Name: Sausage Balls from Scratch
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 20 min
Yield: about 60 sausage balls
Ingredients: 2 cups all-purpose flour; 1 tablespoon baking powder; 3/4 teaspoon salt; 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into cubes and chilled; 1 pound breakfast sausage (mild or hot, your choice); 1 pound cheddar cheese (2 8-ounce blocks), grated; milk

Easy Sausage Balls from Scratch + Video

November 27, 2018

These easy sausage balls from scratch are a classic party favorite without the need for boxed mixes! Everyone at your holiday party or potluck will love them, and they are also perfect for a Christmas breakfast treat! Your family won’t be able to get enough. Sausage, cheddar cheese, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, butter, and a little milk…so easy and delicious! Scroll down for video!

Click here to save this recipe on Pinterest!

Christmas Food is the Best Food!

There are so many things to eat at Christmas. I could never pick a favorite. I mean, ranch Goldfish? My grandmother’s egg soufflé? All the cheese balls?? For Christmas dinner, we eat prime rib and twice baked potatoes. Can you see why I❤Christmas?

At every Christmas gathering (including my family’s Christmas breakfast) you are likely to find sausage balls. Little nuggets of breakfast sausage, cheese, and biscuit mix (aka Bisquick), these things are addictive. They’re low-calorie too, so you can eat as many as you like (⬅that’s a total lie). Truth be told, though, I don’t wait for Christmas to make sausage balls.We love to eat them for breakfast or for an occasional Saturday night snack (Saturday night is snack night in my house).

No-Bisquick Sausage Balls

I have nothing against Bisquick. My mom makes her sausage balls with Bisquick and Cheez Whiz (because Cheez Whiz helps them to mix up more easily) and those things are goooood. I’m a biscuit purist, though, so I don’t keep Bisquick or any other type of baking mix in the house, so I’d rather just make my own than go buy a box when I want to make sausage balls.

Easy Sausage Balls from Scratch!

These take approximately one minute longer to make than sausage balls made with a baking mix (that minute being used, of course, to measure the ingredients) and they are every bit as delicious.

Yummy Christmas Treat!

So, whether you want to go the traditional route and use a baking mix or make these easy sausage balls from scratch, just make some sausage balls. It’s Christmas! They are perfect for a holiday potluck or party or for serving for Christmas breakfast. Everyone in your family will love them, and you don’t have to buy a box of mix to make them!

Shared on Meal Plan Monday on Southern Bite!

Click here to save this recipe to your Christmas and breakfast boards on Pinterest!

For more videos, click here to subscribe to my YouTube channel!

Yield: about 60 sausage balls

Sausage Balls from Scratch

20 minPrep Time:

20 minCook Time:

Save Recipe

Print Recipe

My Recipes My Lists My Calendar

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into cubes and chilled
1 pound breakfast sausage (mild or hot, your choice)
1 pound cheddar cheese (2 8-ounce blocks), grated
milk

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. If desired, spray 2 sheet pans with cooking spray (I actually never bother).
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Using a pastry blender or your fingertips, work the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Add the sausage and cheese to the bowl along with a couple of tablespoons of milk. Using your hands, work the ingredients together until well-combined, adding milk a tablespoon at a time to moisten the mixture so that you can get all the dry flour (you can also use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment to do this, but I just prefer to use my hands).
Portion the sausage ball mixture into tablespoon size pieces (I use a cookie scoop to do this) and roll into balls using your palms before placing them onto the baking sheets.
Bake the sausage balls until lightly browned, about 20-25 minutes. Stack on paper towels for a few minutes to absorb excess butter. Serve immediately or at room temperature.

Nutrition

https://chattavore.com/easy-sausage-balls-from-scratch/

a photograph of three sausage balls from scratch on a Christmas napkin with a plate of sausage balls in the background

Bacon Sliders with Pineapple-Jalapeño Jelly

October 17, 2018

These bacon sliders are served on Hawaiian rolls with sweet and spicy pineapple-jalapeño jelly. They are perfect for tailgating, parties, or a snack dinner! You can adjust the heat level based on your preferences.

Click here to save this recipe on Pinterest!

I am fully aware that there is a camp of people who stand firm on their belief that the only sandwich that qualifies as a slider is a burger. And I get it. I mean, I’m from Chattanooga, birthplace of the Krystal burger. But I just feel like there’s room for everyone in the slider game. Mostly because “mini sandwich” just feels so darn clunky.

It is a well-known fact that my favorite type of food is the kind of food that one would eat at a bar or at a tailgate. #spinachdip4eva (seriously, spinach dip is the reason that I basically lived at TGI Friday’s as a college student). Any type of slider included in that list of my favorite foods.

