Our second recipe submission comes from Debra Keil of Eliot’s Eats. These little chicken meatballs are so cute and are perfect for a party appetizer (I’m thinking potentially for this weekend’s tailgate party!). Check out the recipe below, and make sure to visit Debra’s blog for a chance to win some Saucy Mama products!

Stuffed Hot Wing Chicken Meatballs

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 3)
1 c. Granny Smith apple, peeled and grated
1/4  c. loose flat Italian parsley leaves
1/4  c. Italian seasoned bread crumbs
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 t. sea salt
1/4  t.  pepper
1/4  c. crumbled blue cheese
1/8 c. Saucy Mama Hot Wing Sauce
For garnish:
2 stalks celery, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 yellow or orange bell pepper, cut into 1 inch ieces
1/8 c. Saucy Mama Hot wing Sauce
1 T. crumbled blue cheese

Directions:

Cut chicken breasts into large chunks and pulse in food processor with blade until you have a very coarse ground.  Place chicken in a large mixing bowl.  Add apple, parsley, bread crumbs, garlic, egg, salt and pepper.  Mix with hands until incorporated.

Using a 1 inch ice cream or cookie scoop, form each meatball around a crumble of blue cheese, sealing the cheese inside.  Each meatball should be about 1 inch.  Place on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and glaze with 1/8 c. Saucy Mama hot wing sauce.  Garnish with celery and bell pepper as an appetizer.  Serve with remaining 1/8 c. hot wing sauce topped with crumbled blue cheese on the side for dipping.

Makes about 42 meatball appetizers (enough for at least 12 people).

It’s finally time! It took us a while to get out all 50 sample orders for our “I am a Saucy Mama” Contest, but the participant’s recipes are starting to come in! This is such an exciting time for us; we get to see fresh, innovative ideas for Saucy Mama sauces and hear what our contestants think about them. Eventually, we will try all the recipes too (that’s our favorite part), and determine the winner, who will receive a $1000 cash prize. This month is going to be filled with trying these new dishes and sharing the recipes throughout our community on the web. Make sure you check back here for great new recipes from your favorite food bloggers…I can assure you, there’s going to be some really fantastic ones!

Here is the very first recipe we have received: Hot Wing Wontons. Submitted by Jodie from Eatin’ on the Cheap, these little babies look absolutely delicious and original, and we can’t wait to try them! The recipe is below; however, make sure you check out her page too, because she has some Saucy Mama goodies for giveaway. Also feel free to download our button for your own page if you like Saucy Mama!

Hot Wing Wontons

Ingredients:

1 cup finely chopped cooked chicken
1/3 cup finely chopped cabbage
1 large carrot, grated
1 celery stalk, finely chopped or grated
1/2 cup Saucy Mama’s Hot Wing Sauce
1 egg, beaten
1 package of Wonton Wrappers
Canola or vegetable oil for frying ( about 1/2 gallon )
Blue Cheese dressing for dipping

Directions:

In a deep sided pot, heat your oil to 350 using a thermometer.
Meanwhile mix together chicken, cabbage, carrot, celery and wing sauce. Lay out a few wrappers and put a teaspoon of filling in the middle of each.Brush all 4 sides with a little egg wash and then fold wrapper over and press out all the air and seal the edges. You can then either leave them in triangles or, for a more bite size package, fold the corners in to create a little purse. Continue until all the wontons are done.
Gently drop 4 or 5 wontons in the hot oil at a time, frying until golden brown all over, about 1-2 minutes.
Remove and drain on paper towels.

 Serve with Blue Cheese dipping sauce and enjoy!

Mozzarella, Basil, & Grilled Cherry Tomatoes

Jan and I got a “come on over for dinner” call from our good friends Mary Alice and Bob. We had been working in the yard, and it was the perfect thing to look forward to for the evening. I love spur of the moment get togethers. There is no pressure to put on the perfect party; it is just good friends having a great time together.
 
