Recipes featured on the Superbowl Snacks segment:

• Pregame Pita Pizza Bites Recipe

• Kickoff Potato Skins with Chili and Cheese and Bacon and Blue Cheese Recipe

• Superbowl Sliders Recipe

Welcome everyone from Fox Q13 Morning News!  Below you will find all of the recipes from this morning’s Superbowl Snacks segment.  If you have any questions or comments please feel free to leave them.  Enjoy!

Recipes from today’s segment:

• Pregame Pita Pizza Bites Recipe

• Kickoff Potato Skins with Chili and Cheese and Bacon and Blue Cheese Recipe

• Superbowl Sliders Recipe

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Makes 20 Mini Pita Pizzas

These Pita Pizza Bites are simple yet delicious and will round out your Superbowl menu perfectly.  These bite size pizzas have prosciutto, fresh mozzarella and a homemade tomato sauce.  Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 20 mini pitas
• about 4 large fresh mozzarella balls, sliced into 5 slices
• 1/2 cup Parmesan, shredded
• 10 slices of prosciutto
• 5 large basil leaves roughly chopped
• 1 1/2 cups pizza sauce (see below for recipe)

Directions

1. Place the pitas on a baking sheet.
2. Dollop 1/2 of a Tablespoon of sauce on each pita.
3. Top each pita with a slice of mozzarella and 1 teaspoon of Parmesan cheese.
4. Broil in your oven on high for 2-4 minutes, watching to make sure they don’t burn.
5. Top each pita with 1/2 a slice of prosciutto and sprinkle with basil.
6. Serve.

Pizza Sauce Ingredients

• 1, 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
• 2 Tablespoons ketchup
• 1/8 teaspoon granulated garlic
• pinch of salt

Pizza Sauce Directions

1. Stir all of the ingredients together in a medium sauté pan.
2. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and smash tomatoes with the back of a spoon.  Allow to simmer and reduce for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Makes 16 Large or 32 Small Potato Skins

Get ready for Kickoff with two varieties of my delicious potato skins, Chilli and Cheese and Bacon and Blue Cheese, two fun twists on the classic appetizer.

Ingredients

• 8 large or 16 small russet potatoes, washed
• 7 slices of bacon
• 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
• pinch cayenne pepper
• 2 cups mascarpone
• 1 cup blue cheese, crumbled
• 2 cups chili, canned
• 2 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/3 cup Sour cream
• 1/4 cup Chives

Directions

1. Pre heat your oven to 375°.
2. Pierce potatoes with a fork and bake on a baking sheet for 1-1 1/2 hours or until easily pierced with a fork.
3. Remove from the oven and set- aside until cool enough to handle.
4. Lay bacon strips on a baking sheet lined with Sil Pat or parchment paper.
5. Mix together brown sugar and cayenne.
6. Sprinkle brown sugar over bacon.
7. Bake for 12-16 minutes or until crispy. Remove from the oven and set-aside.
8. Once the potatoes have cooled, slice each one in half length-wise.
9. With a spoon scoop out most of the inside, leaving a 1/4inch rim left with the skin, reserve the scooped out potato for later mashed potatoes.
10. Remove from the oven and fill each one with 1 Tablespoon mascarpone (1 1/2 tablespoons for large potatoes).
11. Top half of them evenly with blue cheese and cut up the bacon and crumble the cooked bacon over the blue cheese.
12. Evenly fill the remaining potatoes with the chili and top with cheddar cheese.
13. Place filled potatoes back in the 375° oven and allow the cheese to melt, about 5-7 minutes.
14. Remove from the oven top both with scallions  and the chili ones with sour cream.

Makes 22 Sliders

Sliders are the perfect appetizer for the Big Game, no matter what side your friends are rooting for, these sliders will be a winner!

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 12 oz or 1 cup ground sausage
• 1/4 cup yellow onion, finely grated
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire
• 1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
• 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar, I use Mr. Vinegar’s vinegar
• salt
• 2 Tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cups yellow onion, sliced 1/4inch thik
• cheddar or swiss cheese, sliced,1 inch squares
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1 Tablespoon ketchup
• 2 teaspoons sweet relish
• 1/8 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon of red wine vinegar (I prefer Mr. Vinegar’s Red Wine vinegar)
• 22 Hawaiian sweet rolls

Directions

1. Pre-heat your oven to 375°.
2. In a mixing bowl mix together beef, sausage, onion, Worcestershire, garlic vinegar and pinch of salt.
3. Scoop into 18-22 large golf ball size balls and pat down into patties.  Keep wrapped in plastic in the fridge until ready to cook.
4. In a medium sauté pan over medium/high heat add olive oil and onions. Allow to caramelize for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. In a medium mixing bowl mix together mayonnaise, ketchup, relish, sugar, vinegar and a pinch of salt.  Keep in the fridge until ready to use.
6. When ready, heat a large heavy bottomed skillet over high heat.  Salt and pepper both sides of each burger and when the skillet is  hot spray with cooking spray and a add the burgers.  (Don’t over crowd, work in batches if needed).
7. Cook about 2-3 minutes on each side to get a nice crust and place on a baking sheet and top with cheese.
8. Once all of the sliders have been seared, place them in the oven for about 5-10 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 160°.
9. Slice each roll in half and spread the top and bottom with the mayo sauce.
10. Place a patty on each roll and top with caramelized onions.

