Are you the type that could make a meal just out of appetizers? I do it every so often when a restaurant has AMAZING sides/apps. Super Bowl parties aren’t exactly sit down dinner occasions, so make the munchies mobile. Here are a few of the standout appetizers from some fabulous Chicagoland restaurants. (Also, I just discovered Buffalo Wing Pretzel Crisps- so much healthier than chips, so I added those in!).
Morton’s Steakhouse: Warm Blue Cheese Dip with Buffalo Wing Pretzel Crisps
Ingredients
- 8 slices hickory-smoked bacon, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 4 oz. crumbled blue cheese
- 2 tbs. chopped fresh chives
- 2 tbs. chopped almonds
- Crackers, trimmed fresh vegetables, or sliced baguette, for serving
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 350°F.
-
In nonstick skillet, cook bacon over medium-high heat about 8 minutes or until nearly crisp. Drain bacon and wipe skillet dry.
-
Return bacon to pan, add garlic, and cook over medium heat until bacon
is crisp, about 3 minutes. Make sure garlic doesn’t burn. Drain on paper
towels. -
Using
paddle attachment of electric mixer, beat cream cheese in bowl until
smooth. Add cream; beat well to mix. Fold in bacon, garlic, blue cheese,
and chives. -
Transfer
to 2-cup baking dish; top evenly with almonds. Bake about 30 minutes or
until heated through. Serve with sliced toasted baguette or Buffalo Wing Pretzel Crisps– seriously, I ate the whole bag in one sitting. These are ADDICTING!
Pinstripes: Meatball Sliders
Ingredients
For the Meatballs
- 3 pounds lean ground beef
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 tablespoons diced onion
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons bread or cracker crumbs
12 slices provolone cheese
1 cup marinara sauce
12 rolls or 24 pieces garlic bread
Wood skewers
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º F.
- Mix ingredients for meatballs.
- Form golf ball-sized meatballs and drop into greased skillet on medium heat and turn occasionally to endure they are evenly browned, approx. 7 minutes.
- Add sauce to skillet and simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Slice dinner rolls/garlic bread and lay cut side up on baking sheet.
- Place a piece of provolone on one side of the rolls, add a meatball and a spoonful of sauce from the skillet.
- Place baking sheet in oven for five minutes to melt provolone.
- Remove, assemble and stick a skewer in each slider to hold.
5411 Empanadas: Mushroom and Blue Cheese Empanadas
Ingredients
- 6 portobello mushrooms
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 8 cloves garlic, sliced thin
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
- 1/4 cup amontillado sherry or a dry red wine
- Salt and pepper
- 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
- 1 package frozen Goya discs, defrosted
- 1 egg + 1 T water whipped together for egg wash
Instructions
- Finely dice the mushrooms.
- Saute in olive oil until they give up their moisture and most of it has evaporated.
- Add garlic, thyme, sherry vinegar and sherry; cook for 3 more minutes and season with salt and pepper.
- Remove from heat and wait until it cools to room temperature until you fold in the blue cheese.
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Lay out all of the pastry circles on a floured surface and brush edges with egg wash.
- Add a tablespoon of mushroom mixture to the center of each circle.
- Fold the circle in half, pinch shut with fingers and crimp edges with a fork.
- Place on a lightly oiled baking sheet and brush with egg wash.
- Bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.
ENJOY! Go team!!
Wait, who is playing again? I am just here to eat 🙂
