For the past few years we have either gone to a Superbowl Party or just ordered pizza while watching the game. This year my daughter had school the next day, so going to a party was out, and I just didn't feel like ordering pizza. So we decided to have a Superbowl Snack party for just the three of us! Of course, I made way too much food, but I do that with any party... It worked out really well - I had all the snacks ready by kick-off and cleaned up at half time!
Our menu consisted of chips and onion dip, pigs in a blanket, mini meatball sliders and pizza puffs. I found the pizza puff recipe on Pinterest, and thought it fit the snack party theme while tying into our previous year's pizza tradition.
So the good: the pizza puffs were really easy to make. My 7 year old actually did most of the heavy lifting. These would be great for a party as you could make the batter up ahead of time and then just put them into the mini muffin cups and bake when guests arrive.
The bad: they were a little bland. Next time they need oregano and parmesan cheese, and maybe even a bit of red pepper to spice them up a bit.
Sausage & Pepperoni Pizza Puffs
adapted from Plain Chicken
3/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tbs grated parmesan cheese
3/4 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
4 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 1 cup)
2 oz mini pepperoni, (about 1/2 cup)
4 oz sausage, cooked and crumbled
1/2 cup pizza sauce
Pre-heat oven to 375°. Grease a 24-cup mini-muffin pan. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, garlic powder and baking powder; whisk in the milk and egg. Add oregano and parmesan cheese. Stir in the mozzarella, cooled sausage and pepperoni. Let stand for 10 minutes.
Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin cups. Bake until puffed and golden, 20 to 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, microwave the pizza sauce until warmed through. Serve the puffs with the pizza sauce for dipping.
You'd think with my Italian ancestry, descending from a fantastic line of cooks, that I'd have the makings to be a great chef. Both my grandmothers were wizards in the kitchen. My mom is a fantastic cook, always having the perfect recipe for a holiday meal. My dad makes the very best pizza. Ever.
I guess I'm pretty good at cooking. But I've got a few problems. I mess things up. Alot. Sometimes I cut myself trying to slice or chop like I see the chefs on TV. Often I get halfway through a recipe and realize that I should have read it through before I started, because who saves the pasta liquid after you drain the pasta? And occasionaly what I cook is just plain yucky (my daughter keeps reminding me of the nasty oven baked fish I served once).
But... I love to cook. So I'm going to keep working at it. I know I'll never be a chef (hence the blog name), but maybe I'll get good enough to ditch the day job and open a dessert catering business. Or maybe I'll just teach my daughter to love food and cooking like my mom and my grandmothers taught me.
Either way, I'll win.
So welcome to my blog, where I'll share what I'm cooking - good and bad. And I'll try not to make too many dumb jokes along the way.
