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I Love Chicken Cordon Bleu and this is one of the best from BigOven.com.  I’ve made it several times and it always is delicious.  Looks as great as it tastes.

I wish I could take credit for the recipe but not. I do love it!!  It was submitted by Ellie36.  Over 8,000 people have said they want to make it and over 11,000 have it in their BigOven favorites.

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I have made it several times and when I made it and took a photo, it looked like this:

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If you like this recipe from KCinAZ, then give me a like or comment on this post. 😀  I’ll try to give you more fun recipes.

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This is a much enjoyed appetizer that can be made a variety of ways.  My friend, Mariette, uses a much sharper cheese and it’s just a delicious.  It just has a different twist.  Many recipes include spinach, but somehow, someway, I’ve not acquired a taste for spinach in large doses.  Another fun addition is sun dried tomatoes but if doing that do so in small doses too.  For a sharper more flavorful taste use Asiago Cheese, Gruyere Cheese or an Italian blend.

Artichoke dip is one of my regulars to take to take to a Pot Luck dinner. It’s a warm dish served with crackers, toasted baguette slices or tortilla chips. Or, if you have left overs or prefer a cold dish it makes a great tapenade for crackers, toasted bread, etc. I often used my left overs from a party for a Happy Hour cold dish appetizer the following day.

This recipe calls for only 1 1/2 cups of artichoke hearts but if you’re feeling a little frivolous you can always go with more.  Depending on the size of the group and how far I want it to go, I would opt for more chopped hearts.  If I were downsizing to a smaller group then there would still be as much artichoke and then less mayo and half-and-half to make it a thicker richer tapenade.  Feel free to experiment.  I always do.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups Artichoke hearts; quartered and then chopped 1/4 cup Half-and-half cream
1 cup Mozzarella; shredded 1/2 teaspoon Salt; to taste
1 cup Parmesan cheese; shredded 1/4 cup Baby spinach; shopped; optional; I never add
1 cup Mayonnaise

Artichoke Dip Appetizer or Tapenade Preparation

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Quarter and then chop into bits
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Mixed up creamy texture ready for the hot oven

Take 32 ounce jar of whole artichoke; Dry weight is 19.5 ounces. Drain of all liquid. If the artichoke has been marinated in olive oil then rinse under running water until all or most of the oil has been removed. Chop the artichoke until diced or slightly larger size. I find it easier to quarter the artichoke heart and then cut those pieces into thirds with the cut side facing up.

Place in 2 quart baking dish. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Continue to add cream or mayonnaise until easily mixed but with not too much liquid.  If you want it more firm add less mayo.

Bake in 350 degree oven for around 20-30 minutes, remixing occasionally so that it heats evenly throughout. Remove when cheese begins to toast slightly on the top layer.

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Ready and hot from the oven

Serve with crackers, French baguette (sliced and toasted) or corn tortilla chips.

French Baguette:

Slice French Baguette. Place on baking sheet. Spray or brush lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle with slight layer of garlic salt. Sprinkle with slight layer of Italian spice. Place under hot broiler until lightly browned. Remove from oven and serve immediately with spread.

If taking to a party to serve later then remove from baking sheet and let cool on cookie rack. Place warm artichoke dip in crockpot and reheat on low to serve after you arrive at the party.

If you like the recipe from KCinAZ, then give me a like or comment on this post. 😀  I’ll try to give you more fun recipes.

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Here’s a new twist on cooking salmon.  Instead of simple grilling or frying, we’ve added some parmesan cheese to the mix for a little sharpened flavor.  The fish was marinated in a lemonade mixture with garlic and Italian seasoning to give it more internal flavor.  The hash brown that are served along as a side also have the extra up-taste of the same parmesan.  There were a few problems getting the cheese to stick to the fish and not the grill so make sure your grill is on the hot side and don’t turn to soon.

Fish:
2 – 3 salmon filets
1 – 12 ounce can pink lemonade
1    teaspoon garlic salt
1   teaspoon Italian Dried Seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
3  tablespoons parmesan cheese

Hash browns:
1/2 package Simply Potatoes Shredded Hash browns (the best)
salt and pepper to taste
3     tablespoons parmesan cheese

In a dish deep enough to hold the salmon filets, add lemonade, garlic salt and Italian Seasoning.  Clean the backside of the salmon and remove any brown Allow to marinate for 1 hour in the refrigerator, turning if necessary.  These fish are marinating in a clay baking dishes.   Preheat grill or  oil skillet to cook the fish.

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Place the fish on the hot grill or skillet.  Add salt, pepper and parmesan cheese to the side up.  Allow to cook for around 5 minutes on the first side or until the fish no longer is sticking on the grill.  Meanwhile, heat a medium size skillet on medium high and spray with olive oil or Pam.  When warm add 1/2 package of Simply Potatoes Shredded Hashbrowns, salt, pepper and more parmesan cheese.

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Carefully turn the fish ensuring that it is not sticking to the grill.  If it appears to be sticking use a sharp edge turner to release the fish from the grill but make sure it has charred in the grill marks before turning.  Watch your potatoes, too and turn occasionally until brown.  Mash the hash browns into the pan with the turner to help them brown more quickly.

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Serve with pan fried hash browns seasoned with salt, pepper and parmesan cheese.

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If you like this recipe from KCinAZ, then give me a like or comment on this post. 😀 I’ll try to give you more fun recipes.

