Beer Cheese Fondue

Ingredients:

• 4 cups shredded cheese* (Gruyere, Emmenthaler, raclette, cheddar or other good melting cheese) 
• 1/4 cup flour (substitute with corn starch) 
• 1 cup flavorful, low bitterness beer** 
• 1/3 cup heavy cream (fresh, at room temperature) 
• grated garlic or onion (to taste, optional) 
• fresh or dry herbs (to taste)

BEST BEER STYLES TO USE FOR CHEESE FONDUE

Styles with low bitterness, bready/biscuity notes and herbal, earthy aromas (Noble hops or traditional English varieties) make the best candidates to use. To that end we recommend:

• Pilsner lagers (like Bohemian (Czech) and Munich Helles)
• Dunkel and bock lagers
• Doppelbock lagers (especially well suited with more aged cheeses)
• Saisons and strong Belgian ales (nothing sour)
• Wheat ales, especially if fermented with clean American yeast (not fruit flavored of course and nothing sour)
• English pale ales, English mild
• Amber and brown ales (low bitterness, mostly aroma hops)

Avoid sour beers (including kettle sours) as their higher acidity may cause the heavy cream to curdle, especially if it is not fresh heavy cream and has already began to sour in the carton.

Directions:

Step 1. To start – shred enough cheese to have about four cups worth. Coat it well with flour (this will facilitate the melting process). Set aside.

Step 2. Next, pour the beer into a cold pot, turn the heat to medium and bring to simmer to cook off the alcohol. After the beer has simmered for a couple of minutes, add the cream and simmer for a few more minutes.

TIPS: 1. If you add beer to a hot pan/pot it will foam excessively. 2. If you’d like to add a bit of grated garlic or grated onion and/or any dry or fresh herbs such as picked fresh thyme leaves, add them to the beer to infuse with their flavor.

Step 3. Remove the pan from the heat and fold in the cheese in batches while gently stirring. Once all the cheese has melted, transfer to a pre-heated fondue pot, taste and if needed season with salt & pepper, then serve.


WHAT TO DO IF YOUR BEER CHEESE FONDUE BREAKS

If your beer cheese sauce breaks (most likely due to adding cold cheese to too hot of a liquid base) you might end up with clumps. This is easy to fix!

Simply use an immersion blender or transfer the entire broken mess into a blender and process it until no more clumps are visible. Strain and add a few tablespoons of cream to the cheese sauce and warm it up over very gentle heat while stirring.

Sausage & Crescent Roll Casserole

 

Ingredients

• 1 pound bulk pork sausage
• 1 tube (8 ounces) refrigerated crescent rolls
• 2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 8 large eggs
• 2 cups 2% milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375°. In a large skillet, cook sausage over medium heat 6-8 minutes or until no longer pink, breaking into crumbles; drain. Unroll crescent roll dough into a greased 13x9-in. baking dish. Seal seams and perforations. Sprinkle with sausage and cheese.

• In a large bowl, whisk eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Pour over sausage and cheese.

• Bake, uncovered, 35-40 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let stand 5-10 minutes before serving.

• Make-Ahead: Refrigerate unbaked casserole, covered, several hours or overnight. To use, preheat oven to 375°. Remove casserole from refrigerator while oven heats. Bake as directed, increasing time as necessary until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let stand 5-10 minutes before serving.

Southern Sweet Onion Casserole

I had a friend who acquired a 10 pound bag of sweet Vidalia onions through a fundraising project. She does not eat onions and knowing we like to cook, she asked if I wanted the bag so I said yes. But then I thought, what am I going do with so many onions? I didn’t know, so away to Google I went. I found onion recipes and came upon this Southern Onion Casserole. It was extremely easy to make and it was so good that I could’ve eaten the entire casserole dish for dinner. If you like onion rings, grilled onions on your burger or anything that bubbles and oozes with cheesy goodness, then this is for you! 

INGREDIENTS

• 3 large sweet Vidalia onions, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup grated Mexican cheese blend
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup Ritz crackers crushed (about 1 sleeve)

Instructions 

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
2. Add butter to a large skillet over medium heat. When the butter has melted, add the onions.
3. Reduce the heat to low and cook the onions for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Place half of the onions in a small casserole dish, which has been greased or sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
5. Add half the sour cream and spread out evenly.
6. Sprinkle half the Mexican grated cheese evenly over the top.
7. Top with half of the Parmesan cheese and half of the Ritz cracker crumbs.
8. Repeat the layers ending with a layer of Ritz cracker crumbs.
9. Bake uncovered for 25 or 30 minutes or until the mixture is bubbly and the topping is golden brown.

Cheese Tortellini and Sun-Dried Tomato Soup

Ingredients

1 package (9 ounces) refrigerated cheese tortellini
2 cans (10-3/4 ounces each) reduced-sodium condensed tomato soup, undiluted
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups 2% milk*
2 cups half-and-half cream*
1/2 cup chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
1 teaspoon onion powder (I used half a shallot instead)
1 teaspoon garlic powder (I used fresh, minced garlic)
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Additional shredded Parmesan cheese, optional


*I'm aware there is a lot of dairy in this soup. Next time I may try all milk or 3 cups of skim milk and 1 cup cream next time to cut down on fat. If you try to change the recipe and it's good, let me know!

Directions

1) Cook tortellini according to package directions.

2) Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, combine the soup, broth, milk, cream, tomatoes and seasonings. Heat through, stirring frequently. 

3) Drain tortellini; carefully add to soup. Stir in cheese. Sprinkle each serving with additional cheese if desired.

