Food Network Star finalist Rebekah Faulk Lingenfelser is a food enthusiast and writer. Her blog, Some Kinda Good, features Southern, coastal recipes, locally sourced and in-season. Like Some Kinda Good on Facebook, follow @SKGFoodBlog on Twitter and Instagram or visit RebekahLingenfelser.com.
You need only five ingredients to make this delicious Buffalo Chicken Dip. The dip really packs a flavorful punch and is awesome with salty tortilla chips. Easy to put together, this dip makes an appearance at most of the gatherings I host, and there are never any leftovers.
Here’s what you’ll need:
8 oz cream cheese
10 oz can of chicken
1/2 cup ranch salad dressing
1/2 cup buffalo sauce
Tortilla chips and celery for dipping
Soften an 8 oz block of cream cheese in the microwave, then spread evenly into an oven safe dish. Drain the canned chicken and shred it using two forks. Top the softened cream cheese with the chicken. You can always use fresh chicken instead of canned, but I find the canned chicken to be a time saver and just as tasty.
Pour a 1/2 cup of ranch salad dressing over the chicken spreading evenly, then pour a 1/2 cup of buffalo sauce over the chicken and spread evenly.
Top with cheese. I recommend sharp cheddar.
Bake in a 425 degree oven for about 20 minutes until the cheese is bubbling hot. Serve with tortilla chips and vegetables for dipping. This dip is also good at room temperature.
What better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than with a classy little delicacy like Red Velvet Cupcakes with Red Velvet Frosting? I have always loved cupcakes and over the years, my reasons for loving them have changed. My favorite reason to love them today? They are perfectly portion controlled and simply satisfying. Continue reading “A Frilly & Feminine Valentine’s Dessert Worth Every Calorie”→
I don’t use my slow cooker nearly enough, but when I do, I always enjoy it. To make Hot Pepper BBQ Pork Sliders, purchase a 3 pound pork shoulder, trim the fat and place it in your Crock Pot with chopped bell and jalapeno pepper. Season with 2 tablespoons of fajita seasoning.
Pour two 10 oz. cans of enchilada sauce over the seasoned meat and peppers. You can find the sauce in the international section of your grocery store. Put the lid on and let that puppy cook!
How easy is that? Eleven hours on low and this is the result…
The meat will be fork tender and oh so easy to shred. Plus, it’s fun. I find shredding pork to be a stress reliever too. HA! No pun intended. (Working out, shredding pork…get it?)
Add the meat back into the sauce.
Get a pack of those small dinner rolls from the bread aisle in your grocery store. Slice them open, use a slotted spoon to fill them with meat and top with pickles. The soft bread will soak up all that juice. Just for fun, seal with a toothpick. What you talkin’ ’bout?! Warning: You can’t eat just one. Upon the first bite, one of my guests said, “I’m in love with this sandwich!”
Entertaining tip: Dishes that provide height variation always enhance your food display.
I love an excuse to throw a party, and sometimes you don’t even need one! Invite some friends over and make your favorites with a few new recipes thrown in the mix. Continue reading “Superbowl Party Food”→
Who doesn’t love a good ole’ bloody mary? The peppery, tomato flavored drink is great for entertaining or sipping on solo. I found this recipe in the January/February 2011 issue of Food Network magazine, but instead of using vodka which is normally the alcohol in bloody marys, tequila is the star ingredient. Deemed Bloody Marias, this drink is a sure refreshment.
You’ll need:
4 cups tomato juice
2 Tbs horseradish
4 dashes worcestershire sauce
1 Tbs ketchup
Juice of 1 lemon
Few shakes of hot sauce
Salt, Pepper
1 cup tequila
Note: You can always leave out the alcohol and make a virgin version, but what would be the fun in that? 😉
Pepper steak stir-fry is an impressive yet quick weeknight meal. Good enough for guests, too!
Few meals stand out in my memory like pepper steak stir fry. It was one of my favorite foods mama cooked growing up. I’m not really sure what it was about it, but I loved the little strips of meat that were uniquely mine paired with crunchy water chestnuts and sautéed vegetables. In my mind, it was special, a step above the average spaghetti or taco night.
My brother and I always had to help in the kitchen when we were little, and my job was to set the table. Joey had to put the ice in the glasses. It was this kind of meal that I would anticipate greatly while folding the napkins and placing the silverware.
Once I grew up and moved away, for the longest time pepper steak was not available in my grocery store. I learned to substitute ground beef, but it wasn’t until I made dinner last night that I realized just how much I’d missed it.
