Spicy Baked Artichoke Dip

This spicy baked artichoke dip is creamy, cheesy and delicious but oh, so easy to make! It can be prepared ahead and baked when you are ready to serve. 

It was four days before Christmas. As I finished checking out at my local grocery store, the self-check employee wished me a merry Christmas. I returned the good wishes and then laughed, saying, I’m sure I’ll be back before then! 

I was, in fact, there at least two more times. And my daughter was there once. We have lists! We plan ahead! And, yet, multiple trips to the store seem to be unavoidable somehow. Tell me it’s not just me, please. 

With the goal of not having to go out again for a while, I challenged my fellow Sunday FunDay bloggers to share appetizer recipes that can be made with the store cupboard and/or refrigerator/freezer items they usually have on hand. I’m thinking for New Year’s Eve but, truly, any party would do. 

Spicy Baked Artichoke Dip

This recipe calls for mayonnaise. DO NOT substitute Miracle Whip or salad cream – they are too sweet. 

Ingredients

1 cup or 240g mayonnaise 

1 1/2 cups or about 190g finely grated Parmesan

1 can (14oz or 400g) quartered artichoke hearts, drained weight 8 1/2oz or 240g

1 small hot red chili pepper

Optional additions: Sometimes we like to add crabmeat, cooked shrimp or crispy bacon before baking the dip to bubbling richness. 

To serve: crackers or toasted baguette slices

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C. 

Lay the drained artichoke quarters out on folded paper towels so they can dry while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. 

Mince the chili pepper. 

Measure the mayonnaise and Parmesan into a mixing bowl. 

Chop the artichokes roughly, discarding any tough pieces of the outer leaves. 

Add them into the mixing bowl along with the chili pepper and mix all the ingredients together.

Spoon the dip into the baking pan. 

Bake in the preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes for a smaller, deep ovenproof dish. Or for a little less time in a bigger, shallow pan. The dip should be golden on the top and bubbling hot. 

Serve the dip with crackers or sliced baguette. Leftovers are great in a baked potato or piled on toasted baguette slices and warmed in an oven. 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today, as I mentioned above, we are sharing appetizer recipes made with ingredients we usually have on hand (and hope you will too!) Check out the links below. 

• Baked Sweet Potato from Sneha's Recipe
• Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Celery from Palatable Pastime
• Go-to Queso Dip from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Jalapeño Popper Dip from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Savory Chevre Truffles from Culinary Cam
• Spicy Baked Artichoke Dip from Food Lust People Love
• Tomato and Boursin Bruschetta from Karen's Kitchen Stories

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Gingerbread Cookie Bars

These gingerbread cookie bars are an easy way to enjoy delicious gingerbread cookies without all the faff of rolling and cutting. Decorate with royal icing to finish. 

When my girls were younger, seasonal Christmas baking always included sugar cookies of various colors and designs and gingerbread men with royal icing features and M&M baking bit buttons. 

We loved baking and decorating them almost as much as eating our creations. Also, fancy cookies make great gifts for friends and neighbors. Who doesn’t like to get a small plate of festive Christmas cookies?

I must confess that I’ve gotten lazy now though. I rarely make any cookies that require rolling out and cutting, then re-rolling the scraps and cutting again. Even when I make sugar cookies, I make a sausage out of the dough so I can just slice and bake. 

The dough for these gingerbread cookie bars isn’t stiff enough to do that though, so I just bake them and cut them apart. Still so easy! 

Gingerbread Cookie Bars

For the molasses, use unsulphured, as in the ingredient list, NOT black strap which is very strongly flavored and will overwhelm the spices. I use Grandma’s brand. This recipe was adapted from one on Sally’s Baking Addiction. The royal icing ingredients make way more than you need to decorate these cookie bars but the balance can be kept indefinitely in the freezer.

Ingredients for 24 cookie bars

For the cookie bars:

2 1/4 cups or 281g flour

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup or 170g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1/2 cup, packed, or 100g dark brown sugar

1/2 cup or 100g sugar

1/3 cup or 80ml (113g) unsulphured molasses

1 large egg, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the royal icing:

1 1/4 cups or 156g powdered sugar 

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

pinch fine sea salt

1 large egg white (about 40g)

Important: Uncooked egg whites should not be served to anyone with a compromised immune system, unless those whites are from pasteurized eggs. Substitute an equivalent combination of powdered egg whites and water, according to the package instructions.

