Name: Cheddar Bacon Ranch Cheese Ball
Prep time: 10 min
Ingredients: 16 ounces cream cheese; 8 strips bacon - cooked and crumbled; 1 cup cheddar cheese; 1/2 cup finely chopped green onions (4-6 green onions); 1 recipe homemade ranch dressing mix (recipe below) or 2 envelopes storebought ranch dressing mix; 1 cup pecans - chopped; 3 tablespoons dry parsley; 1 tablespoon dry dill weed; 1 tablespoon onion powder; 1 tablespoon dried minced onion; 1 tablespoon dried chives; 1 1/2 teaspoons salt; 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Cheddar Bacon Ranch Cheese Ball

December 4, 2018

Cheddar bacon ranch cheese ball is easy and made with ingredients you probably have in your house! You can make your own ranch dressing blend or use a packet – it will be delicious either way. Cream cheese, cheddar cheese, bacon, green onions, ranch, and pecans – definitely a crowd pleaser! You’ll be asked to bring it to every party you go to!

I’m so bad at parties. I’m a classic introvert; if you know my chatty side then you know me well or I am very comfortable around you for whatever reason. I do my best to avoid social interactions with people that I don’t know. Parties…parties are the seventh level of hell for me. I am incredibly awkward trying to make small talk with people I don’t know well. It’s ugly.

A few years back a good friend from work and I decided that we were going to go to our staff Christmas party and be social, come hell or high water (this was a few schools back; I’m actually comfortable interacting with all the people I work with now). It was basically my worst nightmare-thank God she was there with me or I might have hidden in the coat closet.

Cheese Ball = Christmas Classic

I don’t remember much about that party except that the teacher who hosted had a beautiful home and that one of the teachers brought an absolutely amazing cheese ball. It had cheddar cheese, Major Grey chutney, and bacon in it, and she brought it to every occasion and gave it as a gift every time she needed to thank someone for something.

I used this opportunity as an excuse to stay near the cheese ball table and only interact with others who came near it. It worked. I need to get her recipe…searching the interwebs has yielded some similar cheese balls but nothing exact.

Cheese balls are such a retro party snack, and I’ve seen them written off as too kitschy for a modern food-lover’s table. Whatever. If you don’t like cheese balls then you just haven’t had the right one. Cheese balls are great holiday appetizers – but I like to eat them as a snacky dinner, too! I was dreaming of a delicious cheese ball with simple, easy to find ingredients when a cheddar bacon ranch cheese ball popped into my head. It was basically perfect.

Cheddar Bacon Ranch Cheese Ball

For this cheddar bacon ranch cheese ball, I make my own ranch dressing mix (based on this ranch dressing mix recipe from Chef in Training) and will list the ingredients that I use in the recipe, but there is no shame in using a packet of ranch dressing mix. I’m just 1000% more likely to have all the dried herbs and spices I need than I am to have a dressing packet, and usually I have every single ingredient necessary to make this cheese ball at a moment’s notice.

And, if you are like me and have certain staples you keep around at all times, there’s a good chance that you have all the things for this cheese ball:

cream cheese
cheddar cheese
bacon
ranch mix
green onions
pecans

Easy Holiday Appetizer!

This cheddar bacon ranch cheese ball is so easy to make. It’s literally just:

Stir everything together
Roll it into a ball
Roll it in pecans
Refrigerate
Eat

This cheese ball is the perfect appetizer for your Christmas party, and if I ever encounter this cheese ball at a party…I will totally be hanging out by the food table. #gimmeallthecheeseball

Cheddar Bacon Ranch Cheese Ball

10 minPrep Time:

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Ingredients

16 ounces cream cheese
8 strips bacon - cooked and crumbled
1 cup cheddar cheese
1/2 cup finely chopped green onions (4-6 green onions)
1 recipe homemade ranch dressing mix (recipe below) or 2 envelopes storebought ranch dressing mix
1 cup pecans - chopped

Ranch dressing mix

3 tablespoons dry parsley
1 tablespoon dry dill weed
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon dried minced onion
1 tablespoon dried chives
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions

If making your own ranch dressing mix, pulse all ingredients together in a food processor. If you don't have a food processor, it's fine to just stir the ingredients together, but it will have a little more texture.
Combine the first five ingredients until well mixed using an electric mixer or a wooden spoon.
Form the mixture into a ball. Roll in the chopped pecans to thoroughly coat the outside.
Place the cheese ball on a plate. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour. Serve with crackers or pita chips.

