Festive Red, Green, and Bacon Spirals and Homemade Ranch Dressing Powder

I was looking for an easy and festive appetizer to bring to a Christmas party and came across The Pioneer Woman’s Holiday Roll-ups (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/holiday-roll-ups.html). Basically you mix ranch dressing powder with cream cheese, spread it on tortillas, scatter some red and green bell pepper and green onion on it, roll it up, and cut into cute little slices. I thought it was a great recipe, but jazzed it up a bit with the addition of bacon and also making my own ranch dressing powder instead of buying the packet (thanks to Simply Scratch (http://www.simplyscratch.com/2014/05/homemade-ranch-dressing-mix.html ) for the inspiration!!). So ultimately, I made the recipe way more complicated…but oh well. It’s worth it!

Ingredients

2 8oz packages of Neufchatel, softened

1 packet ranch dressing mix or 1 recipe of Homemade Ranch Dressing Powder (see below)

A few grinds of black pepper

9-10 tortillas

1.5 green bell peppers, finely diced

1.5 red bell peppers, finely diced

4 green onions, finely sliced

12 pieces of bacon, fried and chopped

To make ranch powder, combine:

1 packet (3T) of dry buttermilk

1/2 T dried parsley

1/2 t dried dill

1/2 t granulated garlic

1/2 t granulated onion

1/2 t Kosher salt

1/4 t sugar

Dash ground black pepper

Dash paprika

1.       Mix the ranch powder and black pepper with the Neufchatel. You can microwave the cream cheese if needed, or just leave it out on the counter for a few hours to soften.

2.       Prepare the vegetables and bacon.

3.       Prepare the tortillas by cutting a small slice off two opposite sides of the tortilla. Those will be the ends of the roll, and save you the trouble of having a weird unsightly end piece.

4.       Spread the cheese mixture on the tortillas, taking care to cover the entire surface. You don’t need a half inch thickness of it—keep in mind that you are rolling it up, so you’re going to get more in one bite than just the thickness you’re spreading on it any given spot.

5.       Sprinkle the vegetables and bacon on top of the spread. Leave one curved side relatively free of toppings to facilitate good sealing when you roll it up.

6.       Roll up the tortilla toward the topping-free side, taking care to go slowly and pack the roll tightly so it doesn’t fall apart. About halfway through rolling, daub some cream cheese along the roll to help create a tighter seal.

7.       Using a very sharp knife, cut the roll into 2-inch thick slices. Arrange cut side up on a tray and enjoy!

Million Island Dressing (Homemade Thousand Island), Reuben, and Big Mac+

Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen is one of my favorite cookbooks. The guy knows what he’s doing. He makes recipes with awesome depth of flavor, and even shows how to make your own salad dressings. Awesome. And it’s not some rinky-dink recipe that tells you to put mayonnaise in with a bunch of other ingredients…you make your own mayo. Yep. Let that sink in. This is the real deal. Of course, after you have “3 cups” of fresh dressing (try a whole pickle jar full) that you need to use up in a week, you get creative with ways to use it. Reubens? Check. Big Macs (but better)? Check. And you’ll probably still need to make some Reuben-style hot dogs or something to use up that last little bit…I GUESS you could use it as salad dressing…

 

Million Island Dressing (adapted from Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen)

1 egg

1/4c diced onion (about half of a small/medium onion)

1c canola oil

1c diced tomatoes

2 hard-boiled eggs

1t salt

1t pepper

1t garlic powder/granulated garlic

1t onion powder/granulated onion

1/2t cayenne pepper

1/2c sweet pickle relish

1. Add the raw egg and onions to a blender or food processor and blend until combined (a few seconds). Add the oil in a thin stream with the processor still running (this can be tricky, depending on the processor…I had to stick a funnel into a pour spout on mine). This is the creation of the mayo. Pulse the processor/blender for a bit until the mixture looks like it’s getting thicker.

2. Add everything else EXCEPT the relish. Blend until smooth.

3. Pour dressing into a bowl or jar and mix in the relish. Refrigerate; keeps for up to 1 week or so.

Reuben tips:

You’ll need rye bread, corned beef, sauerkraut, and million island dressing. You can get a nice chunk of corned beef brisket in the refrigerated meat aisle of your local grocery store. Slow-cook it in your crock pot for 5 or 6 hours with a can of sauerkraut. About 2 pounds of brisket and 1 27oz can of sauerkraut (I like Silver Floss) will make about 7 or 8 sandwiches, depending on how much of each you like. I suggest toasting the rye bread a bit so the sauerkraut doesn’t make it soggy. If you drain the sauerkraut well, though, you don’t HAVE to toast the bread. Spread some dressing on both pieces of bread, top with sliced or pulled corned beef and sauerkraut, and enjoy!

Big Mac+ tips:

You’ll need a hamburger bun (preferably with sesame seeds, if you’re being authentic…I wasn’t) and a piece of bread to use as the middle layer. Grill up two beef patties, top with cheese, diced onions, lettuce, tomato (not authentic, I know…), and million island dressing. This will be impossible to eat in a clean fashion, so have napkins on hand. Good to have some oven fries on the side!

Reuben-style hot dog tips:

Grill a hot dog and bun; spread million island dressing on the bun, add the dog, and top with kraut. Easy!

Salad tips:

I'd suggest an ample dose of million island dressing over an iceberg or romaine chopped salad with raw onion half-moons and sliced hard-boiled eggs.