Hot Reuben Dip

I love St. Patrick's Day food. It's just yummy and hearty and filling. Makes me feel like I could go throw some logs with bagpipes playing in the background.

I ran to the grocery store Saturday afternoon to pick up the ingredients for the annual Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner on Sunday. I was feeling a bit impatient though, thinking about the fact that I had to wait a whole other day before I could enjoy that yummy dinner. I gave into temptation and grabbed the ingredients for this quick dip as our little St. Patrick's Day eve snack. It's all the goodness of a hearty Reuben sandwich, comes together in a scant 15 minutes and was gobbled up by all members of the family.

Many thanks go to my friend, Melissa, for introducing me to this snack delight.

Hot Reuben Dip
Source: adapted from The Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1½ cups (6 ounces) shredded Swiss cheese
4 ounces deli sliced corned beef, chopped
½ cup Thousand Island dressing
¾ cup drained sauerkraut (I like the refrigerated kind. Or at least the jarred kind. I'm not a fan of the canned stuff.)
Cooking spray

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. In a large bowl mix together the cream cheese and thousand island dressing. Add swiss cheese, chopped corned beef and sauerkraut, mix until thoroughly combined.
3. Spray a pie plate or other shallow serving dish with cooking spray. Spread mix evenly in dish.
3. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until bubbly around the edges. Serve hot with pretzel crisps or cocktail-size rye bread squares.

Rhubarb Buckle

For those of us who have a yearly spring love affair with rhubarb- this is a fun recipe to try.  Serve it with vanilla ice cream for dessert, as a coffecake for breakfast, and as an easily toted picnic lunch treat. (Or just eat it out of hand as you pass through the kitchen...)
 
Rhubarb Buckle slightly adapted from Martha Stewart Magazine, May 2012
Ingredients:
Cake:
1 lb. plus 10 oz. fresh rhubarb pieces (about 2 lbs stalks untrimmed)
2 cups sugar, divided
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. coarse salt
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
3 large eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream

Crumb topping:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 tsp coarse salt
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted

Directions:
1. Cake: Preheat oven to 350°, with rack in center position. Coat one half sheet pan or two 9in. square cake pans with cooking spray, and line with parchment, leaving an overhang on 2 sides. Stir together rhubarb with one cup sugar, set aside. (Note: I used the half sheet pan; it decreases the amount of cake in each cut square, which I like.)
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat together butter, remaining cup sugar, and the lemon zest until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, then beat in vanilla. Beat in flour mixture in two additions, alternating with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
3. Crumb topping: Stir together flour, brown sugar, and salt. Add melted butter and stir to combine until crumbly.
4. Pour cake batter into pan(s). Spoon rhubarb mixture evenly over cake batter, and sprinkle with crumb topping.
5.Bake until golden on top and cooked through, about 1 hour. Let cool completely in pan. Lift cakes from pan(s) using parchment. Cut into 2 in. squares.

Cake(s) can be wrapped in plastic and stored at room temperature for one day. If storing, remove parchment before wrapping in plastic.

Buffalo Chicken Nachos

The other day, I found a failure in my children's food education.  In general, I try to teach them to eat lots of different fruits and vegetables...to try new things in each season...to eat food from all over the world.  But somewhere in all of my efforts, I have neglected to expose them hot & spicy.  I guess I just have been cooling things down for them because I was afraid they wouldn't like it...but in that effort, they simply don't know what to do with spicy-hot food.

I made these Buffalo Chicken Nachos from The Girl Who Ate Everything and I thought they were delish and would be perfect for a big March-Madness party, but my kids?  Not so much.

T-Man: "Mommy!  My mouth and lips are on fire!!"

Fearless: "Mommy!  That just smells hot!"

Miss Banana: (Said nothing but after a few bites, just opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue as far as she could....then gulped down her smoothie.)

So sorry, my little loves...I have failed to teach you to appreciate spicy-hot foods.  That will have to change.  I will definately be making these again, but will use the mild Frank's Wing sauce with just a little of the hot stuff mixed in, then gradually increase the hotness until my kiddos are used to it.

Also, I found this made A LOT of nachos...next time I will probably half the recipe.

Buffalo Chicken Nachos
8 cups Ranch flavored tortilla chips (I used Cool Ranch Doritos)
4 cups cooked chicken shredded (I used a rotisserie chicken)
1 1/2 cups Frank's Buffalo Wing sauce 
water
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
4 ounces blue cheese crumbles
1 cup chopped celery

Note: All these measurements are approximate. As with any nachos, adjust ingredients to your personal preference.

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Spread tortilla chips on a rimmed baking sheet or in a shallow dish.

Bring wing sauce and 1/2 cup water to a simmer. Add shredded cooked chicken; heat through. Strain the chicken (reserving the sauce) and spread over ranch-flavored tortilla chips. Top with shredded cheddar.

Bake in the upper third portion of the oven until cheese is melted for about 5-7 minutes. After nachos are baked top with blue cheese, chopped celery and the reserved wing sauce.

(Adapted from Food Network Magazine)