Border Dip

Well, I don't think that the Pilgrims brought this to the first Thanksgiving.  But, that doesn't mean that you can't take this delicious appetizer to someone's house for Thanksgiving dinner.  It's easy to make and not spicy, so everybody will be able to enjoy it.  I hope you try it.

1½ lb. ground beef
1 can tomato soup
1 packet taco seasoning
8 oz. sour cream
1 c. grated cheddar cheese
1 medium onion

Brown ground beef with chopped onion; drain well.  Add soup and taco seasoning; mix well and place in a 10" glass pie plate.  Top with sour cream, cover with foil and bake at 350º for 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and top with cheese.  Bake uncovered an additional 10 minutes.  Serve with plain tortilla chips.

Swedish Chef's Stuffed Mushroom Appetizer

I promised you a week ago that I would be submitting more appetizers as the holidays are fast approaching.  This week, I am featuring sausage stuffed mushrooms.  These are perfect for serving your guests over the holidays.  The red wine and the hot pepper flakes truly make this appetizer exceptional.  I hope you will try it and let me know what you think.

Ingredients:
15-20 mushrooms (baby portabellas were used for this demonstration)
½ lb. pork sausage
½ c. shredded cheddar cheese
2 T. olive oil
¼ c. crushed cracker crumbs (about 14 Ritz crackers)
½ c. minced bell pepper (green, red, orange or yellow)
2 T. dry red wine*
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tsp. onion powder or dry minced onion
1 T. fresh garlic, minced or 1 tsp. dry garlic, minced
¼ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

 

With a damp towel, clean each mushroom.  Remove stems and set aside.

In a skillet, add olive oil and sausage.  Sauté until sausage is browned.  Try to break up the sausage with a spatula, so that it is a finer texture.  With a slotted spoon, remove sausage and drain onto a paper towel.  Remove all but 2 T. of the meat drippings.

Dice the mushroom stems and add into the hot drippings, over medium heat.  Sauté until tender, stirring often.

Add 2-4 T. red wine and stir to deglaze the pan.

Remove skillet from heat, add drained sausage.  Add salt and pepper, to taste, then garlic, onion, bell pepper, cracker crumbs, and ½ c. shredded cheddar cheese.  *If mixture is too dry, add additional red wine (approximately ¼ c.) over low heat, to bring the mixture together.  Remove from pan and allow to cool.  The mixture should be thick.

Generously stuff each mushroom with mixture and top with a small amount of shredded cheddar cheese.  Place in a lightly-greased baking dish.

Preheat oven to 350º and bake for 15 minutes, or until cheese on top has melted.

This can be prepared ahead of time, and kept refrigerated until ready to bake.

Swedish Chef's Stuffed Peppers

I can still remember as a child, coming home from school and opening the front door.  The whole house was filled with the smell of mom's stuffed peppers.  Of course, back then I didn't like the peppers, but she always had enough left-over meat filling and she would make meatballs for me, and cook them with the peppers.  I don't think mom had a specific recipe for these, but this is my adaptation of that memory.

Ingredients:

1½ lbs. meat loaf mix (beef, pork, veal)
½ c. yellow onion, diced
½ c. rice
1 c. water
1 egg
salt and pepper
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
dash of allspice
1 can tomato soup
½ c. ketchup
3 large green, red, orange, or yellow bell peppers


In a small saucepan, add rice and water.  Bring to a boil.  Once most of the water is absorbed, remove from heat and cover with a lid.  Allow to cool slightly.

Rinse peppers and cut in half.  Remove seeds and any of the white membrane inside.  Sprinkle each half with a pinch of salt (this helps to remove the bitterness of the pepper).

In a mixing bowl, combine meat, onion, salt and pepper, rice, egg, Worcestershire sauce and allspice.  Mix thoroughly until combined. 

Stuff each pepper half, making sure the meat is packed in tightly. 

In a separate bowl, combine tomato soup and ketchup; mix to combine.  Spoon half of the mixture over the top of the peppers.

Preheat oven to 375º and cover peppers with foil.  Place in the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes.

Remove from oven, remove foil, and add remaining sauce over peppers.

Return peppers to the oven and back for an additional 15 minutes or until the meat juices run clear.

I like to serve these with baked potatoes.