Buffalo Chicken Cheese Dip

3 boneless skinless chicken breast
1 jar (15 oz) Marzetti's blue cheese or ranch
1/4 cup buffalo wing sauce
1 8-oz.pkg. cream cheese softened
Tabasco sauce (optional)

Boil chicken until tender, cool, then shred or chop finely. Mix together dressing and Buffalo sauce. Add Tabasco sauce to fire it up to your desire. Spread cream cheese in a 9x13 baking dish. Mix chicken into dressing mix. Then pour chicken mixture over cream cheese evenly. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Let cool and serve with tortilla chips.

Yum!

Raspberry Cheese Spread

4 oz cream cheese

1 cup mayo

2 cups mozzarella

2 cups cheddar

1 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup raspberry preserves

In medium bowl, beat cream cheese and mayo.  Beat in cheeses.  Stir in pecans.  Spread into plastic wrap lined 9-inch round dish (I used a pie plate).  Refrigerate until set.  Invert onto plate and cover with raspberry preserves.  Serve with crackers or pita chips.

Warm Leek & Goat Cheese Dip

4 Tbs. unsalted butter
8 small leeks, white and tender green part only - thinly sliced
1 lb. goat cheese at room temperature
1/2 lb. cream cheese at room temperature
S&P
2 Tbs. snipped chives
Serve with flatbreads, pita crisps, crackers or crusty bread

Melt butter in large skillet. Add leeks and stir to coat. Cover and cook over high heat until leeks begin to soften - about 3 minutes. Uncover and cook over medium heat until starting to brown - about 8 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in goat cheese, cream cheese and S&P; stir until melted. Transfer to shallow serving dish and sprinkle with chives.

You can make this ahead and then heat in oven at 325 for 15 minutes before serving.

Swiss and Bacon Dip

Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray

I love this as a dip, but also love to make little appetizers by mixing the ingredients and filling mini fillo dough cups with it - then bake for 10-12 minutes. (Kim made it this way at her Christmas party.)

1. 8 slices center cut bacon,chopped
2. 8 ounces softened cream cheese
3. 1/2 cup mayonnaise
4. 2 rounded teaspoons prepared Dijon style mustard
5. 1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese, available on dairy aisle
6. 3 scallions
7. chopped 1/2 cup smoked almonds, coarsely chopped
8. Baby carrots and a selection of spiced flat breads, cocktail sized pumpernickel or rye breads, or sliced whole grain baguettes, for dipping

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Brown bacon in nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Drain crisp bacon bits on paper towels.
3. In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, mayonnaise, Dijon, Swiss and scallions with cooked bacon. Transfer to a shallow small casserole or baking dish and bake until golden and bubbly at edges, 15 to 18 minutes.
4. Top with chopped smoked almonds.
5. Place dip on a platter and surround warm casserole with breads and carrots for dipping.

Bacon Water Chestnut Rolls

Courtesy of Allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS
1 (8 ounce) can water chestnuts, halved
1/2 pound sliced bacon, cut in half
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup tomato-based chili sauce

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Wrap each water chestnut with a piece of bacon. Place the rolls seam-side down in a baking dish.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until bacon is crisp and cooked through. Drain off the grease. (I turned the "rolls" over about halfway through.)
4. In a small bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, brown sugar and chili sauce; pour over the bacon-chestnut rolls. Return to the oven and bake for another 30 minutes.

I used mostly whole water chestnuts (I bought two different brands and they were very different sized from one can to the other. The can of large water chestnuts, I cut in half. The other jar I left the water chestnuts whole.)

Dip for the Stars

Courtesy of Allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS
1 cup unsalted butter
3/4 pound feta cheese, crumbled
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
3 tablespoons dry vermouth
ground white pepper, to taste
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
1 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
3/4 cup pesto sauce

DIRECTIONS

1. In a food processor, combine the butter, feta cheese, cream cheese, garlic, shallot, vermouth, and white pepper. Process until smooth.
2. Oil a medium bowl, or gelatin mold, and line with plastic wrap for easy removal. Layer the dip into the mold as follows: Sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts, pesto, cheese mixture. Repeat. Pat down into the mold, and refrigerate for at least one hour.
3. Turn the dip out onto a serving plate, and remove plastic wrap. Serve with crackers.