I picked basil and cherry tomatoes out of my garden for the appetizer I decided to bring. I had purchased a baguette to go with our dinner I had planned for that night, but I still had to send Jan to the store to pick up some fresh mozzarella. I made crostini by slicing the baguette and brushing both sides of the slices with olive oil and sprinkled them with garlic salt. I placed them in a single layer on a cookie sheet and put them into a 425 degree preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes until they were crisp and golden brown. Meanwhile, I put the cherry tomatoes into a grilling basket in a single layer. If you are doing a lot of tomatoes, do more than one batch you because you want them to carmelize, not steam. Grill them over a hot fire until they burst and are blackened on the outside. Don’t worry about the juices leaking onto the fire- what remains of the tomato will be delicious! Slice the mozzarella and place on a platter with tomatoes and whole basil leaves.  Serve with a basket of crostini. 
 
Mary Alice served perfect martinis and made a wonderful pork tenderloin dinner. After dinner, we discussed what were our biggest “nigglies”. Nigglies are, you know, those things that are really of no importance, but still really bug you. Just be careful that your niggly isn’t something that the person sitting next to you does all the time! Or worse yet, that their niggly is something you do all the time. Oh well, when it comes to friends, the nigglies just aren’t nigglies anymore. We had such a great time!

The 4^th of July just kind of snuck up on me. I got back from New York and the Fancy Food show on the 1^st and had not planned a thing. Mike and Chris had gone camping with their families at the coast, so Jan and I were on our own. We quickly found others that had no family around for the holiday, and all of a sudden, there was a party at our house!

Anyways, this salad is perfect and light for summer. Sometimes, we even eat it as a main dish. Plus, it’s easy. If you are really pressed for time, you can simply substitute the bread with large croutons. To fill up the menu, our other guests brought some delicious stuff, and we were definitely well fed.

My perfect cherry tomatoes

Bread Salad with grilled Cherry Tomatoes

 Ingredients:

• 8 oz loaf Italian bread, cubed
• 2 lbs cherry tomatoes
• 1 lb fresh mozzarella, cubed
• ¾ cup Basil, roughly chopped
• ½ bottle Food and Wine Balsamic Basil Vinaigrette

 Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Place bread cubes on a rimmed baking sheet and spread into a single layer.  Bake until lightly toasted, about 20 to 25 minutes.  Allow to cool.

Place the cherry tomatoes in a large grilling basket that has been sprayed with non stick spray, and grill over hot coals or a gas grill on high until slightly blackened on the outside. Shake the basket to make sure the tomatoes char evenly.  Toss all ingredients together and serve. Quick, easy, and delicious!

• Apricot Ginger Mustard
• Dijon Mustard
• Tarragon Lemon Mustard
• Sweet Heat Marinade
• Sante Fe Creamy Chipotle Dressing
• Pacific Rim Ginger Dressing

Sound good? We sure think so! While these will be available to purchase in Fall 2010, I have been playing with new recipes using these products to share with you in the near future. The recipe below came from our Saucy Mama Martini Party and uses the new Saucy Mama Sweet Heat Marinade. This pork tenderloin, baked in the oven, turned out incredibly flavorful and tender. Our guests just loved it. 

Sweet Heat Pork Tenderloin

Saucy Mama’s Sweet Heat Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients:

• 2 bottles Saucy Mama’s Sweet Heat Marinade (coming Fall 2010!)
• 1  1/2 – 2 lbs of pork tenderloin

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  

Pour 1 bottle of marinade into a 1 gallon zip lock bag. Add pork. Place in flat baking dish and put in refrigerator for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days. Turn bag every so often when you happen to open the refrigerator. 

Place rack in large flat baking dish. Place marinated pork on rack and pour contents of the bag over it all. Place pork in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes. Every 10 minutes, drizzle the pork with marinade from the second bottle of Saucy Mama Sweet Heat Marinade. When the pork is cooked through, let it rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing. If there is any marinde left in the second bottle, add to the drippings in the pan. Use pan drippings for a dipping sauce for the pork. Slice the pork as you would BBQ pork and serve as an appetizer. This is also wonderful served as a main course. 