I seasoned the pepper steak with salt, pepper and garlic powder, then got out my indoor grill pan. The key to achieving those pretty grill marks is a really hot pan and a nicely greased surface. I used extra virgin olive oil.
This meal comes together so quickly and is perfect for a weeknight supper. While the vegetables are cooking and your meat is grilling, cook up some instant brown rice using chicken broth instead of water.
I seasoned the vegetables with some salt and pepper, then added a little heat with some crushed red pepper flakes. I like it hot. 😉
Add the meat to the vegetable mixture…
Then pour your sauce right over the top. This sauce is so simple: soy sauce, chicken broth, sugar, cornstarch and dry yellow mustard. The cornstarch is what thickens it up, the rest of the ingredients bring the flavor.
Allow the sauce to thicken up in the pan for just a few minutes. Meanwhile, fluff your brown rice with a fork, season and add butter.
You can tell the sauce has thickened when the consistency begins to stick to the bottom of the pan or coat the back of your spoon. It takes about 3 minutes.
Plate the dish by spooning a good amount of brown rice into a bowl. Top the bed of rice with the meat and vegetable mixture, then sprinkle over something crunchy like sesame seeds or slivered almonds. Isn’t that pretty?
Pour yourself a glass of tea and enjoy!
To make this recipe, you’ll need these ingredients:
1-2 pds pepper steak
Minute brown rice
16 oz. bag of frozen stir fry vegetables
1/3 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
1/3 cup chicken broth
1 Tbs cornstarch
1 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs ground, dry yellow mustard
Seasonings: salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes
Ugly, black bananas transformed into beautiful, creamy banana cake. That is all.
I never purchase bananas at the grocery store with the intention of letting them rot on the counter top, but life happens. Good thing really ripe bananas are still usable.
It’s what’s on the inside that counts, right? After peeling the ugly, outer exterior off of these bananas, I tossed them in my Sunbeam mixer with sugar–and magic happened.
This is a cool trick, thanks Barefoot Contessa. Often, recipes call for room temperature eggs, but if you’re like me and forget to take your eggs out the night before, just place them in warm water for 5 minutes while your other ingredients come together.
Chopped walnuts and bananas were meant to be together.
I never understood this step. Why not just measure the ingredients and toss them in the mixer? Because something about sifting the dry ingredients gives you a nice, light and airy batter. It doesn’t take long, just do it.
Add sifted ingredients to the banana and sugar mixture…look how beautiful that is!! GOOD GOD A’MIGHTY!! It tastes amazing. Check out that swirl action.
Gently stir in walnuts.
Pour the batter into your prepared pan. I cannot emphasize preparing your pan enough. There is no worse feeling than pulling a warm, delicious looking and smelling cake out of the oven only to have it stick to the pan and come apart when transferring it to a wire rack to cool. Butter and flour that thing real good!!
Perfection.
Not quite finished. Next step: Make frosting. This frosting is to die for. I mean it. Room temperature butter and cream cheese meet pure vanilla extract and confectioner’s sugar and a creamy, thick, bright white frosting is born. To bring butter and cream cheese to room temperature, leave them on the counter over night or just sit them on the stove top while the oven gets warm.
Pile it high on top of the completely cooled cake. I love the contrasting colors here.
Decorate with whole walnuts. Simplicity at its finest.
And to think I almost threw those bananas away.
The entire recipe for Old Fashioned Banana Cake can be found in Ina Garten’s cookbook, Barefoot Contessa How Easy is That?
Recipes that taste amazing but don’t require you to stand over the stove for hours rock my world! This one, Ina Garten’s French Toast Bread Pudding is one that’s hard to beat. Barefoot Contessa, you’re really onto something here! Thank you for coming up with this extremely inventive, awesome twist on classic french toast.
For this recipe, you’ll need a 9 x 13 x 2 in. baking dish and a large roasting pan. The recipe calls for a challah loaf, but my grocery store didn’t have one so I used what I could find—texas toast, a good thick white bread. If your bread is fresh, Ina Garten recommends toasting it in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. French Toast Bread Pudding requires a lot of time (it takes one and a half hours to cook) but when you sit down and take a bite, you’ll forget how long you waited.
I love using special ingredients like orange zest and extra-large eggs. However, the most special ingredient I used in this dish was that little jar of honey you see pictured above. I purchased it from a small shanty shack on the side of the road in the Tennessee mountains. It was just the right amount for this recipe.
The microplane is seriously one of my favorite kitchen tools. It’s perfect for zesting everything from lemons and limes to fresh ginger.
