Chocolate Pecan Potato Chips

At Hanukkah, it's traditional to eat foods fried in oil to celebrate the miracle of one day's worth of consecrated oil burning in the Temple for a full eight days after the Maccabees regained control of it.

Well, potato chips are fried in oil, aren't they??? I don't know why I never thought of it before, but I'm pretty proud of myself for having this little epiphany - potato chips are a perfect Hanukkah treat! And these dipped ones have been a HUGE hit with my co-workers!

In my continuing mission to create dishes for Thanksgivukkah - the fabulous, once-in-a-lifetime overlapping of Thanksgiving with the first day of Hanukkah - I was inspired by pecan pie, by the new Lay's chocolate-dipped potato chips, and by the whole sweet-salty contrasting flavor "thing."

And so, I offer you potato chips dipped in chocolate and coated in candied pecans, with a sprinkling of sparkly sugar. These are great to snack on while watching football or ideal for folks who don't want a slice of pie but still want a little something sweet. And they're especially great as a quick 'n' easy nosh to make at the last minute when your holiday is feeling rushed.

Happy Thanksgivukkah!!!


Chocolate Pecan Potato Chips

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
32 wavy potato chips (sturdy ones)
1/2 cup candied pecans, ground
silver sugar (available where sprinkles are found)

Lay waxed paper, greased foil, or Silpats onto a countertop.

Place the chocolate chips into a small microwaveable bowl, and heat until melted; stir until smooth.

Pick up one potato chip and hold it as you dip it about 2/3 into the melted chocolate. Place onto the prepared countertop, and repeat with about 7 more chips. Sprinkle some of the pecans and the silver sugar onto the chocolate, then repeat with remaining supplies. Let the chips set for about 30 minutes or so until the chocolate is set.

Makes 32 chips.

Wordless Wednesday: Healthy Potato Chips

Found this tin at a flea market in Midland, MI this summer.  Yummy, huh???

Frugal Floozie Friday - Banfield's Bar & Grill

My very dear friends Mary and Art joined Craig and me for dinner recently, at Banfield's Bar & Grill. A casual place with great inexpensive options, it's a perfect place to feature today for Frugal Floozie Friday.

Burgers were the stars of the evening, as three members of our group ordered them. Art and Mary both ordered the burger "deal of the day" (pictured above), which came in at just under our mandatory budget of $5 per person even with all the toppings - tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, and condiments - that either of them might want to choose from. Crisp french fries and pickles were also part of the deal, which was a tremendous value.

Craig ordered the Black-n-Blue Burger, topped with rich blue cheese and caramelized onions, which crept just over the budgetary limit at $5.95. But it was very good, should anyone have a craving for it and be willing to spend just a little bit extra.


I decided to try some other frugal options, and so I ordered a cup of the very rich, creamy Potato Swiss Bacon Soup for $2.50 and paired it with a platter of the cheese nachos, curious as to how generous the $4.95 serving would be. I was impressed to find that this is something that can easily be shared by a few folks who just want a snack and something to drink while they chat an evening away or watch a sporting event. Craig nibbled at them along with me as I slowed down, and we still weren't able to finish them.

Banfield's offers great, friendly service and a lot of food that meets our strict financial limits: deep fried mushrooms, onions rings, jalapeno poppers, mini tacos, and even a Veggie Tray all cost less than $5 each. The Big B Burger - with cheese, pickle, onion, lettuce, and special sauce - costs only $4.99, served with fries and a pickle. A 1/3-pound prime sirloin burger can be had for $4.75; and a grilled cheese sandwich is available for $4.95, served with chips, cole slaw, and a pickle spear.

Breakfast is served from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, and there are a number of dishes to choose from within our budget, as well: 2 eggs with hash browns, choice of meat, and toast for $4.25; a 3-egg cheese omelet, also with hash browns and toast, for $4.95; a breakfast sandwich on a grilled English muffin costs $4.25; and either buttermilk pancakes or French toast can be enjoyed for $4.50. ; Waffles with a choice of meat cost $4.25.

So head over to Banfield's, where you can find lots of comfort food options for great prices!


Banfield's Bar & Grill
3140 Packard
Ann Arbor, MI 48108
734-971-3300
Monday - Saturday: 11 a.m. - midnight
Sunday: 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.