Notes

Prep time does not include time to cook bacon or make ranch dressing mix. If you would like to make a smaller cheese ball, just half the ingredients (the cheese ball pictured here is actually a half recipe).

Nutrition

https://chattavore.com/cheddar-bacon-ranch-cheese-ball/

Other cheese balls on Chattavore:

Reuben Cheese Ball

Jalapeño Popper Cheese Ball

How to Make Cranberry Sauce

November 12, 2018

What are your thoughts on cranberry sauce? Do you hate it? Or do you like the log of cranberry sauce that comes out of a can, complete with the lines from the can completely intact? If fresh, homemade cranberry sauce is your Thanksgiving style, then this tutorial on how to make cranberry sauce is perfect for you!

Click here to save this recipe on Pinterest!

When I was growing up, my grandmother always made cranberry relish for Thanksgiving dinner. Fresh cranberries, whole oranges, and sugar, all ground up together. No cooking. I liked it okay but the bitterness of the orange pith made it a little much for my young tastebuds.

We really never ate the cranberry sauce that came out of a can, and honestly, I can’t even remember when or where I first tried it. I do remember, though, that when I did try it, I realized that I had been missing out on the deliciousness that is cranberry sauce.

Homemade Cranberry Sauce

And then I figured out how to make homemade cranberry sauce. I fell in love, hard, and realized that the canned stuff that you slice is just gateway cranberry sauce. I promise you, canned cranberry sauce in no way compares to homemade cranberry sauce.

Cranberries are a truly amazing little fruit. They have little pockets of air in them, and as you cook them they pop open. Full of their own natural pectin, they thicken their own sauce without the addition of packaged pectin or other thickeners. Literally, all you need to make a delicious cranberry sauce are three ingredients:

Fresh cranberries
Sugar
Water

Cranberry Orange Sauce

I love how the flavor of orange pairs with the flavor of cranberry, so I always use some orange juice and zest to give my homemade cranberry sauce a little zip. But, if you don’t like orange or have another reason not to use it in your sauce, then just leave it out!
Click here to save this recipe to your Pinterest holiday cooking and sauce boards!

I call myself a cranberry hoarder because the second that cranberries show up in my grocery store, I start throwing a bag or two into my cart every week so that I can have frozen cranberries available all year. That way, I can have homemade cranberry sauce anytime I want it. Which means that year-round I can make my Instant Pot turkey breast and some cranberry sauce and have a Thanksgiving sandwich whenever. I. Want it.

And that, my friends, is a reason to be happy.

Shared on Meal Plan Monday on Southern Bite and The Weekend Potluck on The Country Cook!

Mary

Yield: 2 1/4 cups

How to Make Cranberry Sauce

This recipe is adapted from Smitten Kitchen , whose recipe is adapted from Ocean Spray .

5 minPrep Time:

15 minCook Time:

20 minTotal Time:

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Ingredients

1 12-ounce bag fresh or cranberries (I freeze bags of fresh cranberries, and you can just use them straight from the freezer)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water OR the juice of one large orange plus enough water to make a cup
zest of one orange, optional

Instructions

Combine all ingredients except orange zest, if using, in a medium saucepan. Set over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until the sauce has thickened and all berries have burst. I use the spoon to gently mash the berries against the side of the pan to make sure they all burst. This takes 10-15 minutes total.
Stir in the orange zest, if using. Place the sauce into a covered container or jar and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. It will keep in the refrigerator for up to two weeks or up to two months in the freezer.

Nutrition

https://chattavore.com/how-to-make-cranberry-sauce/

Jalapeño Cheese Ball + Video

November 26, 2017

This jalapeño cheese ball is a delicious party snack that’s a little bit kitschy, a lot delicious, and sure to be a crowd pleaser! Just a few ingredients: cream cheese, jalapeños, cheddar cheese, bacon, and pecans. It’s a perfect appetizer for any get-together, especially at the holidays! Scroll down for video!

Click here to save this recipe on Pinterest!

Perfect Christmas Appetizer!