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare a 9x13 in or 23x33cm pan by lining it with baking parchment. I dab a little butter or oil in each corner and in the middle to help anchor the paper to the pan. This keeps it from sliding around as much. 

In a large mixing bowl, whisk to combine the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, nutmeg and salt. 

In a medium bowl, whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, sugar, egg, molasses and vanilla together until no lumps remain. 

Sift the flour mixture into the butter mixture folding as you go. 

Spoon the dough to the prepared baking pan. 

Use a spatula to spread and press it into a smooth, even layer. 

Bake for 23–26 minutes or until the top is set but still looks quite soft. There shouldn’t be any jiggle but do err on the side of under-baking. The bars puff up in the oven, but will deflate and firm up as they cool. 

Leave to cool on a wire rack in the pan for about 10 minutes then using side of the baking parchment, slide the baking parchment with bars on top from the baking pan to the wire rack.

Leave to cool for another 10-15 minutes, then slide the baking parchment with bars to a cutting board and cut into squares.

Gently separate the squares and leave to cool. 

Meanwhile, make the royal icing. Sift the powdered sugar, cream of tartar and pinch of salt into a mixing bowl. Add in the egg white.

 Whisk it in a little at a time from the middle, until all is incorporated.

When the cookie bars are completely cool, spoon some of the icing into your piping bag fitted with a #3 tip. 

Decorate as desired, letting some drip off the sides of the gingerbread bars. I like to do diagonal lines across the top. If you don’t have a piping bag and tip, use a Ziploc bag with a tiny corner cut off. 

Leave to set. 

The royal icing will harden up then the bars can be stored in an airtight container or packaged up to share with friends and family. 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing recipes on our holiday cookie platters in celebration of National Cookie Exchange Day which falls next Monday, 22 December. Many thanks to our host, Camilla of Culinary Cam. Check out the links below. 

• A Panoply of Pistachio Cookies by Culinary Cam
• Bakery-Style Holiday Sprinkle Cookies by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Citrusy Ginger Shortbread Cookies by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Egg Free Peanut Butter M&M Cookies by Mayuri's Jikoni
• Eggless Piped Chocolate Cookie by Sneha's Recipe
• Fruitcake Cookies by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Gingerbread Cookie Bars by Food Lust People Love
• Vegan Ginger Cookies by Sid's Sea Palm Cooking

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Pear Crisps

A delightful baked snack and so easy to make, these pear crisps are crunchy, naturally sweet and flavorful. Put out a bowl and watch them disapPEAR. 🍐

Every holiday season, we are gifted with a box of apples, oranges and pears. The apples and oranges get eaten but often the pears languish in the refrigerator since they aren’t really anyone’s favorite fruit. 

But now I’ve found a way to make sure they are enjoyed! Thinly sliced on a mandoline and baked in a slow oven, they come out crispy and delicious. Plus, bonus! If they don’t get eaten right away, they are good for quite a while, stored in an airtight container. 

Pear Crisps

These don’t have any additional ingredients because adding sugar, even a sprinkle, tends to make the pear slices sticky and harder to get crispy. You could add a sprinkle of ground cinnamon which doesn’t affect the moisture levels, if you are so inclined. 

Ingredients

Just-ripe firm pears  – I bake two at a time which fit nicely on my two large pans, once sliced

Method

Preheat your oven to 248°F/230°F fan or 120°C/100°C fan and prepare your baking pans by lining them with baking parchment or silicone liners. 

Trim the bottom of the pears. 

Hold the stem end of each pear and slice (about 1mm thick) as uniformly as possible. This is easiest with a mandoline. You will end up with the little stem ends as the cook’s bonus to eat while the slices bake. 

Lay out the pear slices on the prepared baking pans ensuring that none of the slices are overlapping.

Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour.

After 1 hour, turn the pear slices over and return them to the oven for a further 1 hour. 

After they have finished cooking, turn the oven off but leave the pans in the oven for a further hour so the pear slices become fully crisp. 

Once completely cooled, the pear crisps should be stored in an airtight container, to keep them crunchy.

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we celebrating National Pear Month. Many thanks to our host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. Check out the links below. 

• Arugula and Pear Salad from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Brûléed Posset-Filled Pears from Culinary Cam
• Gluten free Frangipane Pear Tarts from Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Pear and Cherry Sourdough Bread from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Pear Crisps from Food Lust People Love
• Protein Packed Winter Veggies & Fruit Salad from Sneha's Recipe
• Roasted Pear & Beet Salad from Amy's Cooking Adventures

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Confit Turkey Thighs

A delicious alternative to roast turkey, serving just a few people, these succulent confit turkey thighs have crispy skin and melt-in-your mouth meat.

