6-Minute Beef Cheeseball

You’ll have to excuse the fact I only have 1 photo for this post.  At some point in the future when I make this again, I’ll snap additional photos.  This time around I just took a quick photo before I served it as an appetizer for a dinner party we were hosting for some of my hubster’s coworkers.

This is one of my favorite cheeseball recipes. I grew up with both my mom & grandmother making this cheeseball—and I have no clue what the original source of this recipe is.  I do know that it is quick & easy, surprisingly flavorful given the limited ingredients, travels well & can be made a day or 2 ahead of when you need it. The flavor is actually better if you do make it a day ahead…  Serve with crackers, & you are done.  I like to form cheese balls in the container I will be serving them out of to make for a prettier presentation.  This recipe is easily doubled & is the perfect solution when you need to take an appetizer to 2 different parties within a short period of time.

6-minute Beef Cheeseball
Prep time: 6 minutes, Serves: Many

Ingredients

• 1 package cream cheese (8 oz), softened
• small bunch of chives, chopped finely (can substitute the green parts of 1-2 green onions, sliced finely)
• 1 T. Worcestershire sauce (+1 t. extra if desired)
• 1/2 package Buddig beef deli meat or equivalent store brand (approx 3 oz)
• Approximately 3 oz. dried beef* (found in the deli meat section, or in the canned meat section of the grocery store. This is the salty, dried beef used for chipped beef gravy, or that could survive a nuclear apocalypse. If you can’t find it, or don’t want to use it, use the rest of the package of Buddig beef)

Directions
1. Let cream cheese soften on the counter in its packaging for at least 30 minutes before assembling.  Finely chop the Buddig beef & put in a small bowl.  Finely chop the dried beef & place in a separate bowl.

2. Scrape the cream cheese into a small mixing bowl.  Add the chives, Worcestershire sauce, all of the Buddig beef & half of the dried beef on top of the cream cheese.  Fold ingredients together with a rubber spatula until well mixed.

3. Line the bowl you want to serve the cheese ball out of with a large piece of plastic wrap.  Sprinkle the inside of the plastic wrap-lined bowl with some of the remaining dried beef.  Scrape the cheeseball into the bowl & cover with the remaining dried beef.  Twist the cheeseball up tightly in the plastic wrap, shape it to the desired shape & refrigerate.

My favorite hummus recipe

I’m not a big fan of beans & peas.  I’ll eat them when I HAVE to, but the textures typically make me gaggy.  Chickpeas in homemade hummus form are now the exception (I still can’t eat chickpeas whole, creepy texture).  Hummus was one of those things I really didn’t like until a couple of years ago…basically until I started making it on my own & could control the thickness/consistency of the final product.

This is one of my favorite go-to appetizers when hosting a party or dinner.  It’s easy to make, cheap, & you can make it in advance & just garnish it before serving.  Dress it up with some cut up vegetables & homemade pita chips…and you’re done. Making your own hummus is typically cheaper than buying it premade, plus you can control the quality of your ingredients. Many store-bought hummuses (hummi?) are made with oil blends, which makes them especially icky for me since I have a canola oil intolerance. Plus, I mentioned it’s cheaper right? I buy cans of chickpeas for less than $1 at the international grocery and this uses like maybe $0.10 worth of tahini since I buy it in a big jar.  I always have lemon juice, garlic, olive oil & salt on hand…so you figure it takes $1.10 of “specialty” ingredients, and it yields over 2 cups of hummus.  Unless you are buying your containers of hummus for less than $0.55…you are being robbed.

My favorite recipe for hummus comes off of the back of a Ziyad brand can of chickpeas.  In fact, I’m glad I’m posting this recipe, because if Ziyad ever changed its label I’d be hosed.  I made a slight variation regarding garlic/lemon…but it’s fine “as is” if you want too.  Enjoy!

Basic Hummus
Prep time- 5 min, “Cook” time= 5 min, Serves- many


Ingredients

Ingredient Lineup...I always have these ingredients in my
fridge/pantry so that I can make this in a snap whenever it sounds good.

• 1 can chickpeas (15-16oz) drained
• 1/3 cup Tahini*
• 2 T lemon juice + 1 t. lemon juice
• 2 cloves garlic (or 1 if you like less-garlic)
• dash of salt
• 3 T. extra virgin olive oil + extra for garnish
• Sumac or Smoked Paprika for garnish** [optional]

Directions
1.  In a blender or food processor, add the cloves of garlic & the salt.  Pulse until finely minced.

The salt helps to mince the garlic.

2.  Add the chickpeas, tahini, 2 T lemon juice & 3 T. of olive oil & pulse to desired consistency. Add more olive oil for smoother hummus. Add more salt if needed.

Blend/puree this until it reaches your chosen consistency

3.  Move hummus to a small bowl.  If serving immediately, drizzle top of hummus with olive oil & sprinkle with sumac & smoked paprika.  If storing, cover tightly & store in the refrigerator.

Top with a drizzle of olive oil & spices if desired, & enjoy!

*Tahini is made of ground sesame seeds and it is peanut-butter’ish in consistency.  It can be found at international grocery stores, Whole Foods, or in the organic condiments or condiment aisle of your grocery store.  Tahini is also a great addition to salad dressings or marinades, & has a pretty good shelf-life.  However it is not a good substitute for peanut butter for removing dog hair from your throat (long story, ask my husband, he has a experience in this).

