Recipes: Sesame Cream Cheese - Sriracha Bacon Cheese Ball #2 - Peppadews with Southwest Dip - Hot Pepper Peach Cheese Ball - Terrapin Ridge Hot Pepper Bacon Jam over Cream Cheese - Greek Feta, Olive Orzo Salad - Asiago Sun-Dried Tomato Spread #2

I was hoping for employee recipes, but ... nothing.  I figured the best way for me to have a great recipe success rate was to see what I previous prepared at TFM Huguenot. After selecting recipes and narrowing it down ...  I decided on the party fare. 

Friday I prepared (most) recipes and got feedback from my TFM Taste Testers.  Success!  Wellllll... maybe that's stretching the truth. There was one recipe I was not fond of and it was a miss with my taste testers (except my Taste Tester Chase).  But, luckily customers enjoyed it.  Always a relief.  

Before I get to the recipes, I sampled TFM's wings as well.  Wings are always a hit.  Did you know (and I'm not sure if this is all the time or a special) IF YOU PURCHASE 1 POUND OF WINGS (and they give you a choice of sauce), YOU ALSO GET A FREE (cheese or pepperoni) PIZZA?  I bought 2 pounds of wings for dinner.  Got 2 free pizzas for the next nights dinner.  That was a deal!

Moving on ...

This first recipe is EASY to prepare.  No measuring required.  People always tell me how lucky my family is that I make all this food.  Ha!  Sesame Cream Cheese, is the only thing from this sampling (even last weeks sampling) that my family will eat.  It's been a favorite for 30 years.  We always have it for game nights.

Sesame Cream Cheese

1 (8 oz.) block cream cheese

Toasted sesame seeds

Soy sauce

Sesmark Sesame Rice Crackers

Marinate cream cheese overnight in 50/50 mixture of soy sauce and water.  (If marinating for 4 to 6 hours use soy sauce without water.)  Turn half way through.  Remove from soy sauce and coat with sesame seeds. 

Serve with Rice Crackers.

At first customers were hesitant to sample this.  They thought cream cheese in soy sauce was weird.  However, after sampling, they LOVED it.  This was a favorite recipe.

The reason for a 50/50 mixture of soy sauce overnight is with 100% soy sauce for that long a period, it will be extremely salty.

*****

This recipe has a #2 as I've previously prepared it using another product which TFM no longer sells.  

Sriracha Bacon Cheese Ball #2

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

10 oz. smoked Gouda, shredded

½ - ¾ c. Stonewall Kitchen Sriracha Aioli

¼ c. diced red onion

1 jar Hormel Real Bacon Bits

In a medium mixing bowl, mix together all ingredients, except bacon bits.

Form mixture into a ball and roll in bacon bits.

Yields:  1 cheese ball

A favorite recipe.  Not overly spicy.  The Sriracha flavor was mild and sneaks up on you in the end.

*****

"Over cream cheese". Definitely doesn't get any easier than this recipe!

Terrapin Ridge Hot Pepper Bacon Jam over Cream Cheese

Does this really need instructions?  Place cream cheese on plate.  Top with jam.  Serve with your favorite crackers. (I use Stonewall Kitchen's Sea Salt crackers - a nice size for one bite and the right amount of salt.)

A favorite.  SOLD OUT of  jam!

*****

Peppadews stuffed with Southwest Dip
Get large Peppadews from the salad bar.  Cut in half and drain.  Fill with TFM's Spicy Southwest Dip.  Serve.

Customers were loving the heat from Spicy Southwest Dip.  Using Peppadews in place of crackers is a nice change of pace.

*****

Hot Pepper Peach Cheese Ball

16 oz. TFM cream cheese, softened

1 (11.25 oz.) jar Stonewall Kitchen 
     Hot Pepper Peach Jam

¼ c. diced onion

1 small jalapeno, diced

4 c. shredded Adam’s Reserve 
     Cheddar cheese

2 c. Smoked almonds, coarsely chopped

Place all ingredients, except almonds, in a mixing bowl.  Blend until thoroughly incorporated.  Cover and place in refrigerator 4 hours or overnight.  Prior to serving, remove from refrigerator and form into a ball.  Roll in smoked almonds.  Place on serving plate.  

Serve with your favorite crackers.

Yields:  2 cheese balls

FAVORITE as well.  Creamy.  Nice hint of sweet from the jam followed by a bit of heat with smoke from the almonds.  Also served with Stonewall Kitchen Sea Salt Crackers.

*****

Greek Feta, Olive Orzo Salad

1 lb. TFM Lemon Orzo Salad

1/3 to ½ lb. TFM Salad Bar Greek Feta Olives

3 – 4 Tbl. pine nuts

Place Lemon Orzo Salad in a large mixing bowl. If there are grape tomatoes, slice into quarters.

Cut olives in half, lengthwise, and any large pieces of Feta.  Place in bowl with Orzo.  Add pine nuts to taste. Toss gently.  Serve.

Yields: 4 to 6 servings

Note:  TFM's Lemon Orzo Salad is dressed with oil and also has grape tomatoes and basil.  You want to add these to the mixing bowl.  Greek Feta Olives has an oil dressing.  When you purchase it from the salad bar drain it best you can with the serving spoon.  Any accumulated oils, when you prepare the salad, you want to add.

If preparing this the night before serving, add pine nuts before you serve.  They lose their crunch if put in overnight.

EASY!  Overall it's a 2 to 1 ratio.  2 Lemon Orzo  Salad from Deli to 1 Greek Feta Olives from salad bar.  By the end of the sampling, both salads were almost gone from the deli and salad bar.  

This recipe is not only perfect to your Super Bowl Party, but any day of the year.

*****

Lastly ... the recipe that was a miss with my taste testers and I.  (I'm just not a processed cheese person.) However, this was a customer favorite when I did it at TFM Huguenot.  Customers at this sampling also liked it.

This is a recipe #2 because of additional ingredients I've add to the original recipe.

 Asiago Sun-Dried Tomato Spread #2

1 jar Stonewall Kitchen Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto

1 container Pine River Aged Asiago, softened

1 (8 oz.) container Mascarpone, softened

1 c. shredded, Imported Graninio

Sweety Drop Peppers (optional)

TFM French Rounds (Garlic Parmesan, 
     Parmesan, Original)

Place ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.   Mix until thoroughly blended.

Serve with Garlic French Rounds.