Funny thing is, there are a million different kinds of sliders on the internet. I think the original party sandwiches had ham and cheese and a sweet buttery glaze. Don’t get me wrong, I love those. But I can’t seem to stop making my sliders with bacon. Because you know I.Love.Bacon.

A guy came into Philip’s shop recently with dried pineapple that had been wrapped in bacon, smoked, and drizzled with jalapeño jelly. I wasn’t there, but Philip hasn’t stopped raving about it since. Now, I have a smoker and I have a bag of dried pineapple and I 100% intend to attempt to replicate this recipe.

Problem is, most of you guys probably don’t have smokers, so when I was thinking about how to turn the flavors into something bloggable, bacon sliders were the thing that came to mind. I thought that jalapeño jelly might be a little much, fresh pineapple too wet, and dried pineapple too chewy.

So, I settled on these ingredients for my bacon sliders:

Hawaiian rolls
Bacon
Mozzarella cheese slices (baby Swiss would work too…the idea was to give the sandwiches some texture but not add a ton of flavor since the bacon and jelly are both such strong flavors)
Pineapple preserves
Fresh jalapeño
Butter
Honey
Poppy seeds (optional, but I like them for a little crunch and visual interest)

Did you even know that pineapple preserves are a thing? I have bought them a few times for various recipes and they are delicious! I like to stir a little bit into plain yogurt. For this recipe, I chopped up a fresh jalapeño and heated it with the pineapple preserves. I only used one jalapeño but you can add as many as you want based on the heat level that you prefer.

What do you like on your sliders?

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

Click here to save this recipe to your Pinterest tailgating and snack boards!

Mary

Yield: 12 sliders

Bacon Sliders with Pineapple-Jalapeño Jelly

10 minPrep Time:

15 minCook Time:

25 minTotal Time:

Save Recipe

Print Recipe

My Recipes My Lists My Calendar

Ingredients

12 Hawaiian rolls (1 pack)
6 sandwich slices mozzarella or baby Swiss cheese
1 cup pineapple preserves
1-2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and diced
12 strips bacon, cooked and cut into quarters
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons honey
2 teaspoons poppy seeds (optional)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Remove the Hawaiian rolls from the package without separating the rolls. Use a serrated knife to slice the rolls crosswise through the center and set the tops aside. Place the bottom halves in a 9x13 baking pan.
Place the pineapple preserves and the diced jalapeños in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, for about five minutes. Set aside and allow to cool slightly.
Lay the cheese slices across the bottom halves of the rolls. You will need to tear some of the slices in half. Distribute the bacon evenly over the cheese. Carefully distribute the pineapples preserves mixture over the top of the bacon. Replace the top halves of the rolls.
Melt the butter and mix the honey into the butter. Brush the butter over the tops of the sandwiches. Sprinkle evenly with poppy seeds, if using. Cover with foil and bake for ten minutes. Serve immediately.

Notes

The cook time does not include time to cook the bacon. Even though it logistically seems easier to spread the preserves on the bottom rolls, do not do this as it will make the bottom of the sandwiches soggy (ask me how I know).

Nutrition

https://chattavore.com/bacon-sliders-with-pineapple-jalapeno-jelly/

Baked Chicken Francese

April 24, 2018

Chicken Francese is usually sautéed with a buttery lemon sauce. My baked chicken Francese has a great lemon sauce, but it’s breaded then baked, not fried!

Click here to save this recipe for later on Pinterest!

Let’s not beat around the bush; breaded and fried chicken is pretty great. Agreed?
Now that we have that out of the way, let’s discuss how messy frying is. If you are anything like me, you probably avoid frying at all costs because it uses so much oil and you end up with splatters everywhere. Lucky for me, I started bake-frying everything years ago and I haven’t looked back.

I mean, that’s not to say that I never fry anything. I’m not going to lie to you guys. Most days, though, I just don’t have it in me so I go for the egg and panko dip and give it a good spritz of oil and bake it till it’s crispy. What’s “it”? Well, it could be chicken, zucchini, eggplant…just about anything that you can fry.

Chicken Francese is one of Philip’s favorite dishes to order at an Italian restaurant. Traditional chicken Francese is dipped in an egg batter, sautéed, and served with a lemon-butter sauce…usually with some pasta side. To be 100% honest with you, though, I like the rice with my baked chicken Francese better…it’s a little less cumbersome on the plate.

Is that a weird thing to say?

Anyway, baked chicken Francese is as simple as:

Cut some chicken breasts in half
Pound the chicken to an even thickness
Dip the chicken in egg then in panko crumbs
Spray the chicken with a little olive oil
Bake the chicken in the oven until it’s crispy
Make a sauce of butter, chicken broth, a little flour, and some lemon
Serve it with your favorite sides

That’s it. You can pull this off on a weeknight no problem. What are you waiting for?

