Apple Crisp Brie - Book Club Dinner 2010

Karen Peterson made this stunning and delicious appetizer for our annual Book Club dinner this year.

Makes 10 Servings

1 (8 oz) Brie cheese round
1 Granny Smith apple, washed, cored and cut into 1/2 inch dice
1 Rome apple, washed, cored and cut into 1/2 inch dice
1 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 (4 oz) package slivered almonds
4 T butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350.

Place brie in the center of a 9 in decorative quiche, shallow casserole or pie pan.

In large mixing bowl, stir apples and dried cranberries together. Add brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and almonds and gently stir. Drizzle melted butter over all and stir until well coated.

Pour apple mixture over and around brie. Bake for 30 minutes, or until cheese is soft and bubbling in the center.

Serve immediately with crackers.

Mini Peanut Butter & Jelly Pies

We made these for Valentine's Day lunch and the kids loved them. They're so cute! I got the recipe from pickypalate.com.

1 roll pie dough
1/2 c creamy peanut butter
1/2 c strawberry preserves
1 egg white whisked with 1 teaspoon water for egg wash
Sugar Crystals for sprinkling on top (optional)
2 T powdered sugar


Set oven to 350 degrees F.  Unroll pie crust onto a lightly floured surface.  Use a 2 1/2 inch round cutter to cut out circles in dough. Place dough rounds into greased mini muffin tin.  Roll remaining scraps of dough to an even thickness then use a sharp knife to cut thin 1/8 inch strips to create the lattice topping.  Set aside.


Drop a heaping teaspoon of peanut butter  into each of the pie crusts.  Do the same with the jam.  I liked having a little more jelly than peanut butter. Using the pie strips, form the lattice top.   Cut excess dough from edges and brush tops lightly with the egg wash, sprinkle with sugar crystals (optional) and bake for 25-30 minutes or until nice and golden brown.


Carefully remove from pan after 5 minutes and let cool.  Dust with powdered sugar and serve with milk!

Buffalo Wing Chicken Dip

I tried this out and it turned out good. There are a million different variations of it so if you have a better one, please post:)

1 pkg Cream Cheese
2 cooked chicken breasts, shredded
1 c. ranch or blue cheese dressing
1 c. Frank's hot sauce (I used Ott's original Wing Sauce)
2 c. shredded cheddar

beat cream cheese, ranch, and hot sauce til smooth. add cheddar and chicken. Put in a baking dish and bake 30-40 minutes until hot and bubbly. serve with chips, crackers, and celery sticks.

Layered Sun-Dried Tomato Dip

1 pkg cream cheese (8 oz) softened, divided
1/4 c. basil pesto (store bought or homemade)
1/2 c. sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained, chopped
1/4 c. fresh parmesan cheese
1 container (8oz) sour cream
1 garlic clove
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 c. pitted ripe olives, sliced
1 T. finely chopped basil
Additional chopped sun-dried tomatoes (optional)
Toasted French Bread slices

Preheat oven to 350. Combine half the cream cheese and pesto. Mix well and spread into bottom of a small baking dish (I mix it in my kitchenaid). Blot excess oil from tomatoes. Combine the rest of the cream cheese, tomatoes, parmesan, sour cream, garlic, and seasoning mix. Spread over pesto mixture. Bake 20-25 minutes until bubbly and hot. Garnish with olives, basil, and additional sun-dried tomatoes if desired.

Blue Cheese Pear Flatbread

1 1/4 c. warm water
2 T. olive oil
1 pkg active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
31/4-3 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp salt
cornmeal
2-3 pears thinly sliced
1 cup thinly sliced sauteed sweet onion (I carmelize them by sauteeing them in oil and then adding a tsp of sugar once soft until they turn a golden brown color)
blue cheese
1 T. olive oil

Combine warm water, oil, yeast, and sugar. stir to dissolve yeast. Let stand about 10 minutes or until foamy. Combine 2 3/4 c. flour and the salt. add in yeast mixture. Add in as much of the remaining flour as you can. Turn dough out on floured surface until dough is smooth and elastic. place dough in an oiled bowl turning once to grease all sides. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in size. Preheat oven 450. Punch dough down. Divide into 9 equal portions (I am too lazy and just do one or 2 really big ones.) roll each into an oval shape. Sprinkle a baking sheet with cornmeal. place bread on. Top with pear, cheese, and onion. Bake until golden brown.

***You can cheat if you need a timesaver by buying refrigerated pizza dough (in a can) and using that as the flatbread base.

*** You can also top with Apples, bacon, and white cheddar cheese

Or Top with sauteed mushrooms (with balsamic vinegar added to them at the end of cooking)goat cheese, and thyme leaves

Spinach Puffs

1 box Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry dough (in freezer section usually by frozen fruit)
1 box frozen spinach
1 packet Leek soup
8 oz. sour cream
1 Tablespoon Flour

Let the dough and spinach completely thaw. Drain excess water from spinach. Cut each circle dough into 4 equal parts. press cut dough into the bottom and up the sides of a mini muffin tin. Mix the rest of the ingredients and fill the dough in the muffin tin past the top. Bake at 375 until edges of dough is lightly browned. Makes 24.

Mini Ham & Cheese Rolls

I got this recipe from Kenzi Hardy and the love of these little rolls has spread like a virus around the ward!

Mini Ham & Cheese Rolls

2 T dried minced onion
1 T mustard
2 T poppy seeds (you can get away with using 1 T to conserve poppy seeds...they're kinda expensive!)
1/2 cup butter, melted
24 Kings Hawaiian rolls (or any other sweet roll)
1/2 lb sliced ham (black forest ham is especially good with this)
1/2 lb swiss cheese (I bought the great value slices, then used half on each sandwich)
Mayo

Preheat oven to 325
~Combine onion flakes, mustard, poppy seeds, butter
~Split rolls, spread mayo on inside. Make sandwiches with ham and cheese.
~Arrange sandwiches in baking dish, drizzle poppy seed mixture over top.
~Cover and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Highly addictive!!!