Tag: balsamic vinegar

Blue Balsamic Chips

 

Blue Balsamic Chips

Who out there plans their party menus weeks ahead of time? I have started my list of Super Bowl recipe contenders. Appetizers are the ultimate crowd-pleasers and what we will be serving this year. We seldom order them when we go out. That is unless we decide to split a few for our meal. Which is one of my favorite things to do!

I have been working on my recipe plans. I have a massive stack of cookbooks beside the couch with sticky notes everywhere. I know it’s old school, but I love a cookbook. A book that I can hold, rather than my iPad or computer, has so much appeal to me! If you ask Greg, my obsession with cookbooks is probably a little over the top. Oh well, it’s a cheap habit, and it makes me happy.

Here’s an oldie but a goodie that I will be making this year. Homemade crispy, crunchy potato chips topped with alfredo/blue cheese sauce, drizzled with balsamic glaze, and sprinkled with bacon and green onions. If that does not make your mouth water, I’m not sure what would!

Blue Balsamic Chips
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Blue Balsamic Chips

Course Appetizer
Author Amye Melton

Ingredients

  • 4 medium potatoes scrubbed
  • peanut oil for frying
  • salt to taste
  • 1 cup prepared Alfredo sauce
  • 6 ounces blue cheese crumbles plus more to spinkle over the top
  • 1/4 cup Ranch dressing
  • 4 strips bacon fried crisp, drained and chopped
  • 3 green onions green part only, chopped
  • 1 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Instructions

  • Slice scrubbed potatoes thin. Soak in ice water for about 10 minutes. Drain and dry well.
  • Heat oil to 350℉ - 375℉.
  • While oil is heating, pour 1 cup alfredo sauce in a saucepan. Heat to boiling then reduce to a simmer. Add 6-ounces blue cheese crumbles and 1/4 cup Ranch dressing. Stir to combine. Remove from heat and allow to rest.
  • In another saucepan combine vinegar and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer annd stir occasionally. Make a slurry by adding 1 teaspoon water to the cornstarch. Add to the balsamic mixture and stir. (You need this to be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. If 1 tablespoon cornstarch isn't enough, make up a little more.). Set aside.
  • Fry potatoes to desired crispness. Drain well on paper-towel lined pans. Salt to taste.
  • Place chips on a serving plate. Drizzle chips with blue cheese sauce, then drizzle with some balsamic glaze. Sprinkle with bacon, blue cheese crumbles and green onions. Serve while chips are still warm.

Greg’s Venison Balsamic Chili (Keto, Low-Carb, GF)

Greg's Venison Balsamic Chili

I love it when Greg is in charge of dinner! You can bet that more often than not, it’s going to be something smoked on the Traeger, or he will doing something with venison. Something he had hunted and put on the table himself brings out the manly man in him.

I love it, even more, when he does a little research and creates a whole new recipe for us to try.  Some of my favorite recipes to date are recipes that he has found and tried. He did his homework and made this wonderfully yummy chili over the weekend. I would have never guessed that he would dare to put balsamic vinegar in chili, but he did and wow, what a fantastic addition!

You can always change up any venison recipes that I post for ground beef, and I think ground turkey would even be good in this recipe.

(The chili pictured is not actually the Venison Balsamic Chili.  The Venison Balsamic Chili is darker in color with the black soy beans instead.)

Greg's Venison Balsamic Chili
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Greg's Venison Balsamic Chili

Course Main Course
Servings 8
Author Amye Melton

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 lb ground venison
  • 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 c. onion finely minced
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 (26.46-oz.) Pomi finely chopped tomatoes
  • 1 (10-oz.) Rotel Chili Fixin's
  • 2 Tbsp. chili powder
  • 1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1-2 dashes hot sauce
  • 1 tsp. ground cumin
  • 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 pkt. Pyure sweetener optional
  • 1 (15-oz.) can black soy beans rinsed and drained

Instructions

  • Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven.  
  • Add onion and saute until soft.  
  • Add garlic and sauce until fragrant.  
  • Add venison and cook until brown.  Drain fat if desired.
  • Add tomatoes, Rotel, chili powder, balsamic vinegar, salt, hot sauce, cumin, Worcestershire and Pyure.  Stir to combine.
  • Stir in black soy beans. 
  • Simmer for about 1 hour.

Notes

Nutritional Information:
Net Carbs: 7 g.; Fat: 8 g.; Protein: 17 g.; Calories 191