Easy, Pleasy, Cheesy

I've missed my Friday dish lately, but I picked a great appetizer to share with you that can be thrown together in less time than it takes to get dressed.

My baked goat cheese is easy, pleasy, and cheesy -- in a good way.

I first had this dish more than ten years ago at a restaurant and was told it was retro, then. I knew immediately that I would be reprising it at home. Their version was a soup bowl filled with red sauce and thick scoop of goat cheese was floating on top, baked-up, browned around the edges. This was served with day-old french bread, toasted in the broiler. The warm cheese was soft and spreadable and slightly tart. The marinara mellows it all out and the bread allows for dipping and licking the bowl clean. Not that I would ever do that when I'm home alone.

I made the Muir Glen version of this dish several times (its on the label.) Until one day, I went to throw it together, but no Muir Glen tomatoes were to be found. But what to my wondering eyes did appear, but a jar of Vodka Sauce...oh, holiday cheer!

Ingredients:
2 small logs of goat cheese (about 4 oz each)
1 jar of vodka cream sauce such as Newman's Own

I like to pour the sauce in an 8X8 baking dish (or one that's pretty enough to serve from) and then arrange slices of the goat cheese all over the sauce (and if you figure out how to slice goat cheese let me know.) Usually I end up with little broken balls of goat cheese placed on top of the sauce. Rustic, if you will. Then you bake it in the oven at 350 until everything is hot and bubbly. You can broil it for a minute to make the cheese golden brown, but only if it needs to be fancy. And while you're at it, sprinkle it with something green.

Serve it with toasted baguette slices, pita chips or a hearty cracker. It's too heavy for a wimpy cracker.

I believe goat cheese is probably served in Heaven. Anyone could fall in love with it if exposed to that salad from Ruggles with the goat cheese and apples...know what I'm talkin' about? In case some of you want to make the plain white bread version of this, whipped cream cheese could potentially be substituted.

But that would be like putting cottage cheese in your lasagna or drinking wine from a box -- we've all been there, but look how far we've come. Just make it with goat cheese. It's scrumptious, I promise!

Butt Burners -- Eating them is only HALF the fun!

Ready to try my Butt Burners? I'm not sayin' they're great for you. But they are great!



Fair disclosure -- my SIL, an amateur triathlon jock, laid the foundation for this idea when she served up homemade jalapeno poppers at her house one family get-together. Her fabulous version is wrapped in a big honkin' piece of bacon and dripping with cheese. They were decadent and I ate more than my fair share as the wheels were turning in my head.

My recipe resembles hers, with the added bonus that you don't have to mess with raw bacon. In fact, (and don't you love taking advertising at face value...) the package of bacon bits claims that eating "bits" cuts the fat of bacon in half. Money!

And did you know that jalapenos have more vitamin C than oranges? Or so I was told last Friday. Eat a dozen of these babies and you've got yourself a balanced meal, Houston-style, which at last check was a contender for "Fattest City" again.

Ingredients:
Jalapenos
Cream Cheese
Shredded Cheddar Cheese (preferably sharp)
Real Bacon Bits

Instructions:
Cut the jalapenos in half. Scoop out the seeds and most of the veins (this is where most of the heat comes from.) If you're a bad-ass, leave some veins in. If you're from up north, drop the jalapeno shells in a pot of boiling water for 30 seconds and continue from there.

Spoon Cream cheese to the top of the jalapeno shells.

Get out two small bowls. Pour bacon bits in one and cheddar in the other.

One by one, turn the jalapenos face down into the bacon bits making sure a generous amount sticks to the cream cheese. Then turn the jalapenos over into the cheddar or sprinkle the cheddar on top of each jalapeno. Squish the cheese on by hand a little so it doesn't fall off before it melts on.


Bake them at 425 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Medium-sized jalapenos are ready at 12 minutes.


Come back and tell me what a rock star I am for posting this recipe.

Helpful Hints: don't bother to make less than 12 jalapenos because they are really good cold the next day. If you wear contacts, wear a plastic bag over your hand. Ask me how I know?

The Recipe...for getting to know me

I'm taking a break from politics to discuss a subject I'm even more passionate about: FOOD! Maybe I'll start a tradition of talking about FOOD on FRIDAYS.

I love food and food loves me back! I've come to terms with the fact that I'll never have a taut stomach because I like food, wine and Skittles way too much. I'm a girl who eats beef at least 3 times a week. I love ball park nachos, Philly cheese steaks, and I dream about Frito pies.

Am I sounding double-wide to you?

If I wanted to get all fancy, I could tell you about my killer ceviche, but that's for another day.

Today I'm going to share, exclusively for my readers, the award-winning Chicken Chili that made me famous on Halloween. Everyone keeps congratulating me and telling me how much they enjoyed the chili (except my own MMA who refuses to acknowledge what a big deal I am.) And I am loving the spotlight!

...Not bashful about selling this chili; it's so good, it has its own motto:

Superstar's Chicken Chili*
"Share the spotlight!"

2 T olive Oil
1.5 lb chicken breast cut into large cubes
1 med onion diced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 can chicken broth
1 16oz jar Salsa Verde (I used La Sabroza brand)
2 cans Rotel tomatoes with Chili seasoning
1 sm zucchini peeled and diced
1 sm squash peeled and diced
pinch of oregano
pinch of ground coriander seed
pinch of cumin
1 can navy beans drained and rinsed
1.5 cups frozen corn
2 corn tortillas (processed into tortilla-meal)
1 T cilantro minced
optional vegetables to flavor broth

(This was my process, but it could be done the same day, cooking the chicken in the crock pot.) The night before: boil the cubed chicken in the broth and add optional vegetables to flavor (such as celery, onion, garlic and cilantro.) After the chicken is cooked, scoop out the vegetables and discard. Shred the chicken and return to the broth.

The next day: saute the onion and garlic until slightly browned. Put the chicken and broth in a crock pot on low 6-7 hours before it is needed. Add onion & garlic, Rotel tomatoes, salsa verde, cumin, oregano and coriander. 3-4 hours before serving time, add the squash, zucchini and cilantro and one cup of water if needed. One hour before serving time, add tortilla-meal and mix well. Then add the beans & corn (adding them after all the mixing keeps them from breaking up.) Turn up to high and allow the mixture to slightly boil...this will thicken the chili.

Garnish with sour cream, pico de gallo and tortilla chips. Serves 6-8.

(I didn't add any additional salt or spice and it was pretty spicy. I might try substituting one can of mild Rotel next time to make it more family -friendly. I also thought about adding some diced bell pepper for color but didn't have any.)

*I gleaned heavily from White Bean Chicken Chili found at Allrecipes.com. I would appreciate any comments or suggestions, especially if you try it out!