I thought this was a little to "shalloty" and will use a smaller shallot or maybe half of one next time. Also, I didn't have any vermouth, so used red wine vinegar instead...

Smoked Mozzarella Spread w/ Flatbread

1 lb smoked mozzarella, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup + 1 Tbs. olive oil
3 Tbs. sun dried tomato pesto
1 Tbs. chopped parsley
Salt and Pepper

In food processor, combine cheese, olive oil and pesto and process to a paste. Scrape into bowl. Stir in parsley and S&P. Serve with flatbread crackers.

Sweet Bacon Wraps

12-15 appetizer servings
45 min 10 min prep

1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 (1 lb) package sliced bacon
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons chili powder
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Cut chicken breasts into 1-inch cubes.
Cut each bacon slice into thirds. Wrap each chicken cube with bacon and secure with a wooden pick inserted on the diagonal starting where bacon seam overlaps.
Stir together brown sugar and chili powder. Dredge wrapped chicken in mixture.
Coat a rack and broiler pan with non-stick cooking spray. Place chicken on rack in broiler pan.
Bake at 350°F for 30 to 35 minutes, or until bacon is crisp.

** I cut the chicken half and wrapped 1 piece of bacon around it instead of the appetizer s the recipe called for. It was good. I have done it the other way too, for parties.

Chicken empanadas

Recipe courtesy Paula Deen

3 cups chopped, cooked chicken
1 (8-ounce) package shredded Colby and Monterey Jack cheese blend
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 (15-ounce) package refrigerated pie crusts Water
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Lightly grease a baking sheet. In a large bowl, combine the chicken and next 7 ingredients. Unroll 1 piecrust onto a lightly floured surface. Roll into a 15-inch circle. Cut out rounds, using a 3-inch cookie cutter. Re-roll dough as needed. Repeat procedure with remaining piecrusts, making 12 to 15 circles total. Arrange 1 round on a clean, flat surface. Lightly brush the edges of crust with water. Place 1 heaping teaspoon of chicken mixture in the center of the round. Fold the dough over the filling, pressing the edges with a fork to seal. Repeat with the remaining rounds and chicken mixture. (Up to this point, the recipe can be made ahead and frozen for up to 1 month). Arrange empanadas on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.

Chili Party Dip

This one is low fat and low calorie, but completely delicious! I'm following Weight Watchers and this recipe is from their web site. I made it for care group the other night and people really seemed to like it and no one even knew it was low fat!

Ingredients
15 oz canned turkey chili without beans
8 oz fat-free cream cheese
4 oz canned jalapeno peppers
1 small onion(s), finely chopped
1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce

Instructions
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan.
Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until cheese melts, about 10 minutes. Yields about 1/4 cup per serving.

Hot Artichoke Dip

This is a favorite and really easy to make! I serve it with crackers or bread.

Mix together in a microwavable bowl:

• 1 can or jar artichoke hearts (drain and mash with fork)
• 8 oz. mayo
• 1 cup Parmesan cheese

Heat until cheese is melted and serve.

Spicy Tuna with Jalapeno Vinaigrette

1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup fennel seeds
1/4 cup coriander seeds
1/4 cup cumin
2 tuna fillets(8 ounces each)

Preheat oven to 325. Roast pepper, fennel, and coriander for 15 minutes. Mix with cumin and process all in the food processor until finely ground. Coat tuna with spices and pan sear until Medium rare.

Jalapeno Vinaigrette
1/4 bunch of chives
1/4 bunch of parsley
1/4/ bunch of cilantro
4 seeded jalapenos
2 egg yolks(or Egg beaters if you need pasteurized eggs)
4 ounces rice vinegar
6 ounces of olive oil

For vinaigrette- use a blender and mix egg yolks, cilantro, parsley, chives, seeded jalapenos and rice vinegar. Add 6 ounces of oil, slowly.
Place vinaigrette on platter and place slice tuna on top. Or serve in a bowl on the side.

This was so good and quick to make. It could be an appetizer too. We had lots of the vinaigrette left over, so you could 1/2 the recipe.