Sunday, August 16, 2009

Buffalo Chicken Cheese Balls with Blue Cheese Dip!

Knock, Knock.. Is anyone out there?? I'm slowly trying to enter into my blogging world again after a long break! Its like getting into your own house after 2 months. Getting familiarized with whats new around me, what have changed during my absence etc. So, what did I miss these last 2 months? Looks like a quite a few of my blogger friends have also taken a summer break! Hope they are having a great time! Other than that, I think I missed quite a few interesting events hosted by some great cooks, and ofcourse also saw some great posts, lovely recipes with those glorious pictures... hmm, I sure did miss my blogging, and I'm glad to be back!

Hope everyone is having a great summer! Trying to get back to routine after my parents departure, but its so hard for me to come back to blogging after a long break! So many things to talk, so many recipes to post, but hard to jump on to my routine after a break. Trying to catch up with all of your yummy posts as well. It may be slow, but I'll catch up for sure.

I must say that this break has been a much needed break! With family around, its natural to switch to a different routine. Definitely busy, but not as crazy as my regular routine. Didn't have to rush my daughter to school, which is a big relief. Didn't need to rush back from work either to pick her up. I was able to catch up with my long pending movies :-), spent some time with mom shopping around, enjoyed eating a lot of my favorite dishes from mom's cooking, had some great trips to some nearby places and attractions, and yeah, had fun Camping too! Before I could realize, summer is almost gone now. I have one more vacation planned for next week for this summer, which is making me feel better. Just not yet ready to get back to the Fall routine.

When mom was around, kitchen time was shared with her mostly. She made a lot of my favorite dishes and I could smell some of my childhood familiar aromas in my kitchen after a long time. Need to work hard for the next few weeks to get rid of those extra pounds that I absorbed from mom's cooking :) I also learnt quite a few new recipes from her as well, will be posting them one by one soon.

Alright, I think I'm back to the grind. Here is yet another exciting recipe, Buffalo Chicken Cheese Balls! I got this yummy picture from my sister and brother-in-law. They tried it a few weeks back after they watched it in a cooking show and wanted me to give it a shot as they just loved it. I had asked for the photo and recipe from my Brother-in-law, as I thought of posting this great dish here when I actually didn't have time to make my own dish for sharing. And here it is, after a month! I haven't tried this yet, but the picture was so convincing that I'm going to love it no matter what and I can't wait to try these myself. The combination of chicken and cheese sounded so rich and delicious. Oh also, the blue cheese dip sounded like a classic side for the chicken balls. This could be a great appetizer for any parties, I bet. Here are the recipes, If anyone happens to try them before me, don't forget to let me know how they came out!

Buffalo Chicken Cheese Balls

Ingredients

  • Rostierre chicken (1 whole)
  • Buffalo sauce (1/4 cup)
  • Grated sharp cheddar cheese (1 and 3/4 cup)
  • Coarse black pepper ( 1tsp)
  • Couple bunch of scallions
  • All-purpose flour (1 cup)
  • Eggs (3, beaten)
  • Bread crumbs for crunchiness (2 cups)

Procedure

  • Remove the skin and bones from the chicken and place it in a bowl
  • Break the pieces into as small pieces as you can (close to shredding it, but with hand). This is a not a 1 minute thing.
  • Add a qtr cup hot buffalo sauce, pepper and cheddar cheese Slice the scallions finely. They are for flavor and colorMix all the above.
  • Make small balls from the mixture. The cheese and the hot sauce will keep them bonded.
  • Grab 3 dishes, for flour, egg and bread crumbsAdd the balls to the flour to just get a coating (just roll them with your finger tip). Shake off the extra flour Dip the balls in egg and roll them on the bread crumbs to get an even coating.
  • Deep fry in oil at 350 deg for about 2-3 mins. Remove them when golden brown.

Creamy blue cheese dipping sauce

Ingredients:

  • Blue cheese (you could use Danish or Maytag too) - 1/2 cup
  • LemonMayo - 1.5 cup
  • Black pepper - 1 pinch
  • Salt - 1 pinch
  • Diced garlic - 1tsp
  • Hot sauce - a few drops
  • Worchestire sauce - a few drops

Procedure

  • Break the Blue Cheese with your hands if you want.
  • Add the pepper, salt, garlic to the cheese.
  • Squeeze a half piece of lemon juice
  • Add the mayo, and mix well.
  • Now add a few dashes oh Wochester sauce, and a little hot sauce for some extra heat.
  • Mix well and you are done!

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

I'm Back! But still on a break :)

Hope everyone is having a great summer!

Sorry for disappearing suddenly without any updates! My long disappearance would have made people think that I'm still camping :) I wish I was camping that long :) But in reality, this was an unplanned break. I knew I was going to be busy this summer due to my parents visit and with my vacations planned. But didn't expect it to be this busy! I thought I will squeeze in some time now and then to post something during the summer. But I was wrong! I've been on my toes for the last 2 months with absolutely no time to blog at all :-( I feel so bad for completely ignoring my blog, but on the other hand, I'm having a great time this summer with my parents and family. Summer just flies by at our place and it makes sense to spend time outdoors mostly. I take my parents outside for a walk, to the park, for shopping and to restaurants etc. If we are at home, we either watch a movie or play cards until late night! Believe me, this has been the routine for the last few weeks, until recently I realized that I've been postponing my blogging for a while now! Before it gets too late, I wanted to post something. Though my parents will be here for a few more weeks, I will try to post something over the next couple of weeks whenever I have time.

I have quite a few recipes to post, and WILL be posting them soon.. Stay tuned!