This one’s simple and good!

Ingredients:
8oz tub of cream cheese
1 can hormel chili (no beans)
2 cups shredded colby jack cheese

1) In a pyrex pie dish spread (in this order) the cream cheese, chili, and then cheese on the top.

2) Bake in a preheated oven @ 350 degrees for 20-30min until cheese is melted and slightly brown on the side. Turn the oven off and allow to cool a bit while still in the oven (will prevent cheese from hardening too quickly).

Ingredients:
1lb of meat
1/2 onion finely chopped
spice to taste (I used rosemary, oregano, pepper, salt)
filo dough (or puff pastry)

Here they look like folded napkins, but inside the crispy filo dough are mini-cheeseburgers!

Mix up the beef, onion, and spices and make 8-10 silver dollar sized patties. Cook thoroughly.

Split up the filo dough (or puff pastry) into sections big enough to wrap each burger. Wrap cooked burger in the dough and put about a half splice of cheese on the top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

I changed this recipe around a bit. For time and supply sake I got rid of the dressing at the end – this proved to be ok because the rosemary is incredibly strong and gives a nice seasoned taste. I also did not cook this on a grill, but rather in a pan in the toaster.. This made the bottom of the bread soggy with olive oil and the top crispy.. I would change this in the future and cook it over an open flame. I also used thick-sliced bacon instead of thin, use thin – trust me.. Overall very, very tasty.

Ingredients:
1 loaf of ciabatta bread
8 rashers of thinly sliced dry-cured smoky bacon, or pancetta
zest of 2 lemons
4 large buffalo mozzarella cheeses
8 sticks of fresh rosemary
1 clove of garlic
extra virgin olive oil

This is an absolutely genius combination. It’s not very often that mozzarella gets cooked in a credible way but this is one time it does. I love the whole idea of putting the bread, mozzarella and smoky bacon together because when cooked they complement each other so well the bread goes really crisp and soaks up all the lovely juices, the milky mozzarella starts to melt and go really gooey, and served with a fresh herb salad it’s lovely. Great for a starter or a snack, and I’ve even made little mini ones as canapes (dare I say that word?!).

Method
Remove the crusts from the ciabatta and tear up into rough 1 inch pieces. Throw into a bowl with the bacon and lemon zest. Divide each mozzarella into 8 similar-sized pieces and add to the bowl. Keeping the leaf tips on the rosemary sticks, remove the lower leaves and then smash these up in a pestle and mortar with the garlic. Stir in 8 tablespoons of olive oil, then pour this mixture over the bread, cheese and bacon. Marinate for anything from 15 minutes to an hour.

Thread your mozzarella and bread on to your rosemary sticks, weaving the bacon in and around. Line up the kebabs on a wire rack and place under the grill on a very high heat until the bread and bacon are golden and crisp and the mozzarella is nice and gooey. While this is grilling make sure you keep an eye on it, as it can turn into a charred kebab very quickly.

This is a good appetizer if you don’t mind having bad breath for about a week. I first saw this at Vinnie Testa’s on the east coast – they use giant garlic bulbs there – a score if you can find some at the market..

Ingredients:
a few large garlic bulbs
olive oil

Chop the skinny ends of the garlic off to expose the cloves underneath and wrap in aluminum foil so that the only opening is at the top.

Pour olive oil over the cloves and let some pool up in at the bottom of the foil.

Put into the oven at 350 degrees for about 30-40 mins. (the garlic is ready when the cloves will easily pop out of the bulb with a fork)

Ingredients:
Pumpkin Seeds
Salt

Put the seeds (and maybe some pumpkin guts too) into a baking pan. Salt lightly to tast and put in the over at 350 degrees for about 20-35 mins (until brown). These are a tasty seasonal snack..

These are a really good pre-dinner snack – talk about flavor country! The original recipe called for parmesan cheese sticks to be placed in the dates, but I prefer the creamy goat cheese. Think of pretty much every flavor you’ve ever tasted and that’s what it tastes like when you put one of these in your mouth (well, kinda). Very good – one of my newest favorite snacks..

Ingredients:
Pitted Dates
Bacon
1 Package creamy goat cheese
Toothpicks

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 450°F.

Slice pitted dates open on one side and fill with goat cheese.

Cut bacon slices into thirds and wrap around stuffed dates and secure with a toothpick.

Arrange dates 1 inch apart in a shallow baking pan.

Bake 5 minutes, then turn dates over with tongs and bake until bacon is crisp, 5 to 6 minutes more.

Drain on a paper bag or parchment. Serve immediately.