Party Food - Hummus

I have not always been a big fan of hummus.  I know I've said this before, but I am picky, and hummus was one of those things I was not going to try.  I repeat: NOT. GOING.TO.TRY.  That all changed when Ben started making homemade hummus.  It wasn't like I all of a sudden became obsessed with it, but I gradually started to warm up to it.  And here I am making my own.

Ingredients
1 can chickpeas, reserve liquid
juice from 1/2 lemon
1/3 cup olive oil
4 cloves of garlic
1 1/2 tablespoons of tahini
salt

Drain chickpeas and set aside liquid.  In a food processor, add the garlic and pulse a couple of times until it is minced.  Add chickpeas and most of the liquid, also add tahini, salt, lemon juice, and 1/3 cup olive oil.  Process until smooth.  Serve with warm pita bread.

Bruschetta is next!

And a big WOO PIG SOOIE to my Razorbacks who are ranked #10!!!

Fall 2006

Party Food - Taco Dip

Recently I hosted a little get-together at my house for the Kappa Delta Alum group I'm in.  We had an international theme (I used a rough interpretation of international) which was more difficult to plan out than I had anticipated.  Luckily, my bff and hostess extraordinaire, Elizabeth (we call her Ecampbell), had some great food ideas!  I'm just going to highlight one of them tonight, but rest assured, you will get every recipe that I used, including an AMAZING dessert (not to brag or anything).

I'll start with our neighbor to the south, Mexico.  Ecampbell gave me a delicious taco dip recipe.  It has layers like a seven layer dip, but better, because it's served hot!

Taco Dip
1 lb ground beef
1 package taco seasoning
1 can refried beans
1 small can black olives
1 small can green chiles
1 jar taco sauce
shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Brown the meat in a skillet and add taco seasoning as if you are making tacos.  Drain the excess liquid.  In a dish, layer refried beans, chiles, taco meat, taco sauce, and olives (in that order).  Cover with shredded cheese and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.  Serve hot with tortilla chips or fritos.

The great thing about this dip is that it can be made ahead of time and just pop it in the oven before serving.

Next up, hummus!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Squares

Over the weekend my sister and I were trying to decide what to cook for dinner so naturally we started at the end of the meal with dessert.  She whipped out her iTouch and used the Big Oven app to look up a chocolate dessert and this is what she found:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Squares
Ingredients
2 sticks butter, divided (Paula Deen would be proud)
2 cups creamy peanut butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (we splurged and got Ghirardelli)

In a large sauce pan, melt 1 stick of butter.  Add the peanut butter, powdered sugar, and graham cracker crumbs.  Stir.  This will form a dough.  Spoon this into a greased 9" x 13" dish and press down evenly.  In  a medium sauce pan, melt the remaining 1 stick of butter.  Add the 2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate and stir until completely melted and smooth.  Pour over the graham cracker crust and spread using a spatula.  Place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.  Slice into squares before serving.

These are seriously addicting.  I had to cut them into small squares so they would last longer!  Enjoy!

P.S. I am so excited about the first Razorback game of the season!  Woo pig sooie!