Shared on Meal Plan Monday on Southern Plate and The Weekend Potluck on Served Up With Love!

Save this recipe for later on Pinterest!

Mary

Yield: 2-4 servings

Baked Chicken Francese

10 minPrep Time:

25 minCook Time:

35 minTotal Time:

Save Recipe

Print Recipe

My Recipes My Lists My Calendar

Ingredients

1lb chicken breast-for me this was 2 breasts
1 Large egg (beaten)
1 cup panko crumbs
salt and pepper
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 Large shallot (minced)
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 1/4 cups chicken stock (homemade or low-sodium)
1/2 cup dry white wine (I use Chardonnay)
1/3 cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
chopped parsley

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. If you have a stoneware pan, preheat that too (if you don't have stoneware, preheat a baking sheet).
Cut each chicken breast in half crosswise, then cut the thicker into two thinner cutlets. Place the chicken on a cutting board and cover with plastic wrap. Pound with a meat mallet until the pieces of chicken are even thickness.
Sprinkle the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Dip both sides of each piece of chicken in egg then into the panko until completely coated. Place on the preheated pan and spray with olive oil spray. Place in oven for ten minutes, then turn and bake for ten minutes more.
As soon as you place the chicken in the oven, melt one tablespoon of the butter over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Sauté the shallot for about two minutes, then whisk in the flour and cook for about a minute. Add the chicken stock, wine, and lemon juice. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain through a fine mesh strainer and return the liquid to the pan.
To finish, turn the heat under the sauce on medium-low. Melt the remaining two tablespoons of butter one tablespoon at a time. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve the sauce over the chicken and sprinkle with chopped parsley.

Nutrition

https://chattavore.com/baked-chicken-francese/

Crispy Flour Tortilla Tacos

April 17, 2018

Crispy flour tortilla tacos take me back to my childhood, when I ALWAYS ordered Taco Light on family trips to Taco Bell. Winning!

Save this recipe for later!

Back to Childhood!

When I was a kid, Taco Bell was sort of like an exotic version of fast food. That was back before there was a McDonald’s on every corner and Taco Bells were pretty scarce. I mean, I’m sure that there were more Taco Bells in the greater Chattanooga area than I realized, but as far as I knew there were only two.

On Saturdays, I always went to the bowling alley with my grandparents to watch my uncle Bobby with his Special Olympics bowling team. Afterward, we’d stop at the Taco Bell for lunch. Every time we went, I ordered the same thing: Taco Light.

I don’t actually know when Taco Light was discontinued. I remember, though, going in and not seeing it on the menu. I was terribly disappointed and had to move on to something else. I never forget about the Taco Light, though. It was larger than a regular taco, double the meat plus cheese, sour cream, lettuce, and tomatoes. Those were not the things that were important to me, though.

What I cared about was the shell. Taco lights = crispy flour tortilla tacos. The shell was basically a taco-shaped version of the taco salad bowl. Per.Fec.Tion. Adult me had to figure out how to make them myself.
Frying a flour tortilla taco shell is not quite as easy as you might think. I had a few go-rounds when I was first testing this dish. All you need is some shallow oil, a pair of tongs, and a steady hand. To keep them from closing up too tightly for me to get the toppings in, I stuff paper towels in the shells while I finished frying.

I’ll be honest. These crispy flour tortilla tacos are not exactly Taco Light. The texture is a little different. I am sure that was some sort of magical food engineering sorcery. They’re close enough to perfect for me.

Click here to save this recipe for later on Pinterest!

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

Mary

Yield: 8 tacos

Tacos in Crispy Flour Tortilla Shells

10 minPrep Time:

30 minCook Time:

40 minTotal Time:

Save Recipe

Print Recipe

My Recipes My Lists My Calendar

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon salt
?-¼ teaspoon cayenne (optional)
pinch ground cumin
½ cup water
1 cup canola or vegetable oil
8 soft-taco/fajita size flour tortillas
4 ounces shredded cheddar or monterey jack cheese
sour cream
shredded lettuce
diced tomatoes

Instructions

Brown the ground beef in a medium skillet over medium heat. Drain any fat. Add the cornstarch, chili powder, paprika, onion and garlic powder, salt, cayenne, cumin, and water. Stir and cook until thickened. Turn heat to low and hold over the heat.
Heat the oil in another medium skillet over medium heat. Line a plate with paper towels. Fold up 8 paper towels. When the oil shimmers, use tongs to hold the tortillas, one at a time, folded in half. Place into the oil, with the folded bottom first flat against the bottom of the skillet until brown. Turn and brown both sides. Place a folded paper towel into the fold of each taco shell and leave to drain on the paper towel lined plate until all the tortillas are cooked.
Fill the taco shells with the taco meat and top with desired toppings. Serve immediately.