To me, Christmas season is cheese ball season. Woe is the holiday gathering that does not have at least one cheese ball for me to dip a zillion crackers into. Have I told you the story about the work Christmas party where my BFF and I ate approximately 3/4 of the mango chutney cheese ball so that we could avoid uncomfortable interactions with our coworkers? I’m pretty sure I have (I definitely did in the story about this other easy cheese ball recipe) I am definitely a “linger by the refreshment table” sort of girl. It’s a blessing and a curse, really.

I certainly do not need a holiday or a party to enjoy a cheese ball, though. Show me any random Saturday night and I will show you a cream cheese based snack that Philip and I can enjoy in front of our favorite shows on Hulu. Actually, we enjoyed this jalapeño popper on the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, when I had been cooking all afternoon and just couldn’t quite bring myself to assemble a full meal. And then again for a mini-lunch on Thanksgiving day, because my family ate late in the day.

Vintage Appetizer Recipes

Cheese balls seem pretty kitschy, and I’m sure that you could dig around in your mom or grandma or even great-grandma’s recipe file and find a few cheese ball recipes. You know what, though? Kitschy food can still be darn tasty, and I promise you that I’m only on board for flavor. I don’t care too much about trends (though I’ll hop on board if they’re delicious). You probably won’t catch me posting any aspics on here, but I will never apologize for my cheese balls.

Easy Cheese Ball Recipe

My jalapeño cheese ball has all the flavors that I think that a perfect jalapeño popper should have:

jalapeños (duh)
cream cheese
cheddar cheese
bacon
ranch.

There’s no stuffing, roasting, grilling, or frying involved, though, and that makes this easy cheese ball approximately 1 million times easier and less mess than an actual jalapeño popper.

I used canned diced jalapeños, which meant that I didn’t have to slice and dice a bunch of peppers, but you could definitely sub in 1/2 cup of diced fresh jalapeños, or add them to the canned peppers to increase the spice level if you’re brave. Me, I found the faint tinge of spice provided by the canned peppers to be perfect for my wimpy taste buds.

But you…you can feel free to customize this jalapeño cheese ball to meet your spice needs! You could also try my Reuben cheese ball for something completely unexpected!

Shared on The Weekend Potluck on The Country Cook!

Click here to save this recipe to your Christmas or party boards on Pinterest!

Mary

Yield: 1 large cheese ball

Jalapeño Popper Cheese Ball

15 minPrep Time:

15 minTotal Time:

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Ingredients

2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, at room temperature
8 ounces (2 cups) shredded cheddar cheese
6 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
4 ounce can diced jalapeños, drained
4 ounce can diced fire-roasted green chilies, drained
1 cup chopped pecans

For the ranch seasoning (can sub in 2 packages of ranch dressing mix, like Hidden Valley)

3 tablespoons dried parsley
1 tablespoon dried dill
1 tablespoon dried chives
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Place all ingredients, including ranch seasoning ingredients, EXCEPT pecans, in a large bowl. Stir until well combined (I used my Kitchenaid mixer with the paddle attachment on low speed to do this). Form into a ball and roll in the chopped pecans until thoroughly coated. Chill for at least an hour. Serve with crackers.

Notes

I did not include the time to cook the bacon in the prep/cook time.

Nutrition

https://chattavore.com/jalapeno-popper-cheese-ball/

Easy Caesar Dressing (No-Egg Recipe) + Video

September 21, 2017

This easy Caesar dressing is easy to make in your blender or food processor and requires no eggs, so it lasts a long time. And it’s SO tasty! Scroll down for video.

Essentially, Caesar salad came into my life when Philip Haymaker came into my life. Well, when he came into my life full-time, anyway (since we knew each other for four years before we started dating).

I remember what he ordered on our first date: angel hair pasta with tomato-basil sauce and a Caesar salad. That was on a Tuesday night. We went out again on Friday…I don’t remember what entrée he ordered, but I remember this: he ordered a Caesar salad. And almost ever restaurant salad that he has ordered in the last fourteen and a half (!) years has been the same.

I don’t mean to imply that I had never encountered (or eaten) a Caesar salad before that first date. I recall a Caesar salad at a Red Lobster in California when I was visiting my aunt the summer before eighth grade. I also remember telling my mom about it and her saying, “Do you like Caesar salad?” in a shocked sort of way. It’s just that my family didn’t eat too many Caesar salads back then….most of our salads were of the iceberg variety, with tomatoes and maybe some green peppers or avocado mixed in, usually with a creamy ranch or blue cheese dressing. It’s actually funny to think about that now because my mom and my sister are pretty much completely enamored with Caesar salad these days and the four of us threaten each other with steak knives to see who’s going to get the last of the salad (not really but almost).

