An easy pitch-in bundle of flavor
It's Tuesday, Dec. 23, time for the company Christmas dinner.
As you can imagine, everyone here at The Brazil Times has their own personal specialty dish when it comes to food. There isn't an end to the incredible array of food when we have a pitch-in dinner.
There are tables filled with soups, salads, dips, side dishes, vegetable plates, candy, cakes, pies and lots of other wonderful food items to sample over and over again while putting in our work day.
Nicknamed "the Paula Dean of The Brazil Times," there are several items I cook that are repeatedly requested as company favorites.
When a sign-up sheet for a pitch-in dinner goes up on the general manager's office window, I don't sign up anymore. Instead, I ask what my co-workers want me to bring.
For this Christmas, the general consensus around the office was for me to bring "Baked Potato Soup" with all the trimmings. However, one of my co-workers makes mouth-watering "Cheesy Potatoes."
Although not quite the same, I had to make something else, something different.
I ate my first "Stuffed Biscuit" while attending a holiday party several years ago. Those yummy store-made biscuits were filled with creamed onions and cheese, but I have modified the recipe over the years to make it my own. (Which is why I love to cook, creating a unique flavor from something else.)
So, I made the incredible little bundles of flavor -- which are very simple to make -- and took them to the pitch-in dinner.
Since requests for the recipe started after people took one bite, I decided to share my modified version with you readers.
Mix together one package of room temperature cream cheese with one 8-12 ounce package of your favorite shredded cheese.
Finely chop 1/2 cup each of red and green onions and two tablespoons of garlic to add to the cream cheese mixture. Stir until mixed well.
Now comes the fun part. Add 1 1/2 cups (2 cups if using ground beef, turkey or sausage) of your favorite fully cooked meat, cooled, to the cream cheese mixture along with up to one cup of real bacon bits or freshly cooked crumbled bacon. Add one tablespoon of Mrs. Dash seasoning (or something similar), mix thoroughly together and refrigerate for at least an hour. When chilled, roll mixture into 16 balls and refrigerate for another half hour. (Try a fruit filling for a dessert treat.)
Pull apart each biscuit in a can of "Grands Flaky Biscuits," making 16 circles of dough you can stretch out about a half-inch larger than the original size. Place one ball inside the circle and pinch the dough completely shut while making sure no air remains inside. If air is left inside the bundle it will pop open while baking. (Don't worry, they are just as good to eat, but maybe not as pretty to look at.)
Dip in one stick of melted butter with two tablespoons of garlic powder, one teaspoon each of parsley flakes and white pepper and then place on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle a little bit of grated Parmesan cheese on top before placing the baking sheet on the middle rack of a preheated 350-degree oven.
Let the biscuits "slow bake" for 25-30 minutes, or until a light golden brown. Immediately remove the bundles from the baking pan to stop the heat from overcooking the bottoms.
Eaten warm or cold, these are delightful hand-held goodie for breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack. I recommend you make a bunch of these, because they are terrific reheated in the microwave for about 30 seconds.
A little side note for my blog readers:
May God bless your holidays and I pray you take a moment to really communicate with your family, friends and neighbors. We could all benefit from taking the time to get to know each other a little better.
Happy Holidays to all...
Miss Ivy
- -- Posted by Centered on Tue, Dec 23, 2008, at 5:02 PM
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