Buffalo Chicken Pinwheel Appetizer

Ingredients:

2 cups shredded cooked chicken
3 celery stocks, chopped well
1/3 cup Rocko’s Blend
4 ounce blue cheese, crumbled

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
16 ounce pizza dough

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Lightly spray a 9 inch round pan.

 

Mix chicken, celery, and Blend together in a bowl and let sit for 15 minutes.

Mix blue cheese and cream cheese together in a bowl.
Roll pizza dough out to a 6 inch by 18 inch rectangle.

Carefully spread the cheese mixture evenly over you pizza dough. 

Follow with spreading the chicken mixture on top.

Starting with long edge, carefully roll up the dough cinnamon roll style, pinching the dough to seal.

Cut the roll into 1 1/2 inch pieces and evenly place them in a 9 inch round baking pan.

Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned.

 

Blended Peanuts

Recipe courtesy of Deb Weber of Virginia

Ingredients:

Unsalted, roasted peanuts

Rocko’s Blend

 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Place peanuts into a bowl and mix in enough blend to fully coat the peanuts.  Let the mixture sit in bowl for 10 minutes.  Spread the peanuts onto a cookie sheet and cook for 25 minutes, turning the nuts twice while cooking.  Let cool and place in a zip lock bag or plastic container until ready to serve. 

Marinated Chicken Kabobs

Ingredients:

Boneless Chicken Breasts

Rocko’s Blend

 

Cut chicken breasts into bite size pieces and place in a zip lock bag.  Pour enough Rocko’s Blend into the bag to fully coat the chicken.  Refrigerate overnight or at least 4 hours, turning the bag several times to keep the chicken properly coated.  Before getting ready to cook, place soak wooden skewers in water for 30 minutes.  Place the coated chicken pieces on skewers and grill, boil or bake as preferred.  

 

[Cooking Option: if you don’t have skewers, follow the same recipe and either cook the marinated chicken pieces in a pan with a little bit of olive oil or bake in a baking pan or pyrex dish.]

Guacamole Extreme

Ingredients:

2 large ripe avocados

1/2 red onion, minced (about 1/2 cup)

2 tablespoons cilantro leaves, finely chopped

1 tablespoon of fresh lime or lemon juice

¼ cup Rocko’s Blend

1/2 ripe tomato, seeds and pulp removed, chopped

 

Remove avocado from the peel and place in a mixing bowl.  Using a fork, mash the avocado until smooth. Add the chopped onion, cilantro, lime or lemon, Blend and mash some more.

Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the guacamole to prevent oxidation from the air reaching it. Refrigerate until ready to serve.  Just before serving, add the chopped tomato to the guacamole and mix.

 

[Time Saver Option: if you don’t have the time to make fresh guacamole, add ¼ cup Rocko’s Blend to your favorite prepared guacamole and mix completely before you serve.]

Chilled Crab Dip

Ingredients:

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

3 tablespoons milk

2 green onions, finely chopped

¼ cup Rocko’s Blend

2 (6 ounce) cans crabmeat, drained and flaked

 

In a medium bowl, blend cream cheese, milk, green onions and Rocko’s Blend. Gradually mix in crabmeat. Chill in the refrigerator at least an hour before serving with crackers or crisps.

Shrimp and Linguine Fra Diavolo

Variation of a recipe courtesy of Emeril Lagasse

Ingredients:

1 pound linguine

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup small diced onion

3 tablespoons minced garlic

¼ cup Rocko’s Blend

1 1/2 cups canned tomato sauce

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 1/2 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined with tails removed

1 teaspoon salt, plus more for pasta water

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

1/2 cup grated Parmesan, optional

 

Bring a large 1-gallon pot of salted water to a boil, and place the pasta in the pot. Cook for 5 minutes and then drain; pasta will be only partially cooked. As the pasta cooks, set a 14-inch saute pan over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add the onions to the pan and cook until lightly caramelized and wilted, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic to the pan and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the Rocko’s Blend and saute briefly before adding the tomato sauce and tomato paste. Cook the sauce until reduced by about half, about 5 minutes. Add the shrimp to the pan and cook for 2 minutes. Add the partially cooked pasta to the pan along with 1 cup of the pasta cooking water and continue to cook the pasta in the sauce until al dente, about 3 to 4 minutes. Season the pasta with the salt and garnish with the parsley. Toss to combine and serve with grated Parmesan, if desired.

Salsa with a Kick

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons finely chopped red onion

2 small cloves garlic, minced

3-4 large ripe tomatoes, peeled and seeds removed, chopped

2 to 3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

¼ cup Rocko’s Blend

1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons lime juice

Salt and pepper

 

Put chopped onion and garlic in a strainer; pour 2 cups boiling water over them then let drain throughly. Discard water. Cool.

Combine onions and garlic with chopped tomatoes, cilantro, Blend, lime juice, salt, and pepper. Refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours to blend flavors.  Serve with tortilla chips or as a side with tacos, fajitas or enchiladas.

Makes about 2 cups of salsa.

 [Time Saver Option: if you don’t have the time to make fresh salsa, add ¼ cup Rocko’s Blend to your favorite prepared salsa and mix completely before you serve.]