Watch out Red Lobster!

We had another potluck at work and I signed up to bring an appetizer. I was really busy that week and didn't have much time to think about what to make let alone go shopping and make it!

The night before, my husband was trying to help me think of something I could make with only the ingredients we had in the house. We came across this cheese garlic biscuit recipe on allrecipes.com and it turned out great!

Cheese garlic Biscuits II

Allrecipes.com

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

5 Tbs butter

1 cup milk

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 cup butter

1 clove minced garlic

• Preheat oven to 400
• In a large bowl, sift flour, salt, and baking powder
• Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs
• Push the flour mixture to the sides of the bowl until you can see the bottom of the bowl
• Add the milk and cheese in the center
• Stir until combined
• Place small spoonfuls of the batter onto an ungreesed baking sheet
• Place in the oven for 12-15 min -until golden brown
• While the biscuits are in the oven, mix together melted butter and the minced garlic
• Once the biscuits are done and out of the oven, brush garlic butter over each biscuit

Best served warm, but can be refrigerated and served the next day.

They aren't going to replace the ones at Red Lobster, but it's a good rival.

Packer Party!

Yeah, I said Packer Party, not Super Bowl party :-) In honor of the Packers going to the Super Bowl on Sunday, I've pulled together a few snacks to add to your party list.

The first one is a pineapple upside down biscuit. It's such a staple of mine, I wouldn't be surprised if I posted this recipe before. It's a recipe from Paula Deen that I've recently adapted to be Packer-Friendly.

Pineapple Upside Down Biscuit

from foodnetwork.com

1 10oz can crushed pineapple
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup room temperature butter
10 maraschino cherries - For the Packer party get the green ones!
1 12oz package refrigerated buttermilk biscuits, (10 count) - I can never find these so I usually get two packages of 8

• Preheat the oven to 400F.
• Grease 10 muffin tin cups.
• Strain the can of crushed pineapple, save juice for later.
• Combine the pineapple, sugar, and butter, and mix well.
• Divide the pineapple mixture among the muffin cups.
• Place a cherry in the center of each muffin cup, making sure cherry hits bottom of cup.
• Place 1 biscuit in each cup, on top of sugar and pineapple mixture.
• Spoon 1 tsp reserved pineapple juice over each biscuit.
• Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden.
• Cool for 2 minutes.
• Invert the pan onto a plate to release the biscuits. Serve warm.

This next recipe was a HUGE hit on NYE. It's a pain-in-the-butt to make but well worth it.

Crispy smashed roasted potatoes

from The Best of fine Cooking Party Food magazine

12 - 15 baby red potatoes
Kosher salt

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

• Put the potatoes in a large saucepan (preferably in one layer) and cover with at least an inch of water. 
• Add 2 tsp. kosher salt to the water. 
• Bring the water to a boil over high heat, reduce to a simmer, and cook the potatoes until they are completely tender and can be easily pierced with a metal or wood skewer. The total cooking time will be 30 to 35 minutes.
• While the potatoes are cooking, set up a double layer of clean dishtowels on your countertop. 
• As the potatoes finish cooking, remove them individually from the water, and let them drain and sit for just a minute or two on the dishtowels. 
• Fold another dishtowel into quarters, and using it as a cover, gently press down on one potato with the palm of your hand to flatten it to a thickness of about 1/2 inch. 
• Repeat with all the potatoes.
• Cover a large rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil; put a sheet of parchment on top of the foil. 
• Transfer the flattened potatoes carefully to the baking sheet and let them cool completely at room temperature. 
• Heat the oven to 450°F. Alternatively, if you have a convection function, turn it on and set the temperature at 400°F. 
• Sprinkle the potatoes with about 3/4 tsp salt and pour the olive oil over them. 
• Lift the potatoes gently to make sure some of the oil goes underneath them and that they are well coated on both sides.
• Roast the potatoes until they’re crispy and deep brown around the edges, about 30 minutes if using a convection oven, 30 to 40 minutes if roasting conventionally, turning over once gently with a spatula or tongs halfway through cooking. 
• Serve hot.

These went really fast! A lot of people gravitated towards these because they thought the brown bits on top of the potatoes were bacon - but really they were just browned potato skins. :-)