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Frugal Floozie Friday - Beezy's Cafe

Jeremy and I had a lovely lunch recently at Beezy's, on a beautiful fall day. I hadn't been there in ages, so it was good to have a chance to eat there again.

We were given a tremendous greeting by Jesse, who was wonderfully welcoming and friendly. In just the few minutes it took to place our order, we exchanged names, discussed fashion and thrift shops, and had a grand time!

Jeremy chose the Roasted Chicken Club sandwich for $6.95: "Sliced Amish chicken breast with bacon, tomato, red onion and spring greens with blue cheese pesto mayo."

The sandwich is huge and can easily be split, even among two hungry people. Jeremy - a 21-year-old male, among the world's heartiest eaters - could only finish half of it. And if you buy two bags of Michigan-made Better Made products for 99-cents each, this lunch would, indeed, be "all that and a bag of chips" for two people while staying within our mandatory Frugal Floozie Friday budget of $5 per person.

The air was just crisp enough (for me, anyway, since I'm always cold) that it warranted soup. So I ordered a bowl of the Creamy Chicken and Garlic soup for $3.50. As you can see, it was thick and rich with huge chunks of meat and carrots. Warm and delicious, this was a perfect antidote to the slight chill.

I also ordered a small Washington Street salad for $4.95; this offered "greens tossed in maple vinaigrette and topped with sliced roasted Amish chicken breast, sliced apple, raisins, and spiced pecans." In other words, it offered sweet and savory, tenderness and crunch, a variety of tastes and textures all on one plate.

Beezy's offers a number of options for vegetarians, and each of the salads is available in a small portion for less than $5. They promote Michigan products like the chips mentioned above, as well as Faygo sodas. The Redpops Jeremy and I each ordered were bright and fruity, and just seemed the perfect choice to complement our lunches.

For friendly service, good ol'-fashioned wholesome food, and a genuine feel for community - both in terms of being a gathering place and a supporter of both Ypsilanti and Michigan - Beezy's is the place to go!

Beezy's
20 N. Washington St.
Ypsilanti, MI 48197
734-485-9625
Monday - Saturday: 7 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Sunday: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.



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Double BBQ Chicken

This is a ridiculously easy but unbelievably great dish!

I was very happy to have been sent a generous box of goodies to play with, a lovely marketing gift from the Bender Hammerling Group which handles public relations and marketing for several food producers.  This assortment included several bags of Hawaiian Kettle Style Potato Chips.

The Luau BBQ chips just naturally lent themselves - to my mind, anyway - to a chicken dish.  I have a new-to-me grill that I don't know how to use yet; so it seemed to me that I could still get great barbecue flavor if I used some sauce and the crispy, crunchy treats.

So here is just about the easiest recipe I'll ever offer, involving only 3 ingredients!  Schmear some sauce onto chicken, then roll it in crushed potato chips.  Kid-friendly ... aw, who am I kidding?  It was a huge hit with all the adults, too - one of them told me, "This is the best chicken ever!"  Great for a picnic, perfect for a weeknight dinner, ideal any time ....




Double BBQ Chicken

1 cup honey barbecue sauce
6 ounces Hawaiian Kettle Style Potato Chips, Luau BBQ flavor
6 chicken thighs

Preheat oven to 400F.

Place the barbecue sauce into a medium bowl.  Crush the potato chips into crumbs and place into a medium bowl.

One by one, take each piece of chicken and dip it into the barbecue sauce to coat well; dip into the potato chip crumbs to coat thoroughly, then place the chicken into a baking dish.  Bake for 40 minutes until the chicken is crisp and the juices run clear.  Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Serves 4-6.

This would be great served with Cabbage and Fennel Slaw!

Gluten-Free Sweet 'n' Salty Mini Chocolate Cupcakes

Gluten-free products ain't what they used to be!  In the not so olden days, these items were fair-to-poor approximations of foods that those who can't eat gluten would endure simply to have some form of baked good.  But the situation has improved considerably, and there are lots of really great products that let you have your cake and eat it too!

Manischewitz has developed a number of new gluten-free products, including yellow and chocolate cake mixes; both include a foil baking dish and even a frosting packet for the sake of convenience.