Caesar dressing is an enigma of sorts and there are all types of stories about what Caesar salad is supposed to be. You know what I say? Caesar salad is supposed to be good. I don’t think when Caesar Cardini threw together the first Caesar salad in his Tijuana hotel kitchen that he swore then and there under his breath to seek revenge on anyone that dared to change the recipe.

So here’s how it goes…you can put eggs in….or leave them out. You can use anchovies, or maybe you prefer paste (I do) or maybe you’d rather just use Worcestershire sauce (which contains anchovies)? Okay. Maybe you like your cheese shredded, or maybe you like it grated. Whatevs. Do you like to rub the bowl with garlic or do you like to crush the garlic into your dressing? Have it your way. Would you rather make a pourable dressing or would you rather assemble the salad in the bowl then make the dressing right there on the lettuce (as I did in this post)? The world is your oyster.

I’ve been doing it that way for a while: lettuce in the bowl, then egg yolks, garlic, cheese, lemon juice/vinegar, olive oil, and cheese plus croutons. I like it that way….but here’s what I don’t like: one-day salad. Make that one-hour salad. We all know that once you dress lettuce it’s done for….so I was happy when my aunt gave me her easy Caesar dressing recipe (which I used to have before the blog but lost). It doesn’t contain eggs so it’s got a relatively long shelf-life (I’ve kept it for up to four days in my fridge) and it emulsifies beautifully if you blend it just fast enough, and you just use what you need.

As you can see, this is not a very “traditional” salad I’ve photographed for you here….I didn’t have bread to make croutons so I crushed up some Stacy’s Simply Naked pita chips. They were perfect. And while I prefer shredded cheese on my salads because it coats the leaves oh so perfectly, cheese (Grana Padano in this case but usually Parmigiano Reggiano) shaved with a vegetable peeler makes a nicer visual impact for photos. My easy Caesar dressing pairs perfectly with this fresh salad.

This easy Caesar dressing is quick enough that you can keep it in the fridge all the time. Which you’ll want to do.

Mary

Yield: 12 servings
2 tablespoons
45
Easy Caesar Dressing
10 minPrep Time:
10 minTotal Time:

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Ingredients
1 tablespoon anchovy paste (or 3-4 flat or rolled anchovy fillets)
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
juice of 1/2 lemon
2/3 cups neutral-flavored oil (I use grapeseed, but canola, safflower, or vegetable oil will work as well)
salt and pepper (to taste)
Instructions
Press the garlic through a garlic press or grate on a Microplane or fine grater. Place in a food processor or blender or a container you can fit your immersion blender into (like my homemade mayonnaise, a pint-sized Mason jar works well here) along with all of the other ingredients except the oil and vinegar.
Mix well, carefully breaking up/mashing the anchovy fillets if you are using them.
Add the oil and vinegar and blend on the highest speed that your machine allows until completely smooth and emulsified. Use a leaf of the lettuce you will be using to make your salad to taste; adjust seasonings. Store in the refrigerator.

Nutrition

7.8.1.2
433
https://chattavore.com/easy-caesar-dressing/

Shared on Meal Plan Monday on Southern Plate.

Perfect Roasted Red Pepper Hummus + Video

July 7, 2017

This hummus fits my bill of roasted red pepper hummus – it’s super smooth and creamy, so delicious, and takes less than ten minutes to make!

Click here to save this recipe on Pinterest!

Discovering Hummus

When Philip and I first got married I had never eaten hummus before. Remember that this was back in 2001, when Chattanooga didn’t have any natural foods stores and you couldn’t buy prepared hummus in the deli case at any old grocery store. I bought a book that had a hummus recipe (albeit pretty unorthodox, as it was made with yogurt) in it and started making hummus about once a week for a good long while.

Those early days of hummus making were daunting because my dang food processor was so flipping cheap (please promise me that when you buy small appliances for your kitchen, you will buy quality ones – even if you have to save up for them) that every time I used it some new plastic piece broke off of it. $13 for a mini-chopper was not a good decision. Luckily, we pretty quickly invested in a basic Cuisinart and it saved the day.

