Nicki's Cookbook

Category Archives: Dips Gravies Spreads

Roasted Red Pepper Aioli

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This mildly tangy sauce adds a little kick to any kind of sandwich or croquette!

Makes: 16 Tablespoon servings

Ingredients:

3 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 cup olive oil mayo, reduced fat
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
7 oz. roasted red bell peppers, drained
Method:
In food processor, add galic,  mayo, salt and pepper. Turn on high. Let process about 10 seconds and then add bell peppers.
Let process another 10 seconds. Scrape sides down.
Process another 5 seconds.
Cover in refrigerator until ready to use.
aioli

Simple Bechamel (white gravy)

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Bechamel is a basic gravy that absorbs the flavors that are added to it. It can become salmon, turkey, mushroom, leek, anything! It’s the “tofu” of the gravy world! It can also be used on it’s own as a cream gravy over any fried meats or creamed potatoes.

Makes: 3 cups

Ingredients:

5 Tbs. unsalted butter
4 Tbs. unbleached all purpose flour
4 cups whole milk
2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

Method:

In saucepan, warm milk to near boiling. Meanwhile, melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. Once butter is melted, add flour to make a roux. Carefully add hot milk to roux and whisk at a medium speed continuously, incorporating milk fully before adding more to keep from lumping. Once milk is fully incorporated, add salt and nutmeg, whisking slowly for an additional 3 minutes. Gravy will thicken upon standing. If you would like to add other flavorings, now is the time! Be creative!

Whipped Cream

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coming soon

Cool Whip has nothing on this whipped cream!

Makes 2 cups whipped cream

Ingredients

1/2 pint or 1 c. heavy whipping cream, COLD
2 Tbs. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Method

Place metal mixing bowl and beaters in freezer for 10 minutes. Once chilled, whip heavy cream on medium high speed until soft peaks form. Add sugar and vanilla. Beat further until stiff peaks form. Do not overbeat!

 

 

Biscuits and Sausage Gravy

on by in Breakfast, Dips Gravies Spreads ⋅ Leave a comment

sausage gravy biscuit

This southern comfort food can be made in a variety of different spice levels depending on the type of sausage used. Extra spicy? Use chorizo, like it mild? Use sweet italian, or any in between!

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients

1 lb. ground sausage (I prefer sage flavored)
1/4 c. all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. black pepper
pinch kosher salt
2 cups milk or more
2 Tbs. unsalted butter
country biscuits of your choosing

Method

In large skillet, brown sausage on high heat, breaking up into crumbles. Remove to bowl. In bowl, add flour, salt and pepper. Toss over meat to coat. In skillet, reduce heat to medium and add butter. Once melted, return coated sausage to pan. Slowly add milk, stirring constantly until thick and smooth, about 10 minutes. Undercooking will cause bitter floury taste to gravy, so make sure to cook at least 10 minutes and taste test your gravy!

Serve immediately over biscuits.

7-layer dip

on by in Appetizers, Dips Gravies Spreads, Mexican/Latin ⋅ Leave a comment

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This is my number 1 requested dish for potlucks. Everyone loves it! 

Makes 8-10 cups dip

Ingredients

1/4 cup sliced black olives
2 cups finely shredded cheddar cheese
12 oz. chili sauce
1 lb. ground sirloin
taco seasoning packet
1 box rice-a-roni, spanish or mexican rice flavor
1 lb. sour cream
2 cups refried black beans

Method:

Prepare rice as directed, set aside. In medium pan, brown ground beef with taco seasoning until cooked through and broken up into crumbles (the crumblier the better). Set aside.

In large bowl, layer: beans, then beef, then rice, then sour cream, then chili sauce, then cheese, then black olives. Make sure to smooth each layer before adding the next to ensure layers are even with every bite.

Can be served warm or cold. Our family likes it both ways!

Rum Chocolate Fondue

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chocolate fondue

This delicious treat is very quick and easy to make! You’ll be the life of the party with just a few minutes to make! It’s best to serve in a fondue pot (traditional or electric) to keep the chocolate nice and smooth. In a pinch, you can put it in a bowl but eat like crazy, it will firm up fast!

Makes 6 servings

 

 

choc fondue nut

 

Ingredients:

1 cup heavy whipping cream
4 Tbs. Splenda (cup to cup sugar substitute)
dash ground nutmeg
2 Tbs. unsalted butter
8 oz. ghiradelli semisweet chocolate chips
4 tsp. Krakken spiced rum
1 tsp. fresh squeezed orange juice
various dippers (pinapple, strawberries, raspberries, cherries, bacon, cantalope, peaches, etc.)

 

Method:

Over medium high heat, bring cream, splenda, butter and nutmeg to boil, whisking constantly. Lower heat to low. Add chocolate chips half at a time until melted and smooth, stirring slowly. Add rum and orange juice. Remove to preheated fondue pot set to warm or low setting. Serve immediately with dippers.