Yield: 10 servings (2-1/2 quarts).

Ham, & Cheese Soufflé

I love St. Louis Bread Company's soufflés and could eat them several times a week. I threw together a few ingredients to make my own at home. They need some tweaking, but they are headed in the right direction.

One 8 oz. can of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
4-6 eggs
1/2 Cup Cheese
1/2 Cup diced ham

Directions
1) Unroll the crescent rolls. I used 2 triangles together and formed 4 rectangles.
2) I laid the recitingle-shape dough into the cupcake pan (Texas size pan) with the excess dough laying over the sides.
3) I scrambled the eggs, ham and cheese in a bowl.
4) I spooned the egg mixture into the four dough cupcake bins. With the excess dough, I covered up the egg mixture like a cocoon.
5) I brushed the tops with a little egg and butter mixture.
6) I baked them at 350º for 20 minutes.

NEXT TIME: I think I'll add some onion or chives, maybe even some cayenne pepper.

Nutrition:
Crescent Roll (each): 100 cal, 6g Fat, 11g Carbs
Brown large egg (each): 70 cal, 5g Fat, 6g Protein

Santa Fe Chicken and Lentil Casserole (Gluten Free)

First off, I found this recipe here. On a scale of 1 to 10, we gave it a 7. It made A LOT of food ... way more than I was prepared for. It filled my 10 x 14 casserole dish to the top. It will feed a large family or you'll have a lot of leftovers. Good thing, it freezes well! Next time, I'll be sure to cut the recipe in half.

Ingredients (Cost me about $13 for fresh items as I already had the spices.)

Lentils:

            1-1/2 cup green lentils, rinsed & drained ($1)

            3 cups chicken broth, low sodium ($2)

            1/8 tsp salt

            

Chicken:

            2 lbs boneless & skinless chicken breasts, diced ($5 for 3 lbs)

            1 tsp cumin

            1/4 tsp salt

            1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

            1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

            Cooking spray

            

Vegetables:

            1 large onion, diced ($.66)

            5 large garlic cloves, crushed

            2 large bell peppers, diced ($3)

            1 tsp cumin

            1/4 tsp salt

            1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

            Cooking spray

           

Mix Ins:

            14 oz can diced tomatoes (I used Fire Roasted)

            2 cups corn, frozen & unthawed ($.89)

            2 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded & divided

            2 tbsp peppers, seeded & minced (I used a Serrano) ($.20)

            1 tbsp garlic powder

            1 tsp cumin

            1 cup cilantro, chopped & divided ($1)

Directions

1) In a medium pot, combine lentils, chicken broth and salt. Bring to a boil on high, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 30-35 minutes. Do not drain excess liquid. Set aside.

2) Meanwhile, preheat large skillet on high and spray with cooking spray. Add chicken and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally and draining any liquid if necessary. Add cumin, salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper and cook for another 5 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Transfer to a very large bowl and set aside. You'll mix all other ingredients into this bowl.

3) Preheat oven to 350°. Return skillet to medium-high heat and spray with cooking spray. Add onion, garlic, bell peppers, cumin, salt and cayenne pepper and cook for 7 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally.

4) Transfer to the bowl with chicken along with cooked lentils, diced tomatoes, corn, 1 cup cheese, jalapeño peppers, garlic powder, cumin and 1/2 cup cilantro. Mix gently with spatula enough to combine.

5) Transfer the mixture to a 9 x 13 oven proof baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake uncovered for 50 mins. Remove casserole from the oven, cover with foil and let stand for half an hour before serving. Garnish with remaining cilantro and sour cream.

Storage Instructions: Refrigerate covered for up to 3 days or freeze in an air tight container for up to 3 months.

Nutritional Info

Calories: 381, Total Fat: 11 g
, Sodium: 531.4 mg
, Total Carbs: 33.4 g
, Dietary Fiber: 9.2 g, Protein: 41.5 g
, WW Points+: 10

Buffalo Pull Apart Bread

• By far, the least healthiest recipe we've made. It was pretty good though for our party and the amount of people. I used half the butter and no blue cheese. Since I don't like it and I made it, I made it how I wanted it :) 
  
  
  
  
  
  1 loaf artisan bread 
• 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 stick of butter
• 1/2 cup of Buffalo Sauce
• 1 bunch of scallions sliced about an inch into the green
• 1/4 cup of blue cheese, plus more to sprinkle on top.

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut the loaf of bread length-wise and width-wise.  Don’t cut all the way to the bottom.
3. Stuff the bread with the cheese, doing your best to get some in all of the cracks.  You don’t want to stuff it down too far, because you are going to use it to hold the bread open and get the sauce in.
4. Melt the butter over medium heat.  When it is completely melted, gently whisk in the buffalo sauce until it is full combined.  Add the scallions (and the blue cheese crumbles if you want) and remove from the heat.
5. Using a spoon, add the sauce to the bread, getting some of the sauce into each of the cracks.  Make sure you use all of the sauce.  Top with a little extra blue cheese.
6. Tent with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes.

Jiffy Corn Casserole

Corn Casserole

Ingredients

• 1 can Whole Kernal Corn, drained
• 1 can Cream Style Corn, undrained
• 8 oz. Light Sour Cream
• 1 Box of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix
• 2 C. Cheddar Cheese*
• 1/2 C. Melted Butter

Directions

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Once combined, pour into oven-safe dish. Bake one hour at 350º. Do NOT cover while baking. Stir 1-2 times throughout baking process. 


* I suggest a high quality cheese. Using a the Kirkland brand caused a greasy consistency and look to the casserole.