Aimee’s Pretty Palate: Touchdown Town
It’s that time again. Football is in full swing, and it’s my 14th season being married to a man whose career is college sports.
While football lingo is still not part of my vernacular even after all these years, and I cannot decipher what is happening during most of any given football game as I’m too busy people-watching, my ability to serve up crowd-pleasing football game fare is top-tier, and my resume speaks for itself in that regard.
Award-winning queso dip? Check.
Contributed to Beth Peterson’s The Tailgate Cookbook? Mmhm.
Hosted a Cook-off Before Kick-off party with celebrity chef Ray Lampe aka Dr. BBQ? Yes.
Included in Christie Leigh Mueller’s Gridiron Belles: A Guide to Saturdays in Dixie book? Yes.
Traveled with the Taste of Home Cooking School across three states touting my party meatballs? That was me. And also, super fun.
So you see, while my knowledge of the actual game is minuscule, I am quite the authority when it comes to all things appetizing. So without further ado, let’s head on down to touchdown town and kick things off, shall we?
If you never thought of stuffing quesadillas with Buffalo chicken dip, here’s me prompting you to do so. All the spicy chicken and cheese flavor packed into a crisp tortilla is what Sunday afternoons are made for. These Buffalo Chicken Dip Quesadillas get bonus points for being handheld, too, which is my favorite way to enjoy party food.
If you need an irresistible snack with only a handful of ingredients, then say hello to my Pimiento Cheese & Sausage Pinwheels. I’ve cheated and used store-bought pimiento cheese to keep these incredibly easy, but you can always tweak with your own homemade pimiento cheese recipe. I have a Jalapeno Pimento Cheese recipe on my website that is applause-worthy and would also work well if your fans don’t mind a bit of kick.
And because no party is complete without dessert, Brookie Cups are a must-make this tailgate season. They are easy. They are delicious. And they are perfectly portable—all prerequisites for tailgate treats. They also solve the dilemma of whether to bring yet another tray of brownies or the same chocolate chip cookies you always bring. Merge those bad boys together and score big this season.
Buffalo Chicken Dip Quesadillas
2 cups rotisserie chicken, shredded
2⁄3 cup sour cream, plus more for serving
1⁄3 cup Buffalo-style hot sauce
1½ cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
4 (8-in.) flour tortillas
2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
In a medium bowl, stir together chicken, sour cream, hot sauce and cheese.
Spread a quarter of chicken mixture evenly over half of each tortilla. Fold tortillas in half.
Heat 1 Tbsp. of oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add 2 quesadillas. Cook, flipping once, until golden brown and crisp, about 2 minutes per side.
Transfer to a plate and cover loosely with aluminum foil to keep warm. Wipe skillet and repeat with remaining Tbsp. of oil and remaining 2 quesadillas.
Serve quesadillas with additional sour cream and top with chopped green onions, if desired.
Makes 4 servings.
Pimiento Cheese & Sausage Pinwheels
1 lb. ground pork sausage
1 Tbsp. sweet onion, grated
1 tsp. garlic powder
8 oz. Palmetto Cheese spread (it comes in an 11 oz. container)
2 (8-oz.) pkgs. refrigerated crescent rolls
In a large skillet, cook and crumble sausage over medium-high heat until no longer pink, about 5-7 minutes. Drain. Add onion and garlic powder and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in Palmetto Cheese until blended. Allow to cool.
Unroll 1 can of crescent dough. Separate each into 4 rectangles; pinch perforations to seal and create one rectangle approximately 6×4 in. Repeat with second can of dough. Spread each with sausage and cheese mixture, filling to ¼ in. of edges. Starting with a short side, roll up jelly-roll style, and pinch seam to seal. Roll gently to make log smooth. Prior to slicing, place rolls on a baking sheet lined with wax paper, seam side down. Freeze, covered, until firm, about an hour.
Once firm, cut each log into approximately 10 slices.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown, about 15-18 minutes. Serve warm.
Makes approximately 20 pinwheels.
Brookie Cups
For Brownie Layer (see pkg. instructions):
1 (18-oz.) pkg. fudge brownie mix
2 eggs
½ cup vegetable oil
3 Tbsp. buttermilk (substituted for water)
For Cookie Layer:
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. light brown sugar
1 egg yolk
½ tsp. vanilla extract
¼ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
Sea salt, for sprinkling (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray mini muffin pan with nonstick baking spray, or line regular baking pan with cupcake liners. Set aside.
In a medium-sized bowl, combine butter, sugar, egg yolk and vanilla extract.
Add baking soda, salt and flour. Use spatula to mix until just combined and flour is no longer visible. Fold in chocolate chips.
Make brownie batter according to pkg. instructions, substituting water with buttermilk. *The ingredients shown here are what was on the back of my brownie mix.
Spoon brownie batter into each cup, filling a little more than halfway. Roll cookie dough into little balls, about ½ in. wide, flatten slightly, and press into each brownie cup.
For mini brookies (baked in mini muffin tin), bake for about 12-15 minutes, or until brownie batter no longer looks wet and a toothpick comes out mostly clean.
For cupcake-size brookies (baked in regular muffin tin), bake for about 25-30 minutes or until brownie batter no longer looks wet and a toothpick comes out mostly clean.
Note: Remove brookies before they are completely done, as they will continue baking in pan while they cool.
Sprinkle tops of each brookie cup with sea salt, if desired.
Once brookies have cooled, about 10 minutes, remove from muffin pan.
Makes about 2 dozen mini cups or 16 cupcake-size cups.