I was very happy to receive an incredibly generous box of goodies to play with recently, a lovely marketing gift from the Bender Hammerling Group which handles public relations and marketing for several food producers.  This assortment also included several bags of Hawaiian Kettle Style Potato Chips, in addition to a sample of the above-mentioned chocolate cake mix.

Sweet and salty is a flavor combination which is always popular, so I wanted to somehow combine the cake mix and the potato chips ... not the Luau BBQ flavor, I admit!  But some combination was calling to me.

And so, I made mini chocolate cupcakes - entirely gluten-free - and topped them with a brown sugar and crushed potato chip streusel that offered flavor and texture contrasts.  Then, instead of just letting the frosting packet loiter on my pantry shelf, I thinned it with coffee to make a glaze.

Chocolate cake, but with a bit of flair!


Gluten-Free Sweet 'n' Salty Mini Chocolate Cupcakes

Cupcakes:
1 15-ounce package Manischewitz Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake Mix
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Streusel:
1 cup Hawaiian Kettle Style Original Flavor Potato Chips, crushed fine
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons butter, melted

Topping:
frosting packet included with cake mix
2 tablespoons freshly brewed coffee


Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 12-cup mini cupcake tin with paper liners.

In a large bowl, stir together the cake mix, eggs and oil; beat until thoroughly mixed.  Fill each cupcake liner 2/3 full with the batter.

In a small bowl, combine the streusel ingredients. Place a heaping 1/4 teaspoon-ful into the center of each cupcake.

Bake cupcakes for 12 minutes until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean; let rest for 2 minutes, then remove from muffin tin and place on a rack.  Repeat with remaining batter and streusel.  Let cupcakes cool completely.

Combine frosting packet and coffee; mix thoroughly with a fork until smooth.  Drizzle over the cupcakes and let glaze set.

Makes 30 mini cupcakes.

"Ann Arbor Tailgates" - Cookbook for a Cause

Buy a cookbook and help the homeless.

Alpha House - a shelter for homeless families in Washtenaw County - has published a cookbook just in time for holiday shopping: Ann Arbor Tailgates: Your Favorite Recipes. It features stories and photos in addition to recipes, and it is most entertaining.

You get to meet Super Fan I, whose game uniform includes a superhero's mask created as an homage to the famous Wolverines' helmets; he offers recipes for "To Hell with Notre Dame" Gumbo and "Smash the Spartans" Apple Cake. There's also Go Bleu Cheese Spread and Go Blue Martinis, perfect for cheering on The University of Michigan's Maize 'n' Blue.

If you know someone who likes to cook, let me assure you that it's not possible to have too many cookbooks. If you know rabid football fans, those folks need this cookbook for new tailgating ideas. If you know someone who likes to entertain, there are great party recipes, from dips to chilis to desserts. Truly, this cookbook would make a great gift for anyone!

Ann Arbor Tailgates costs only $20, and $15 of that is a charitable donation which may be tax deductible. And just look how easy it is to buy copies:

1) Click on this link and buy it online. Or,

2) Contact Helen Starman, Director of Development at Alpha House: 4290 Jackson Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48103 (734)822-0220. The cookbook can be picked up at no extra charge or mailed to you or your gift recipient for $3.50/copy.

Alpha House needs all the support we can give it, as it's really so much more than a shelter. As Executive Director Nicole Adelman states in her introduction to the cookbook:

"More than providing just a bed and a roof, our goal is to support families in securing and maintaining their own homes."

And how successful is the amazing, dedicated staff in helping their remarkably strong and resilient clients to achieve this? "In 2010, 100% of the families who left Alpha House in our Home Based Support Program were still housed one year later."

Okay, enough nudging! Let me show you one of the great recipes you'll find in your new cookbook.

It took me a long, long time to decide what to cook for this post; there were so many choices, and we all know that decisions are not my strongsuit. Something rich and hearty, like Poppy Seed Ham and Cheese Rolls? Something lighter, such as Mediterranean Eight-Layer Dip featuring hummus and vegetables? Something as sophisticated as Kahlua-Espresso Truffles, or something more family-friendly like Strawberry Pretzel Salad? Or something wildly different, namely the Vodka-Infused Gummy Bears? (I know I've piqued your curiosity! You've gotta buy the book now!)

