My little family is traveling this year for Christmas, to my sister's house in PA....so, we decided to have our own little Christmas on the 23rd before we left on the 24th (thus avoiding the packing up of Christmas gifts, just to turn around and bring them back home!). My husband and I decided to prepare a little mini buffet for all three of us to graze on while we opened gifts, Mmmmm....
1 package of any small dinner roll that you like (I used a 12-pk of potato dinner rolls)
1 package of plain, pre-packaged deli ham (you could use fresh deli ham, but it makes the rolls harder to assemble)
1 package of swiss cheese slices
1 stick butter, softened
2 T yellow mustard
1 T poppy seeds
Take the rolls out of the packaging and slice each in half, leaving one seam attached if possible. In a medium bowl, mash together the butter, mustard, and poppy seeds until well combined. Add more or less mustard for your individual desire for tanginess.
Spread the butter mixture on both sides of each roll. You can control how buttery each roll will be at this point; if you want a lighter roll then you will not use all of the butter for 12-16 rolls, etc. Slice each ham and cheese slice to fit your roll size and alternate ham, cheese, ham, cheese on the roll. Fold over the top of the roll (or place the top on if you cut all the way through), and place on a baking sheet.
Bake at 350 deg F for about 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and rolls are golden brown.
1 package of plain, pre-packaged deli ham (you could use fresh deli ham, but it makes the rolls harder to assemble)
1 package of swiss cheese slices
1 stick butter, softened
2 T yellow mustard
1 T poppy seeds
Take the rolls out of the packaging and slice each in half, leaving one seam attached if possible. In a medium bowl, mash together the butter, mustard, and poppy seeds until well combined. Add more or less mustard for your individual desire for tanginess.
Spread the butter mixture on both sides of each roll. You can control how buttery each roll will be at this point; if you want a lighter roll then you will not use all of the butter for 12-16 rolls, etc. Slice each ham and cheese slice to fit your roll size and alternate ham, cheese, ham, cheese on the roll. Fold over the top of the roll (or place the top on if you cut all the way through), and place on a baking sheet.
Bake at 350 deg F for about 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and rolls are golden brown.
1 1/2 cups honey wheat pancake mix, such as Krusteaz**
16 oz. ground sausage (mild or spicy)
16 oz. sharp cheddar, shredded
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl until well incorporated and shape into 1-2" sized balls. Place on a greased baking sheet and cook for 20-25 minutes on 350 deg F.
** I thought using the honey wheat mix would be tasty, but it ended up being very dry, so stick to a white flour based pancake mix, or increase the sausage and cheese amounts to account for the wheat flavor if you use wheat pancake mix. Even my husband agreed these were less than palatable, and that is saying something!
1 lb. mushrooms (like cremini), washed and stems removed
1/2 lb. sausage (mild or spicy)
4 oz. cream cheese
2 T chopped fresh dill
Preheat oven to 300 deg F. Place all mushroom caps on a baking sheet with the inside facing up, spray with cooking spray and bake about 10-12 minutes to soften. Meanwhile, in a skillet cook the sausage and just as the sausage finishes browning, add in the cream cheese and dill and combine well.
Once the mushroom caps are finished (do NOT over bake them, the will be a mushy mess), fill each cap with the sausage mixture and return to the oven for an additional 10 minutes or so, Serve immediately.
A vegetarian version of this that would be delicious: substitute spinach for the sausage. Either wilt fresh spinach and combine in the skillet with the cream cheese, or thaw and drain frozen spinach and combine over low heat in a skillet with cream cheese.
20 pre-cooked wings (I crisped mine in the toaster oven just before tossing in the sauce)
1/4 cup bourbon
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon honey
3 tablespoons butter
Stir the bourbon, brown sugar, ketchup, vinegar, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, honey, and butter together in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, whisking occasionally, until the mixture begins to bubble. Reduce heat to low and simmer, whisking occasionally, until the sauce thickens, about 10-12 minutes. Toss in a large metal bowl with hot wings and serve immediately.
Cookies:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 (15 oz.) container ricotta cheese
3 tablespoons lemon liquor (I used an old bottle from a trip to Italy, but you could also use lemon juice)
1 lemon, zested
Glaze:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons lemon liquor (again, lemon juice can be used instead)
1 lemon, zested
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Cookies:
In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In the large bowl combine the butter and the sugar. Using an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until incorporated. Add the ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Beat to combine. Stir in the dry ingredients.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Spoon the dough (about 2 tablespoons for each cookie) onto the baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes, until slightly golden at the edges. Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 20 minutes. (I actually used a Christmas baking pan for fun shapes)
Glaze:
Combine the powdered sugar, lemon liquor, and lemon zest in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Spoon about 1/2-teaspoon onto each cookie and use the back of the spoon to gently spread. Let the glaze harden for about 2 hours.
** This is not my recipe, I found it on the food network website and altered it slightly...
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips morsels
1/2 cup chopped roasted unsalted pistachios
1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) mascarpone cheese
3/4 cup ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon salt2-3 sleeves large but thin cookie rounds (I used Goya's digestive biscuits)
Combine the mini morsels, the mascarpone, ricotta, confectioners' sugar, vanilla and salt with a mixer on low speed until just blended; do not overmix or the filling will be too thick.
To assemble, sandwich about 1/4-1/2 inch filling between 2 cookies. Repeat with the remaining cookies and filling. Roll the edges in the remaining 3/4 cup pistachios.
** This is not my recipe, I found it on the food network website and altered it slightly...
What a ridiculous feast we enjoyed, with an abundance of leftovers of course. Do stuffed mushrooms freeze well? I guess I will find out when we return next week. Time to get to bed so we can hit the road for Christmas tomorrow morning!
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