Here There and Everywhere

Never Fail Appetizers: Sausage Cheese Puffs and Artichoke Cheese Dip

These two recipes are so easy that even a ten year old and a seven year old can make them – as we did last night to say farewell to 2020 (and good riddance!) and to welcome 2021. The kids love these, and so do most adults. At one party, I watched a shy man eat almost the entire recipe of cheese dip, he loved it so much. We are trying to give our grandchildren tools for living, tools for self-reliance and confidence in themselves and their skills.

They are both from an old cookbook from my military wife days – The Fort Leavenworth Cookbook. Things change; I don’t know if military wives still have the same expectations, but we needed fool-proof, quick recipes we could prepare from the pantry in a heartbeat. These two fit the bill, and are great crowd pleasers.

Sausage Cheese Puffs

1 pound hot or sweet bulk sausage

1 pound sharp cheddar cheese

3 cups biscuit mix

3/4 cup water

Brown sausage, drain and cool. Add cheese, biscuit mix and water. Mx with fork – or fingers, until it sticks together. Roll into 1 inch balls. Bake at 400 degrees for 12 – 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Makes about 80.

Artichoke Cheese Dip

1 14 ounce can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped (or one jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped)

1 small jar chopped red pimentos

(optional: chopped up pickled jalepeno pieces, to taste, one or two tablespoons)

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese

2 cups grated sharp Cheddar

(I use 16 ounce bags of Mexican mix cheese in place of cheddar + Monterey Jack; they keep in the freezer)

1/8 teaspoon cumin powder

1 cup mayonnaise (we use 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 1/2 cup sour cream)

Combine all ingredients, turn into baking dish (we use a quiche dish) and bake at 350 degrees until bubbling hot. Serve with corn chips.

Both of these recipes are very forgiving. Christmas Eve, I made the Sausage Cheese Puffs, only to discover I had forgotten to put in the sausage, cooked and cooling on the stove. I added it to the remainder of the dough, and we had two kinds of puffs, Cheese and Sausage-Cheese, and both were delicious.

The Artichoke Cheese Dip can use various kinds of cheese, and the extra cup of cheese I add doesn’t impact on the results. Nor does cooking it at 400 degrees, while I am also cooking Sausage Cheese Puffs. We need more of these fool-proof, flexible and delicious kinds of recipes!

Happy New Year and happy cooking 🙂

January 1, 2021 - Posted by intlxpatr | Cooking, Cultural, ExPat Life, Food, Recipes | Appetizers, Artichoke Cheese Dip, Fort Leavenworth Cookbook, Intergenerational, Sausage Cheese Puffs