Classic Fondue with Havarti

on by in Appetizers, Dips Gravies Spreads, French ⋅ Leave a comment

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The most important thing to remember when making a fondue, is a good fondue pot! Electric or traditional, do not skimp on your pot or all of that hard work will be for nothing!

Makes 6 servings

fondue nutrition

Ingredients:

8 oz. emmental cheese, shredded
8 oz. gruyere cheese, shredded
4 oz. havarti cheese, shredded
2 Tbs. corn starch
1 cup chardonnay
1 Tbs. lemon juice
2 Tbs. cherry wine
1 tsp. spicy brown mustard
dash ground nutmeg
garlic clove
fondue pot (electric or traditional) preheated
various dippers (baked mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, steak, cubed french bread, cubed salami, panchetta, etc)

 

Method:

Smash garlic clove, season (smear around to cover) inside of medium sauce pot, discard. Add all 3 cheeses to medium sized bowl and toss with corn starch. set aside. Over medium high heat, bring chardonnay and lemon juice to a steady simmer in seasoned pot. Add cheese to wine in small handfuls, whisking slowly and constantly letting cheese melt and smooth before adding more until creamy. Add spicy brown mustard, cherry wine and dash of nutmeg. Stir to incorporate and move directly to preheated fondue pot. Serve immediately with dippers.

 

Tips: If your cheese is crusting or hardening on top, it’s cooling off! Turn up the heat slowly and continue stirring until smooth and creamy once more. Alternatively, if the heat is too high, the cheese will burn to the bottom of the pot. Give it a little stir once in awhile during consumption to help counteract both effects.

Bite-sized Bacon Cheddar Cheeseballs: Easter style!

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Although time consuming to make, these delicious little bite-sized appetizers are a fun project to get the kids involved in and a hit at any party!

 

 

Ingredients:

 

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
12 ounces  finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup finely chopped cooked hickory smoked bacon (about a 12 oz. package)
at least 4 slices of sliced cheese (I used colby from the deli)
a few whole black olives (for the eyes)
100% whole wheat ritz crackers
orange food coloring (or red and yellow to make orange)
Tools needed:
mini cookie cutters (these can be found at art supply stores in the sculptey clay department), a flower shaped one, tear drop shaped and square or diamond
squeeze bottle with lid – empty
knife
cutting board
disposable gloves (if you don’t like your hands getting sticky!)
food brush (you can use any painting brush as long as it will ONLY be used on food and is new!)
lots of time to waste!
Method:
Cook bacon until crispy (it has to be crispy), then transfer to paper towel to soak up excess grease and let sit until cooled, about 8 minutes.  Once cooled, using knife or fingers, break up bacon into small bits ( the smaller the better) and place in bowl with 8 oz. of shredded cheese and cream cheese. Mix until fully incorporated.
Either loose chop or use a food chopper and pulse for 3 or 4 times, the remainder of the shredded cheese. Place on plate.
Open sleeve of crackers and line up along your assembly surface.
Place slices of cheese flat against cutting board and cut out 2 flower shapes, 2 teardrop shapes and 1 diamond for each “chick”. I had a problem with the cheese sticking inside of the cutters so I popped them out with a chopstick. My 5 year old son used a fork prong.
In sauce dish, prepare food coloring
Slice into thin sheets, black olives. This is where the squeeze bottle comes in. I’m sure there are many variations of how to cut a small, perfectly round eye out of olive, but this was the easiest for me! When pushing the top of the squeeze bottle into the olive, it would easily cut perfectly through the olive but then, it was stuck inside the tube! Well the back pressure shot the olive out with a little squeeze and the kids thought it was hilarious!
Now you are ready for assembly!
Using about a Tablespoon’s worth of cheeseball mixture, form into balls and then roll in shredded cheese.
Place the two flower shaped “feet” on a cracker and squish on the cheeseball “bird body”
Apply tear drops to each side of bird body for “wings” and cut diamond shape in half to make the “beak”
These will actually stick quite easily because the cheeseball is very sticky
Carefully place eyes over beak and then using brush, color with food coloring the beak and visable feet to give a little color contrast.
Voila! You made a chicken! Repeat process until done.
Tips:
Tired of making these millions of chickens? Use the rest of the cheese ball mix to form into one big ball, cover in shredded cheese and surround with crackers, DONE and no one will know you just got tired of making chicks!
Can’t get to the art store to get mini cookie cutters? You can use a knife to cut out your shapes but be warned, it takes a long time and becomes frustrating after awhile. Ordering the pieces online is much easier, around $5.00 for a set and they can be used over and over for all kinds of projects with food!
Although these are time consuming to make, they do not keep long because the crackers get soggy. Making ahead of time? Make them without the crackers and feet a day in advance, cover and refridgerate, then apply chicks to crackers right before serving so the crackers remain crisp!
Don’t know where to find a squeeze bottle? They are located in the cake decorating section of stores, the kitchen utensil aisle, the picnic aisle (as they are often used for mustard and ketchup dispensers) or even at the dollar store!