Just a few months ago, I was looking for a roast pheasant recipe only to discover that, much like a whole turkey, if you roast a whole pheasant, you often end up overcooking the breast to get the thighs cooked. If you read my roast pheasant crown post, you know that I decided to separate the parts and cook them separately, choosing to confit the whole legs.

That’s because once you cook something with the confit method, you will want to confit all the things. Duck legs, pork belly, garlic, chicken gizzards, even tomatoes! I’ve cooked them all covered in oil or fat. I’ve even poached wild salmon in butter, which is essentially what the confit method is: Poaching something slowly in fat or oil.

So last Thanksgiving when I found myself with only three eaters to cook turkey dinner for, my thoughts, as per usual, turned to confit. I decided on turkey thighs because we do love the crispy skin and smaller joints like legs and wings don’t really have one big piece of skin to crisp up or, frankly, as much meat to share. 

I already bought my turkey thighs to repeat this dish for Thanksgiving this year and I can hardly wait. It’s that good! 

Confit Turkey Thighs

This recipe is easily doubled or trebled, if you have the right pot and enough duck fat. If you don't have duck fat, you can use another animal fat like goose fat, lard, or schmaltz (rendered chicken fat), or mild vegetable oils such as olive oil, canola oil or peanut oil. Keep in mind that some fats might change the flavor of the confit compared to the traditional duck fat method.

Ingredients

2 turkey thighs, bone-in, skin on – approx. weight = 1.87 lbs

Flakey sea salt – I like Maldon

Poultry seasoning

Freshly ground black pepper

2 bay leaves

Duck fat to cover in tightfitting pan or Dutch oven – I used 3 3/4 cups or 887ml

Method

Generously season the turkey thighs all over with the salt, poultry seasoning and black pepper in a shallow pan or casserole that will fit in your refrigerator. Tuck the bay leaves under the thighs and cover with cling film.

Refrigerate 24 hours or as many as 48 hours. 

When ready to confit the turkey thighs, preheat your oven to a slow 300°F or 150°C.  

Wipe the salt off gently with a paper towel and dry the thighs. Put them into a close-fitting oven safe pan or Dutch oven.  

Warm the duck fat gently if it is solidified.

Pour the duck fat over the turkey thighs to cover. They look like they are sticking out but there is a very thin layer of fat over the top. 

Bake at this gentle temperature for at least 3 hours. Remove from the oven and use a slotted spoon to put the thighs in a snug storage container with a lid. Pour the duck fat from the cooking pan over the thighs to cover. 

When chilled, the fat covering will protect the turkey thighs. 

These confit turkey thighs can be kept, carefully covered, in the refrigerator until you are ready to use them. As long as they are completely submerged in the duck fat and they are in an airtight container, they can last months. Confit is a great make-ahead dish.

To serve, bring the duck fat to room temperature and pour it off the turkey thighs. (Save it in a clean jar in the refrigerator for future use!)

Preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C. 

Brown the thighs skin side down in a hot pan. This just takes a few minutes.

Turn the thighs over and brown the other side. 

Bake the thighs, skin side up, in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. You can do this in an empty pan but last Thanksgiving, I popped them on top of the pan of stuffing since that needed to be baked as well. It was a good decision!

Baked and just out of the oven

To serve, remove the crispy skin and cut it into strips. Pull the turkey apart into large pieces. Discard the bones. Put the turkey in a serving bowl, surrounded by the skin so people can help themselves to both. 

Enjoy!

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are acknowledging that not everyone has a crowd to cook for during the holidays. So, for those folks, we are sharing some holiday main courses with fewer diners in mind. Check out the links below. 

• Bacon-Wrapped Sirloin Tip Roast from Palatable Pastime
• Confit Turkey Thighs from Food Lust People Love
• Dry Brined Roast Turkey Breast from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Milk-Braised Pork Loin with Carrot Sauce from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Nawabi Mutton Biryani with Burani Boondi Raita from Sneha's Recipe
• Roasted Lemon, Herb & Lavender Spatchcocked Chicken from Culinary Cam
• Stuffed Pork Loin Roast from Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Stuffed Turkey Breast with Gravy from Karen's Kitchen Stories

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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