Image via Wikipedia

There are many reasons to buy organic food.  Fruit and vegetables that bear the USDA Organic label tell you that they weren’t grown using harmful chemical pesticides, fossil fuel and/or genetically modified seeds.  On meat, the label indicates that the feed provided met those same standards, and that the animals weren’t administered hormones and antibiotics.  Bottom line: “Organic” is more sustainable and healthier — for the environment and farm workers, certainly, and for you and your family

How is organic healthier?
It’s healthier because some studies suggest that organic produce have more nutrients than their conventional counterparts, probably because the soil is left in better condition after repeated plantings; and healthier because you avoid ingesting any harmful pesticide residues left on conventional produce.  Read more here.

There are also several levels of “organic” food that you should be aware of:

• 100 percent organic. Products that are completely organic or made of all organic ingredients.
• Organic. Products that are at least 95 percent organic.
• Made with organic ingredients. These are products that contain at least 70 percent organic ingredients. The organic seal can’t be used on these packages.

Source: Mayo Clinic

Meat and Poultry – This insures you are getting a superior product without hormones or antibiotics.  Also look for meat that has been “grass fed”, this means the cattle were fed a natural diet rather than corn-based non-organic feed.

Milk – When you buy organic milk, the feed that the cow are eating are hormone and antibiotic free.

Baby Food – Because baby’s immune systems are not fully developed they are more susceptible to pesticides, so it is best to avoid them.

Here are a list of fruit and veggies that I would recommend to go organic with because they are considered the most easily contaminated by pesticides:

• Peaches
• Apples
• Sweet bell peppers
• Celery
• Nectarines
• Strawberries
• Cherries
• Lettuce
• Grapes (imported)
• Pears
• Spinach
• Potatoes
• Kale
• Carrots
• Tomatoes

I recently purchased a CuisinArt Elite 14-cup Food Processor.  This food processor has 3 bowls of varying size to fit any size task, a dough feature for perfect breads and adjustable slicing blades that makes grating cheese a snap.

There are two features that are my favorite improvement over the last CuisinArt food processor, 1.) the locking sealed lid so when I want to puree liquids it all stays in the bowl and 2.) the lock in place blade, when I pour out my bowl the blade doesn’t come tumbling out in to my food.

While the Elite food processor is more expensive than their non-elite line, the quality and features of the Elite model is well worth the premium!

Quick Ginger Tips
Ginger root is used in many Asian dishes and adds a nice spice to any marinade.

When purchasing ginger, look for a thick root with no dried spots.
All you need is a spoon and a Mircoplane to have freshly grated ginger.
With a spoon scrape off the rough skin.  You can peel only part of the ginger and save the rest for later.
To grate or mince ginger, use a Microplane and grate the area of the ginger you’ve just peeled.
Now you ginger is ready to add to marinades, sauces or a Stir Fry dish.  Enjoy!

Butterflying a chicken breast is a great technique for making a nice pocket to stuff the chicken breast or for reducing the size of the chicken breast allowing it to cook quicker.

Start with a long, sharp knife.  I use a slicing knife. Press your hand on the top of the breast  and with a sweeping slicing motion begin to cut into the middle of the breast.
Once you have a nice pocket, pull up on the top of the breast and keep slicing through.
Try to keep two equal halves of the chicken breast as you continue to slice.
If you want a butterflied breast do not cut all the way through. At the point shown to the right, open the breast like a book and you are ready to use.
If you would like to make Paillards, (two thin halves), cut right down the middle to create 2 halves.
That’s it, you’ve got a butterflied chicken breast!

When my husband and I traveled to Sonoma a few years ago, we met a charming couple named Roger and Joyce from Hamilton, Ontario while wine tasting at one of the many fantastic wineries in Sonoma.  After chatting with them about cooking and food while enjoying some spectacular wine, we learned that Roger was Mr. Vinegar and that he has a passion for creating high quality vinegars.   After learning more about his vinegars and how he produces all of them himself using only the highest quality ingredients, he offered to give us a couple bottles of his finest Vinegars.  I was in for a real treat when I got back to Seattle!

When we returned home, I began working Mr. Vinegars delicious vinegars into a couple of my recipes and was thrilled with what I tasted.  Now I regularly use Mr. Vinegar’s Red Wine Vinegar in salad dressing, sautéed mushrooms and mouthwatering sliders.   Mr. Vinegar’s vinegars are handcrafted and the quality truly shines through.  They are so smooth with a great depth of flavor.

Here’s some information about  Mr. Vinegar taken from their website:

Since 1994, Mr. Vinegar, has offered clients the taste and quality of bygone days before mass production.  Each vinegar is fully fermented in it’s own acclimated fermenter, using 100% full static fermentation in small batches, with no infusions, no artificial ingredients, and no coloring or sulfites.

I recommend every pantry has at least a bottle or two on hand, you can order them online at http://www.mrvinegar.com.  Thanks Roger and Joyce!