**Sumac is a Middle Eastern spice that has sort of an acidic & flowery flavor.  It is purplish in color & is a beautiful spice for garnishing dishes.  I buy mine from The Spice House.  I recommend a gentle sprinkling of smoked paprika for garnishing as well, due to its rich, beautiful color & subtle smoky flavor when used in small amounts.

Crispy Tofu & Edamame

Yesterday we went on a meat-binge.  We had a lovely lunch at Fogo de Chao in honor of my Hub’s birthday.  It was fabulous, but we ate more meat in one sitting than we typically do in an entire week, especially red meat.  It’s an indulgence we only do once or twice a year…and I always end up feeling sluggish & guilty for a couple days afterwards.  

To help remedy that, it was a meatless dinner night tonight in our household.  More specifically, it was a “meatless appetizers for dinner” kind of night…I made crispy tofu with a trio of dipping sauces & served it with boiled edamame seasoned with sea salt.  And yes…you don’t have to say it…I realize that fried tofu does not equal a healthy meal.  But it’s not a steak, ribs, chicken, or anything else that once made a barnyard sound.  Plus, I had tofu in my meat drawer that I needed to use.  

Crispy tofu & peanut ginger dipping sauce.

Edamame are immature soybeans, which are a great source of vitamins, minerals, fiber & protein.  I love that our local big chain grocery store (Kroger) now carries edamame.  I normally have to look for it in the organic food freezer case.  I love having the option to get it on my regular grocery run without driving to my favorite international grocery store. 

Currently my Kroger carries Seapoint Farms Edamame

Just follow the directions on the package for cooking it—some varieties are parboiled & others require a longer boiling time until the pods are tender.  Drain & sprinkle the pods with salt.  To eat edamame, either take your fingers to open the pods to remove the beans, or use your teeth to pop the beans out of the pods.  You do not want to eat the outer pod—it is stringy, fuzzy & fiber’y.  Not good.     

You will want a spare bowl on hand for the empty shells to go into

Crispy Tofu

Serves 2-4, Prep time 5 min, Cook time 10 min

Ingredient Lineup. Simple & Quick

Ingredients

• 1 package of firm or extra firm tofu
• Corn starch
• Vegetable Oil
• Salt (optional)

Directions

1.  Remove tofu blocks from water.  Only remove the amount of tofu you will use (for 2 people as the only dinner entrée, I normally use a full package. For an appetizer for 2, I use 1/2 package).  Cut tofu into 1-inch cubes.  Dry tofu thoroughly with paper towels, gently blotting the excess water out of the tofu.

Whole slices from the package, excess water removed

Slices cubed. It doesn't hurt to dry off individual cubes.

2.  Place the tofu in the bottom of a quart/gallon storage bag, or on the bottom of a quart/gallon storage container.  Generously sprinkle top of tofu with cornstarch, & lightly sprinkle with salt.  Seal & toss tofu gently until evenly coated in a thin layer of cornstarch.  

Pre-coating with cornstarch

Post-coating with cornstarch.  You want a THIN
layer of cornstarch on the outside of the tofu.
Too thick, & the taste will be hard & metallic.

3.  Heat approximately 1-inch of oil in skillet until it reaches frying temperature (but do not let oil smoke/scorch).  Carefully add tofu to oil & fry until golden brown, 8-10 minutes. WARNING—beware of “exploding tofu.”  It can happen.  Sometimes there are small air/water pockets within the tofu that can expand & pressurize when frying. Normally the tofu will just splatter out into the oil a little bit & not jump out of the pan.  You can get a little bit of grease splatter with this though (similar to the grease pops  when frying bacon), so I would keep kids & pets away from the stove while cooking, and wear an apron to protect your clothing.

Tofu sizzling.

4.  Remove tofu from oil when it reaches a light golden brown color, or when the cornstarch breading feels firm.  Serve with dipping sauces.

Finished tofu.  I let the cornstarch get a little too thick on
a few of the pieces.

Trio of dipping sauces.  Front= Sweet & Hot Sauce,
Middle= Citrus Ponzu with Hot Sesame Oil,
Back= Peanut Ginger Sauce

Dipping Sauce #1- Peanut Ginger Sauce

Same recipe as the dressing for Colorful Asian Slaw

Peanut Ginger Dipping Sauce Ingredient Lineup

Ingredients

• 1 T. rice wine vinegar
• 1 T. vegetable oil
• 2.25 t. creamy peanut butter
• 1.5 t. soy sauce
• 1.5 t. brown sugar
• 1 t. fresh ginger, minced finely
• 0.75 t. fresh garlic, minced finely

Directions

1. Warm peanut butter for 15-30 seconds in the microwave. Stir in other ingredients until well mixed. Serve.

Dipping Sauce #2- Citrus Ponzu with hot sesame oil

Ingredient lineup.  Super simple. 

Ingredients

• Ponzu
• Hot Sesame Oil, to taste

Directions:

1. Stir ingredients together, serve.

Dipping Sauce #3- Sweet & Hot Sauce  (Siracha Honey)

Ingredient Lineup.  Again, simple.

Ingredients

• 4 T. Honey
• ¼ t. Siracha + more to taste
• 1 t. water [optional]

Directions

1.  Warm honey in the microwave until thin & runny (approximately 10-20 seconds depending on microwave).  Add siracha, stir gently until well mixed.   If you want a thinner sauce, stir in 1 t. of warm water.