Kosher salt is often used in gourmet baking and it really makes a huge difference. Ina Garten has an amazing recipe for Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Icing and kosher salt is used in the icing. It intensifies all the flavors in a dish.
Order is important, especially in this step. Be sure to put your 9 x 13 x 2 in. baking dish into a larger roasting pan before layering the bread in the dish. Fill the roasting pan with warm water so that it comes about an inch up each side. This water bath will ensure the french toast stays moist during the long cooking process. Once the bread has toasted for 10 minutes, layer it in the casserole dish and pour the batter right down over the top. Let it soak for 10 additional minutes.
This is what the dish looks like after it’s been in the oven for 45 minutes, tented with aluminum foil. The egg mixture is just starting to set and the bread is beginning to brown. Remove the aluminum foil and finish cooking for 45 more minutes. I love how you can see the flecks of orange zest! While the dish baked, I poured myself another cup of coffee and watched my favorite shows on Food Network.
You won’t believe how beautiful the egg mixture puffs up and how golden brown the bread gets. It really is a gorgeous dish. MAN ALIVE…bring on the syrup, butter and confectioner’s sugar!! I served the French Toast Bread Pudding with a side of thick-sliced, crispy bacon.
You can really taste the citrus flavor and the sweetness of the honey. I could hear the toast crunch with my fork when I cut into it. I will definitely make this dish again, only next time I’ll plan to bake it for brunch or get up at 6 a.m. to get started, but most likely for brunch. 🙂
The entire recipe can be found in Ina Garten’s cookbook Barefoot Contessa How Easy is That?
I made this labor intensive Special-Occasion Chocolate Cake for several of my co-workers who celebrated birthdays one fall. It’s three layers of the most moist, delicious combination of toasted almonds, fudgy buttercream frosting and chocolate ganache you’ll ever taste. This recipe, courtesy of Taste of Home, is the epitome of Some Kinda Good.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get many pictures but as soon as I began cutting into the cake and describing it, the next thing I knew, my co-workers were video taping. HA! I was being silly, but they were successful in capturing my passion for all things chocolate and heavenly. They also got a great shot of the decadent layers. Thanks Mark and Ryan!
I started baking the cake at 7 p.m. and didn’t finish until after 10 p.m., but every second was worth it. By the way, the recipe is named Special Occasion for a reason…be sure to save it for an indulgent celebration.
Hamburger meat is a common staple at my house, so I’m always looking for new ways to use it. If you’ve got left over mashed potatoes around the house, this recipe for Hamburger Pie is a great way to use them up. Plus, it’s quick, you only need a few ingredients and because everything you need is in one dish, clean up is a breeze!
Hamburger Pie (This recipe was inspired by Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook, 14th Edition)
1 pound lean ground beef
1 small onion
1/2 cup frozen green peas
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 Can Cream of Celery Condensed Soup
1/2 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Salt and Pepper
First, brown lean ground beef and onion in a skillet, then drain and season with salt and pepper.
You can use any frozen vegetables you like. I chose green peas and corn because it’s what I had in the freezer. They’re colorful and pretty to look at too. 😉 Just defrost.
Throw your vegetables in the pan with the ground beef…
Then mix in a can of condensed soup to hold everything together. I had Cream of Celery and it worked just fine.
Once it’s all mixed together, add the mixture to a greased casserole dish.
It’s so nice to be able to get the potatoes right out of the refrigerator, no work required!
Spread the mashed potatoes evenly over the top of the vegetable mixture.
Top with shredded cheddar…then drizzle with a little olive oil. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.
While the Hamburger Pie bakes in the oven, serve up a garden salad.
The dish is so pretty and comforting.
Creamy mashed potatoes, vegetables and lean ground beef…not bad for the waistline either. Enjoy!
What are some of your favorite ground beef recipes? Feel free to share new ideas!
Soften an 8 oz block of cream cheese in the microwave, then spread evenly into an oven safe dish. Drain the canned chicken and shred it using two forks. Top the softened cream cheese with the chicken. You can always use fresh chicken instead of canned, but I find the canned chicken to be a time saver and just as tasty.
Pour a 1/2 cup of ranch salad dressing over the chicken spreading evenly, then pour a 1/2 cup of buffalo sauce over the chicken and spread evenly.
Top with cheese. I recommend sharp cheddar.
Bake in a 425 degree oven for about 20 minutes until the cheese is bubbling hot. Serve with tortilla chips and vegetables for dipping. This dip is also good at room temperature.
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