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In our small town of Pendleton there are so many get-togethers where everyone pitches in with food and even decorating, so  a great time can be had without host and/or hostess stress.  It also makes getting ready for a party as much fun as the party.  I have to bring an appetizer to one of those parties and leave for out of town early the next morning.  I am thinking really easy to make, really tasty, and really appetizing to look at.  Savory Smoked Salmon Spread fits the bill and I will still have lots of time to pack.

Savory Smoked Salmon Spread

2 – 8 ounce packages cream cheese
8 ounces smoked salmon, flaked (reserve about 2 tablespoons for garnish)
1-1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon Saucy Mama Horseradish
2 tablespoon minced chives (reserve 1 tablespoon for garnish)
1 teaspoon Saucy Mama Hot Wing Sauce

Beat cream cheese until smooth.  Add remaining ingredients except for garnish and blend thoroughly.  At this point you can place the spread in a serving bowl or form into ball and wrap with plastic wrap.  Either way chill for at least 1 hour up to 1 day.  Place on serving platter topped with the reserved flaked salmon and minced chives, and surrounded with a sliced baguette or crackers.

I love to have this left over smeared on my morning whole wheat bagel and topped with thinly sliced sweet onion.

We just celebrated Mike’s birthday.  His three sons Luke, 8 years, Ian, 6 years and Ben, 3 years, got to plan the party.  I got to be the driver, for shopping, and assistant in the kitchen.  The boys decided what their Dad liked doing best was playing games with them, so the perfect gift was SORRY! Sliders.  I do believe from Dad’s reaction that they made a good choice.
Dinner couldn’t have been easier.  We had rib steaks, that I had marinated for about 6 hours in Saucy Mama Cracked Pepper Marinade and then barbecued and topped with blue cheese.  Along with the steaks we had roasted carrots, and French fries.  I did all the prep before I went to pick up the boys after school, so we could spend lots of time browsing the store, picking out the perfect gift and birthday cards.  My Waring Pro Deep Fryer really helps the easy factor on meals like this.  It heats a gallon of canola oil to 325 in under 10 minutes and doesn’t drop a great deal in temperature when the potatoes are added for perfect crispy fries.

DAD’S CRACKED PEPPER STEAKS

4-1 inch thick rib steaks
Saucy Mama Cracked Pepper Marinade
Crumbled Blue Cheese

Place 2 steaks each in 1 gallon zip lock bags along with enough marinade to thoroughly coat.  Marinate for at least 1 hour up to 24 hours.  Allow steaks to sit at room temperature for 15 to 30 minutes before grilling.

Place steaks over medium-high heat for a minute or two, you just want to get good grill marks.  Turn steaks and repeat on other side.  If using a gas grill reduce temperature to medium, if over coals move the steaks away from hottest part of grill and cook for about 7 minutes more for medium rare.

Remove steaks from grill, top with crumbled blue cheese and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

ROASTED CARROTS

2 pounds carrots cut into 3 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch strips Food and Wine Three Herb Spice Marinade

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Place carrots on a rimmed baking sheet toss with enough marinade to coat.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until tender and golden.
Keep warm in oven until ready to serve.

FRENCH FRIES

4 Russet Potatoes into 1/4 inch sticks
Vegetable oil
Kosher salt to taste

Rinse potato sticks in cold water until the water runs clear.  Place potatoes in large bowl of ice water and let stand at least 1 hour.  This can be done a day ahead and kept in the refrigerator.

If not using a deep fat fryer pour 3 inches of oil into a deep, heavy cast iron skillet.  If using a deep fat fryer follow fryer instructions.

Bring oil to a temperature of 325 degrees

While oil is heating drain potatoes and thoroughly dry.  I keep a large bath towel that is only used in the kitchen for this purpose.

Fry potatoes in small batches.  Cook for about 3 minutes,  remove and drain on layers of paper towels.

When all of the potatoes have gone through their first cooking increase temperature of the oil to 375 degrees.

In small batches, again, fry the potatoes to a golden brown, about 4 minutes.