Nutrition

https://chattavore.com/crispy-flour-tortilla-tacos/

Sausage and Red Pepper Mini Quiches

March 12, 2018

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® community. This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and ConAgra Brands. All opinions are mine alone. #BreakfastGoals2018 #CollectiveBias

Sausage and red pepper mini quiches come together so quickly and they’re so easy to make…and delicious, of course. They’re great for brunch!

Click here to save this recipe for later!

How do you feel about brunch?

Are you a brunch person? For me, brunch = life. I mean, breakfast food is always perfect…am I right? How can you go wrong with biscuits and gravy? Bacon? Eggs? Sausage? Answer: you can’t. Breakfast foods are awesome any time of day. I mean, it’s not really universally accepted to eat spaghetti for breakfast, but it is totally universally accepted to eat pancakes for dinner.

The really great thing about brunch is that most of the time brunch foods are pretty easy to whip up but when you say that something is “brunch” it becomes totally fancy and special. I mean, serve up a mimosa beside just about anything and it’s fancy, right? Easy, crowd-pleasing, and fancy? Hello!

Quiche is one of my absolute favorite brunch foods. First of all, quiche is an awesome “clean out the fridge” food. Throw in a little bit of this and a little bit of that and add some eggs and you have an incredibly delicious and well-balanced meal.
Quiche = Girly Food? NAH.

The thing that always makes me laugh about quiche is that a lot of men think of it as “girly” food. I mean really, how can food be girly? And who really cares? What matters about food is that it tastes good. Honestly, I’m really not sure how food that includes pie crust (I mean, would you turn down apple pie?), cheese, and eggs should somehow only be consumed by women because it has a French name. Can we all just agree that that is silly?

Especially when the quiche in question is this sausage and red pepper mini quiches. With Odom’s Tennessee Pride® Country Sausage, roasted red peppers, and smoked cheddar cheese, these quiches are substantial…but baked in a muffin pan, it’s miniature in stature so everyone gets their own baby quiche…no annoying attempts to cut a slice out of a pie-shaped quiche, because we all know how annoying that can be.

My mom has bought Odom’s Tennessee Pride Country Sausage since I was a kid. Once, I bought another brand because the store where I was shopping didn’t have Tennessee Pride (tragic, I know). I should have made another stop (I could have picked some up at Walmart, which is where I got this), because I was sorely disappointed with the other brand. Odom’s Tennessee Pride Country Sausage always has the right balance of herbs and spices and it browns up perfectly. It’s just how sausage should taste to me. It’s perfect in this quiche with the smoked cheddar and roasted red pepper (which I roasted myself, but you can totally buy a jar).

These sausage and red pepper mini quiches are so easy to make…the whole thing comes together in about 15 minutes, and then they’re baked and ready to eat in 25. You could even make them the night before and stick them in the oven when you’re ready to bake…and this sausage and red pepper quiche is delicious hot or at room temperature.

These sausage and red pepper mini quiches would be perfect on your Easter brunch table!

Click here to save this recipe on Pinterest!

Mary

Yield: 8 mini-quiches

Sausage & Roasted Red Pepper Mini Quiches

15 minPrep Time:

35 minCook Time:

50 minTotal Time:

Save Recipe

Print Recipe

My Recipes My Lists My Calendar

Ingredients

8 ounces (1/2 package) breakfast sausage; I used Odom's Tennessee Pride®Country Sausage mild variety
pastry for a single crust pastry (I used one crust from a packaged pie crust)
1 roasted red pepper (jarred, or make your own - see notes for directions), chopped
4 ounces smoked cheddar cheese (1 cup, grated)
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°.
Preheat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the sausage until browned.
Roll the pie crust into a rectangle and cut into 8 equal pieces. I don't get too precious with this - just estimate how big you think it needs to be for 8 mini quiches. Press the 8 squares each into a cup of the muffin tin.
Divide the sausage, chopped red peppers, and cheese among the 8 pastry crusts.
Whisk the eggs, salt, and pepper in a bowl or large measuring cup. Divide the egg mixture evenly among the muffin cups. Bake for 25 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Notes

To make your own roasted red peppers, heat a broiler to high with a rack 6-8 inches from the broiler. Cut the sides off of a large red pepper. Place the red pepper skin side up on a baking sheet. Place under the broiler and broil until the skin is blackened. Place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let stand for 15 minutes then peel off any blackened skin.

Nutrition

https://chattavore.com/sausage-and-red-pepper-mini-quiches/