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This is an easy to prepare recipe with lots of chicken and cheese filling.  It’s a not too hot Mexican dish which suits my palette perfectly.  It may appear to be similar to others that you may have seen except that it uses real Hatch Fire-Roasted Diced Green Chiles and Macayo’s Green Chili Enchilada Sauce instead of the creamy chicken soup.  This would be more of an authentic or traditional Mexican dish.

Cook the Chicken:
16   ounce Chicken broth, add water if necessary to cover
4    boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 cup Fajita Spice; I’ll provide a recipe sometime in the future for the Fajita Spice
8 ounces Green chili; Hatch Fire-Roasted Mild Canned

Preparing the Burrito:
16 ounce Enchilada sauce; Macayo’s Green Chili Enchilada Sauce
4   cups shredded cheese; Three Cheese Mexican Blend
1 tablespoon Fajita Spice; Sprinkle to taste
8 Flour tortillas; burrito size

Garnish the Dish:
1/2 cup Tomatoes; chopped
1/4 cup Lettuce; iceberg sliced thin
1 cup Sour cream

Preparation

In saucepan cook chicken in chicken broth, 4 ounces green chilies and Fajita Spice until chicken is fully cooked and tender.   Use a small strainer as it cooks to remove clouding from the broth.  Start at medium high heat until the water comes to a slow boil then turn down and cook on low until meat is fully cooked and tender.  Add additional water as necessary so that chicken remains covered with liquid.  After meat is fully cooked, remove from broth and allow to cool in refrigerator.  After the chicken had cooled, shred the it by pulling apart along the grain with your hands, or, you can use two forks to shed it.

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Sprinkle additional Fajita Spice over chicken adding as much as you like to get the right heat mix for you.  Add 2 more ounces of the canned diced green chilies reserving the balance for garnish.   Mix the chicken, spice and green chilies together until blended.

How to Fill a Burrito:

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Take one burrito and using a ladle, spread approximately 1-2 tablespoons of green chili enchilada sauce evenly over the burrito out to the edges like you would add sauce to a pizza.

Add approximately 1/4 cup of chicken to the center of the burrito making it as full as you  like.  You can always use less burritos and fill them with more filling.  Or less filling and more burritos if you prefer.

Add shredded cheese over the chicken until there is a light layer of cheese across the chicken.  Roll the chicken filled burrito starting at one end.  Fold over the first half of the burrito and then fold in both sides like an envelope.  Then continue to roll the burrito until it forms a circle.  You’ll notice from the illustrations that I didn’t fold both side enough.  Make sure they are turned in so the filling doesn’t fall out.

Place in 9×13 non-stick baking pan with fold end down.  Continue with each burrito using the same steps above in How to Fill a Burrito until the pan is full.  I can usually get 6-8 burritos in the pan using up all the filling.  This all depends on how much filling you place in each burrito and the number of people who are dining with you.

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Spoon remaining green chili sauce and green chilies over the burrito tops, but do not add the cheese on the top yet.  Bake in 375 oven for 20 minutes.  Add shredded cheese and continue baking for an additional 15 minutes or until chicken is fully heated inside and cheese is melted, but NOT burned..

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Almost without fail, when I have a dinner party or a gathering  for a fun cocktail hour evening, I will serve this appetiser.  It’s a great one to mix up for your friends and to get your friends to mix together.  Sometimes, a Bruschetta is served with the tapanade already on the bread.

I like to serve mine with toasted baquette and the Bruschetta on the side so the bread does not get soggy.  Hate soggy bread for some reason.

So, if you like to have the tapenade flavor mix into the bread, then feel free to serve the toasties already topped.  The difference though is that your friends may just load their plate and not mingle as much around the appetiser table.  There are a couple of other appetisers in the feature image; Stuffed Mushrooms.  One is a Stuffed Mushrooms with Sweet Italian Sausage, Goat Cheese & Figs and Crab Stuffed Mushrooms with Water Chestnuts.  Look for these in the future.

This baquette toastie is different from most that I have tried because it is a nice appetiser all on it’s own.  It has a robust flavor that is enhanced by the Bruschetta.  You can use this baquette recipe for almost any tapenade.  Enjoy… from KCinAZ.

Ingredients

Bruschetta Topping:   Baguette:
1/4 cup Extra virgin olive oil 1  pound French bread Baguette
1  tablespoon Champagne Wine vinegar 1/4 cup Extra virgin olive oil
2  cloves garlic, peeled; chopped 1/4 teaspoon Garlic Salt
3  large Tomatoes; chopped  Italian seasoning to taste
12  sprigs Basil; chopped 1/4 cup Asiago Cheese shredded
Salt; To taste

Preparation

Remove seeds and pulp from tomatoes and then dice into small pieces.  Mix together tomatoes, chopped or minced garlic cloves, olive oil, Champagne wine vinegar, chopped basil, salt and pepper and set aside to serve at table.

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Slice French bread baguette into 1/4 – 1/2 inch slices; your choice depending on the crowd.  Place on flat baking dish like a heavy cookie pan.  Brush top of each slice with extra virgin olive oil, then sprinkle with garlic salt and lightly top with shredded Asiago Cheese on each bread slice.  Place under hot broiler and cook on BROIL until lightly browned.

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If you don’t have Asiago Cheese on hand, feel free to substitute fresh shredded Parmesan.  It will still be great!

Makes 12 servings.