasons the food is good is that residents who attend bring a savory dish or a dessert.  And we have a lot of ladies who are talented in the kitchen!  The HOA provides the adult beverages.

The festivities begin at the home where the savory hors d'oeuvres are served.  After about two hours the party moves to the second home in the neighborhood where all of the sweeties are waiting for everyone.  Dessert wines and sparkling wines are added to the beverage selection.

This year I signed up for a savory hors d'oeuvre.  I found this recipe for bite sized potato salad starters in a holiday magazine/booklet that a co-worker gave me around 5 years ago.

Try to select potatoes that are of similar size.  Also, when selecting the potatoes, keep in mind the size; you want these to be bite-size.  I would suggest selecting a few extra because, well, it's inevitable that some will fall apart as you prepare them.

When you boil the potatoes, keep a close eye on them and cook only until they are done.  If you cook them too long or vigorously the skins will start to split pretty bad.  Some will split any way but don't wig out about it.  Be gentle when you halve the potato and scoop the meat out of the potato.  Once you have scooped the pulp out of the halves, lightly sprinkle each half with kosher salt.

Toss the potato pulp, onion, pickles, & parsley in a mixing bowl.  The original recipe called for pimiento-stuffed olives but I opted to use Claussen Kosher Dill Sandwich Slices.  I think these pickles have the best flavor and are easy to mince.

Speaking of mincing, the onion and parsley should be minced as well since the appetizers themselves are small.

I suggest combining the mayonnaise, mustard, and pepper in a small mixing bowl  before adding to the potato mixture.  Once the potato salad is combined, taste for seasoning.  Between the saltiness of the dill pickle and the Dijon I doubt you will need to add any salt; remember the potato halves are lightly salted already too.

I will say this about the recipe.  It's labor intensive and time consuming.  You probably don't want to include this on your menu if you are making multiple dishes for a get-together.  But, if this is the only thing you are preparing for an event it's well worth the effort.

Part of me feels bad about trying new recipes out on un-suspecting neighbors but it's a great way to know whether or not I would serve something again. 

This recipe is good cocktail party fare.  It proved to be one that people really liked; they disappeared quite nicely.


Potato Salad Bites
Yields about 32 appetizers
Adapted from a recipe by Stephanie Sheridan from Plainfield, Vermont


Ingredients:
20 small red potatoes
salt for sprinkling
1/2 cup minced kosher dill pickles
4 tsp. minced fresh parsley
2 tsp. minced red onion
1 cup Hellman's mayonnaise
2-1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp ground pepper
Paprika
extra minced parsley for garnish

Mise en place:

• rinse potatoes off
• mince pickles, parsley & onion and place in medium mixing bowl
• measure mayonnaise, mustard and pepper into a small mixing bowl
• mince extra parsley and set aside
• prepare an ice bath of ice cubes and cold water

Method:
Place potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with water.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; cover and cook for 10-12 minutes or until tender.  Drain and immediately place potatoes in ice water; drain and pat dry.

Peel 4 of the potatoes (pick out 4 that the skins split a lot; finely dice and place in the medium mixing bowl with the pickles, parsley & onion.  Cut the remaining potatoes in half.  With a melon baller, gently scoop out the pulp, leaving a 3/8" shell and toss in with the other potatoes; set shells aside.  Toss the potatoe pulp lightly with the onion mixture; this will break up the rest of the potatoes.  Gently stir the mayonnaise mixture into the potato mixture combining well.

Sprinkle the potato shells with salt; stuff with potato salad.  Sprinkle with paprika.  Chill for at least 1 hour before serving.  Garnish with the extra parsley if desired.