Drain on paper towels and season with kosher salt.

The kids did help with this recipe, but I did keep myself between the deep fat fryer and them.  You also have to be careful that they don’t sneak all the fries off the serving plate before they get to the table.  Those little guys are really good at stealthily opening the warming drawer.

If there is a time pinch you can fry the potatoes only once.  Bring the temperature of the oil to 365 degrees and cook the potatoes until golden, about 7 minutes.

Yippee!!  ‘Beyond the Bull’ The Round-Up Centennial Cookbook is finally finished and hot off the presses.  We got the books just in time for Round-up, our annual rodeo here in Pendleton www.pendletonroundup.com and the sales are going great.  We were even able to get Reba McEntire to do our forward.  I and my good friends and fellow cookbook planners Mary Alice and Raphael were able to present Reba with a cookbook at the Oregon State Fair.
We had so much fun meeting her.  She is very charming and just plain gorgeous in person.  If anyone out there would like to order a cookbook they can contact me and I will make sure they get one.  I do believe we really captured the flavor and personality of The Pendleton Round-up.  The price is
$28.95 plus $6.05 shipping and handling.  All the proceeds go to renovating the plaza and entrance to our historic rodeo in time for it’s 100th year.

We have to admit that it’s always great to see a recipe in which the author says, “This is one of those recipes where it’s almost insulting how good it is when it was made with so little effort.”  Yet that is exactly the kind of quick, easy and delicious recipe we were looking for when we sent a call out for our Saucy Mama’s Extraordinary Condiment Contest. If you’re looking for a simple and quick side dish for supper tonight, this tangy offering is a fantastic solution.  Thanks to Coconut & Lime for offering up such a beautiful creation.

More to follow later this week!  Enjoy!

Parmesan-Caper Potato Salad

1 1/2 lb red skin potatoes, diced

for the dressing
1/3 cup Saucy Mama Parmesan Garlic Marinade
1/3 cup diced green onion
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan
1 1/2 tablespoons nonpareil capers
salt
pepper

Directions:
In a large pot, boil the potatoes until fork-tender. Drain. Whisk together the dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Drizzle dressing over still slightly warm potatoes, toss to coat.

My good friend Jo Simpson had our monthly Bunco night at her house out in the country last night. Cheryl Doyle, another very good friend and I were co-hostesses.  Jo ordered a Mediterranean Chicken light crust pizza from our local Papa Murphy’s www.papamurphys.com so she could just slip it into the oven after we all arrived.  I made an asparagus salad using Saucy Mama Sesame Ginger Dressing.  For dessert Cheryl brought raspberry sherbet and butter cookies.  It all made for a very tasty very easy meal with no stress and lots of fun.  It was great to sit out on her deck watching the evening colors change on our beautiful Blue Mountains, catching up on each others lives and doing a whole bunch of laughing.

This salad is easy to make and travels well.

Asparagus Orange Salad with Glazed Almonds

Serves 8

1/2 cup whole almonds
3 tablespoons Saucy Mama Sesame Ginger Dressing
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

4 bunches asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 to 2 inch pieces
2 large oranges
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
1 large avocado cubed
1/3 cup Saucy Mama Sesame Ginger Dressing
2/3 cup fresh cilantro leaves

Place almonds in a heavy skillet set over medium heat.  I use my trusty old cast iron skillet.  Stir until almonds are lightly toasted, about 5 minutes.
Increase heat to medium high and add dressing and soy sauce.  Stir until the liquid has evaporated and the almonds are coated.  About 1 minute.  Transfer the almonds to a cutting board and coarsely chop as soon as they are cool enough to handle.

Cook asparagus in a large pot of rapidly boiling water for about 2 minutes until bright green and just tender.  Immediately plunge the asparagus into ice water to stop the cooking.  Drain well.

Use a sharp knife to remove the peel and pith from the oranges and divide the orange sections removing the membrane.

Toss the asparagus, oranges, onions, avocado and dressing together.

Place into a pretty serving dish and top with cilantro and almonds.