Line large cookie sheet with foil; spray foil with cooking spray.
In small bowl, mix sauce ingredients with whisk until smooth.
Cover; refrigerate until serving time.
In colander, place zucchini and ½ teaspoon of the salt; gently toss.
Place colander over bowl or sink; let drain 10 minutes.
Place zucchini on cheesecloth or paper towel; wrap cheesecloth around zucchini and twist gently to remove as much remaining moisture as possible.
In large bowl, mix sweet potato and eggs with whisk until smooth.
Add zucchini, bread crumbs, cheeses, onion, garlic powder, thyme, parsley, pepper and remaining ½ teaspoon salt; blend gently with fork.
For each tot, gently roll 1 tablespoon mixture in palm of hand into small oval or log shape.
Place about 1 inch apart on cookie sheet.
Bake 15 to 18 minutes, turning once, until crisp and golden brown.
Serve hot with sauce.
Notes / Tips / Wine Advice:
Make-Ahead Magic The Sweet Potato–Zucchini Tots can be frozen up to 1 week before serving. Bake as directed, cool and place in resealable freezer plastic bag or freezer container. To reheat, place frozen tots on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350°F for 13 to 15 minutes or until thoroughly heated.
1packageregular active or fast-acting dry yeast2¼ teaspoons
1½cupsvery warm water120°F to 130°F
1tablespoonbuttermelted
½cupshredded Cheddar cheese2 oz
4strips baconcrisply cooked, crumbled
2tablespoonsfinely chopped seeded jalapeño chilesabout 2 medium
2cans16 oz each American-style lager beer
2tablespoonsbaking soda
1eggbeaten
1tablespooncoarsekosher or sea salt
BEER CHEESE DIP
1package8 oz cream cheese, cut into cubes, softened
¾cupAmerican-style lager beerreserved from 1 can above
2cupsshredded Cheddar cheese8 oz
Instructies
Line large cookie sheets with cooking parchment paper.
In large bowl, mix 3¾ cups of the flour, the sugar, table salt and yeast.
Add warm water and butter; beat with electric mixer on medium speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl frequently and adding additional flour, ¼ cup at a time, until dough is soft and leaves side of bowl.
Divide dough into 4 equal portions.
On lightly floured surface, roll each portion into 12×4-inch rectangle.
On one long side of each rectangle, sprinkle 2 tablespoons Cheddar cheese, 2 teaspoons crumbled bacon and 1½ teaspoons chiles.
Starting at one long side, roll up dough; firmly pinch edges to seal.
Cut each roll into 12 (1-inch) pieces; pinch cut edges to seal.
Place on cookie sheets.
Cover with plastic wrap; let stand 30 minutes.
Heat oven to 425°F.
Reserve ¾ cup of the beer for dip.
In 3-quart saucepan, heat remaining beer and the baking soda to boiling; reduce heat to low.
Gently place 4 to 5 dough pieces in beer; cook about 20 seconds, turning once.
Remove with slotted spoon; return to cookie sheets.
Repeat with remaining dough pieces.
Brush with egg; sprinkle with coarse salt.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown.
Meanwhile, in 2-quart saucepan, cook cream cheese and reserved beer over medium heat 6 to 7 minutes, stirring frequently, until cheese is melted.
Stir in Cheddar cheese, a little at a time; cook about 4 minutes, stirring frequently, until all cheese is melted and sauce is smooth.
Serve warm pretzel nuggets with warm dip.
Notes / Tips / Wine Advice:
Make-Ahead Magic
You can make these delicious party snacks well in advance. Place baked cooled pretzel nuggets in a resealable freezer plastic bag; freeze up to 2 weeks. To reheat, place on cookie sheets and bake at 350°F for 12 to 14 minutes or until hot. Make the Beer Cheese Dip while they bake.
Twist mushroom stems to remove from mushroom caps; reserve caps.
Finely chop enough stems to measure about ½ cup; discard remaining stems.
In medium bowl, mix chopped mushroom stems and remaining ingredients until well blended.
Spoon into mushroom caps, mounding slightly.
Place in ungreased 15x10x1-inch pan.
Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until hot.
Serve warm.
Notes / Tips / Wine Advice:
Festive Touch
Add whole hazelnuts and oregano or parsley sprigs to the serving platter for a dramatic flair.
Kitchen Secrets
Italian Gorgonzola is rich and creamy with a mild, yet slightly pungent flavor and aroma. If you can’t find Gorgonzola, use blue cheese instead. And walnuts or pistachios can be used in place of the hazelnuts.
3cans14.5 oz each fire-roasted diced tomatoes with garlic, drained
2cupschopped onions2 large
1jalapeño chileseeded, chopped
½cupgolden raisins
1can6 oz tomato sauce
3tablespoonstomato paste
½cupcider vinegar
½cuppacked brown sugar
1teaspooncurry powder
1½teaspoonssalt
1lbbulk Italian pork sausage
1lbground beef round
¼cupfinely chopped fresh parsley
1egg
Additional chopped fresh parsleyif desired
Instructies
Spray 6-quart slow cooker with cooking spray.
In slow cooker, stir together tomatoes, 1½ cups of the onions, the chile, raisins, tomato sauce, tomato paste, vinegar, brown sugar, curry powder and ½ teaspoon of the salt.
Cook uncovered on High heat setting 3 hours or until thickened.
Meanwhile, heat oven to 400°F.
Spray 15x10x1-inch pan with cooking spray.
In large bowl, mix sausage, beef, ¼ cup parsley, the egg, remaining ½ cup onion and remaining 1 teaspoon salt.
Shape mixture into 36 (1-inch) balls.
Arrange in single layer in pan.