What to make? What to eat?

It came down to which ingredients I had on hand. And so the winner was Baked Potato Chips, contributed by Maize Marvel: hand-cut potatoes baked in just a touch of olive oil, sprinkled with kosher salt and black pepper and served with a green onion dip.

This simply-prepared snack was so amazingly (a-maize-ingly???) good! I'd baked only one potato's worth of chips, then promptly ate them all by myself. I was sorely tempted to slice up another potato to make a second batch, but I decided that gluttony was not an attractive trait. I particularly liked the slightly overdone caramelized bits - they were crispy and extra flavorful; and I was generous with the pepper, so the chips were a bit spicy, too, which was a perfect complement to the creamy, zesty dip.

Helen Starman - whom you'll be calling to order copies of the book - offers the following: "I am so excited that you made the potato chips – I love them ... the chips are so tasty and addictive"!

So, I've given you one recipe. To get the others, buy a cookbook and help the homeless while doing your holiday shopping.

Baked Potato Chips with Green Onion Dip
(slightly adapted from the recipe submitted by Maize Marvel)

Chips:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large Yukon Gold potato, sliced very thinly
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 325F. Brush the oil over a baking sheet, then place the baking sheet into the oven for 10 minutes.

Lay the potato slices onto the hot baking sheet without overlapping them. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste, then bake for 10 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet and bake for another 10 minutes, then flip the chips over and bake them for another 5 minutes or until done to your liking.

Dip:

1/3 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 large green onion, chopped
sprinkle of garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Mix all ingredients together and serve with the chips.

Pi and Potato Chip Day

It is my distinct pleasure to announce that we get to celebrate two holidays today -- sometimes a girl gets to have way too much fun, eh???

First of all, it's the famous Pi Day: March 14, otherwise known as 3/14, otherwise known as 3.14 -- pi, that endless (thus far -- it's been calculated to a trillion places and is still going strong!) number that most of us haven't used since high school unless we happen to be math teachers.

It is also National Potato Chip Day, an occasion that simply couldn't be overlooked.

Have I planned to indulge in chips 'n' dip, followed by pie for dessert??? Heavens, no! That wouldn't be very adventurous, now would it?

So I combined the two foods ... yes, I did. You've had chocolate-covered pretzels, right? Same concept, just a variation on the theme.

I made a chocolate-drizzled ice cream pie. It has a crust made from -- surprise, surprise! -- crushed potato chips. (Be sure to use Michigan's own Better Made chips -- the best there are! -- if you can.)

And you know what? It's really, really good!!! It is! Jeremy liked the crust, shmeared with a bit of sweetness, even more than the ice cream!

The pie has that sweet-salty thing goin' on, with each complementing the other and forming an entirely new taste experience. It's cold, it's creamy, it's crunchy ... all good things blended into one.

So let me tell you how to make this gorgeous specimen. It's easy -- you just have to start a day ahead and allow some time first for the ice cream to melt somewhat, and then for it to re-freeze.

But this is well worth the investment of waiting -- remember, patience is a virtue even when impatience is trying to rule the day!

And, because we're not having enough fun already, I just found out it's Bacon Monday at Susie QT Pies' Scraps of Life!!! Go check out linked-up recipes for ... sigh ... bacon ... :) You might also win a cookbook, too ....

Chocolate-Drizzled Potato Chip 'n' Ice Cream Pie

1/2 cup crushed lightly salted potato chips
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup Breyers Snickers ice cream, very soft
8 large, unbroken, lightly salted potato chips
1 pint Haagen-Dazs Dulce de Leche ice cream, very soft
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Combine the crushed potato chips and butter; press into the bottom of a 7" foil pie pan. Freeze for 10 minutes to set the crust.



Spread the Snickers ice cream over the crust.


Carefully place the intact potato chips around the perimeter, like petals. Freeze for 10 minutes.



Spread the Dulce de Leche ice cream over the Snickers ice cream. Freeze for 45 minutes.

Melt the chocolate chips and drizzle the chocolate over the top of the pie. Freeze overnight, or the ice cream will not be fully set and it will ooze out over the chocolate drizzle ... trust me, I know what I'm talking about!


Cut the pie, pulling the edge of the foil pan down if needed to remove slices. Makes 8 slices.

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