I kind of got sick of hummus for a while, since we ate it all the time. Not to mention that, in all honestly, my hummus kind of sucked. Earlier this year, I bought a couple of tubs of Sabra hummus on a whim because they were buy one get one free. Suddenly I was buying hummus every week. Their roasted red pepper hummus is pretty good, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I really should be making this myself.

Saving Money?

The thing about making your hummus yourself is that, if you just compare the cost of making it yourself to buying a tub, well, no, you aren’t saving any money. But then, if you consider how much more hummus you get when you make it yourself, then yes, yes you are saving money. I knew my hummus recipe needed revamping, and when I saw a recipe from Milk Street Kitchen I jumped at the chance to try a different way…and it was perfect.

Hummus Tips

My perfect roasted red pepper hummus is not an exact replica of the recipe from Milk Street, but I did use some of the principles to develop this recipe. Here are a few of the things that I learned:

Don’t buy tahini in a can. Please don’t. I did it for years and all it was good for was to waste a whole lot of tahini. I apologize if your mom owns the tahini-in-a-can company, but it just never worked for me. I could never get the oil to stir back down into the tahini. Plus, tahini is best stored in the fridge, so I like to microwave the tahini for a minute or so to get it flowing smoothly. Just spend an extra buck or two to buy jarred tahini.
Liquid is good. There’s a pretty fair amount of liquid in this recipe, including the liquid that I drained from the chickpea can. Not to mention that the hummus will firm up in the fridge, so I stir a little water into it when we’re eating the leftovers too.
It’s best at room temperature. If you’ve ever eaten hummus and declared that you hated it, consider whether that hummus was cold or room temperature. Much like the tahini, I give my refrigerated hummus a quick whirl in the microwave to warm it up and loosen it up a little bit. It makes a huge difference.
Garnishes are a good thing. A swirl of olive oil, a sprinkle of cumin and paprika, a handful of reserved chickpeas and chopped red peppers….they all add flavor and textural variety that will make your hummus sing.
Garlic? We don’t need no stinking garlic. I mean, if you want garlic, then you can certainly add it…but after making it without I don’t know that I’ll go back. You may not be able to scare off a vampire but this hummus is delicious without the garlic and you won’t be embarrassed to go into a meeting after eating this for lunch.
Blend till you think you’ve over blended it, then blend some more. Seriously. Some bloggers tout removing the skin from the chickpeas to get super smooth hummus, but I’d much rather let my food processor do the work. Trust on this.

If you think you hate hummus, give this roasted red pepper hummus a try (or leave out the roasted red peppers if you aren’t a fan). You may just change your mind!

Save the recipe to your Pinterest snack board!

Mary

Yield: 2 cups hummus
Perfect Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
This recipe was adapted from a recipe from Milk Street Kitchen
10 minPrep Time:
10 minTotal Time:

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Ingredients
1 can reduced-sodium chickpeas, drained (liquid reserved)
3/4 cup tahini (warm or room temperature)
1 teaspoon salt
juice of 2 lemons
1 roasted red pepper, chopped (see notes for directions on roasting a pepper, or use a jarred red pepper)
olive oil, for garnish
crudite, pita wedges, or crackers, for serving
Instructions
Set aside 2 tablespoons of chickpeas. Place the remaining chickpeas in the food processor and process for 3 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl when needed.
Add the tahini and salt and process for another minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add 3/4 cup reserved chickpea liquid (this was all of the liquid from my can of chickpeas), the lemon juice, and the red peppers (set aside a tablespoon of the chopped red peppers for garnish). Process until perfectly smooth, one to two minutes. Taste and add additional salt if needed.
Pour the hummus into a large, shallow bowl. Make a swirl in the bowl and add a drizzle of olive oil. Sprinkle the reserved hummus and red peppers on top. Serve immediately.
Refrigerate leftover hummus for up to a week. To serve, microwave briefly warm slightly and add a bit of warm water to loosen up the mixture.
Notes
To roast your own red peppers, place an oven rack in the highest position and preheat the broiler. Slice the sides off of a red pepper. Place on a baking sheet and place under the broiler. Broil until blackened, watching closely. Place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap for 15 minutes. Remove and discard the blackened skin and chop the flesh.

Nutrition

7.8.1.2
516
https://chattavore.com/perfect-roasted-red-pepper-hummus/