Bake 15 minutes or until thoroughly cooked and no longer pink in center.
Add meatballs to slow cooker.
Reduce heat setting to Low.
Cover; cook 1 hour.
Sprinkle with additional parsley.
Notes / Tips / Wine Advice:
Make-Ahead Magic
You can make the sauce and meatballs up to 2 days ahead of time. Spoon cooled sauce and meatballs into large microwavable bowls; stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate. The day of serving, microwave bowls on High 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until hot. Transfer hot meatballs and sauce to slow cooker. Cover; cook on Low heat setting 1 hour.
Line 2 cookie sheets with sides with heavy-duty foil; spray with cooking spray.
Sprinkle chicken with pepper.
Wrap each chicken piece with a half slice of bacon.
Place on cookie sheets.
Bake 30 minutes.
Turn chicken pieces over; rotate placement of cookie sheets in the oven.
Bake 20 to 30 minutes longer or until golden brown and juice of chicken is clear when thickest part is cut to bone (at least 165°F).
Meanwhile, in 1-quart saucepan, mix sauce ingredients.
Heat to boiling over medium heat, stirring frequently.
Reduce heat; simmer uncovered, stirring frequently, until sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes.
Remove from heat; set aside.
In large bowl, toss chicken with half of the sauce.
Serve warm with remaining sauce on the side for dipping.
Notes / Tips / Wine Advice:
*Purchase already cut chicken wings in the meat or frozen foods section of your grocery store. They’re sometimes called chicken drummies or wingettes and drummettes. You can use just wings or just drummettes if you prefer.
3packages2.1 oz each frozen mini fillo shells (15 shells each)
¾cupmayonnaise or salad dressing
¾cupgrated Parmesan cheese
½teaspoonfinely chopped garlic
8mediumgreen onionsfinely chopped (½ cup)
1can14 oz artichoke hearts, drained, finely chopped
1can6.5 oz special white crabmeat, drained*
Instructies
Heat oven to 375°F.
Line cookie sheet with foil or cooking parchment paper.
Place fillo shells on cookie sheet.
In large bowl, mix remaining ingredients until well blended.
Spoon about 1 tablespoon crab mixture into each fillo shell.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until puffed and golden brown.
Serve warm.
Notes / Tips / Wine Advice:
*
Refrigerated pasteurized or imitation crabmeat can be substituted for the canned crabmeat.
Make-Ahead Magic
Save yourself some time on hectic days by making the crab filling up to 24 hours in advance. Then just fill the shells and bake right before serving. You may need to bake them a minute or two longer.
Festive Touch
Garnish each crab bite with a cherry tomato half to add color.
1package12 oz fully cooked gluten-free cottage or Canadian bacon
2packages8 oz each dried whole Calimyrna figs, stems removed
30pistachio nuts
30small fresh basil leaves
Instructies
Heat oven to 425°F.
Spray 15x10x1-inch pan with cooking spray (without flour).
Cut each bacon slice in half.
Cut slit in each fig; stuff with nut.
Place basil leaf on bacon strip; wrap around fig.
Place seam side down in pan.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until bacon is browned.
Serve warm with toothpicks.
Notes / Tips / Wine Advice:
Make-Ahead Magic Assemble appetizers 3 to 4 hours ahead of your party and refrigerate. You may need to add 1 to 2 minutes to the bake time.Kitchen Secrets Calimyrna figs are large, squat, green-skinned, white-fleshed figs grown in California. Instead of the figs, you can use dried apricot or peach halves, folding them in half around the nut.Cooking Gluten Free? Always read labels to make sure each recipe ingredient is gluten free. Products and ingredient sources can change.
Generously grease 24 mini muffin cups with shortening or cooking spray.
Cook broccoli & cheese sauce as directed on bag for minimum time.
Chop broccoli.
In medium bowl, stir Bisquick mix, pepper flakes, salt, milk and eggs with whisk or fork until blended.
Stir in broccoli & cheese sauce, Parmesan cheese and bacon.
Divide mixture evenly among muffin cups (cups will be full).
Bake 16 to 18 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and tops are light brown.
Cool 5 minutes.
With thin knife, loosen sides of puffs from pan; remove to cooling rack.
In small bowl, mix mayonnaise and Sriracha sauce until smooth.
Top each warm puff with 1 teaspoon mayonnaise mixture; garnish with onion
Notes / Tips / Wine Advice:
Kitchen Secrets Satisfy your vegetarian guests by substituting either ¼ cup finely chopped red or green bell pepper or 2 tablespoons sliced green onions for the bacon.
1package10 oz prebaked thin Italian pizza crust (12 inch)
1cupwhole-berry cranberry sauce
⅓cuppomegranate seeds
¾teaspoongrated orange peel
½cupcrumbled chèvregoat cheese (2 oz)
1tablespoonchopped fresh chives
Instructies
In 10-inch skillet, melt butter over medium heat.
Add onion, salt and pepper flakes; cook about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion is browned and caramelized.
Remove from heat.
Heat oven to 400°F.
Place pizza crust on ungreased cookie sheet.
In small bowl, mix cranberry sauce, pomegranate seeds and orange peel.
Spread over crust.
Sprinkle cheese over cranberry mixture; spread onions over top.
Bake about 12 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Sprinkle with chives.
Notes / Tips / Wine Advice:
Make-Ahead Magic To get a jump-start on this appetizer pizza, cook the onions, then transfer to a microwavable bowl. Cover and refrigerate up to three days in advance. When you’re ready to make the pizza, microwave the onions on High about 30 seconds or until warm. Assemble the pizza and bake as directed.Kitchen Secrets Use your favorite thin pizza crust in this recipe. Or if you have time, make your own flatbread dough from scratch.
