Friday, May 25, 2012

Buffalo Chicken Dip and so much more

So I think I might start posting some of my recipes up here as well. I love to cook and adapt my own tastes to foods I like. Starting this off with a BANG!


Dave’s Buffalo Chicken Dip

What you will need:
1 – 6qt Crock Pot
6 – Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (anywhere from 4-5.5 lbs of chicken) (Costco)
2 – 8oz Blocks of Philadelphia Cream Cheese (off brand doesn’t taste as good) (Kroger)
1 - 16oz block of Tillamook Medium Cheddar Cheese, shredded by hand (don’t by off brand or oil based cheese or you will get GIANT pools of oil in your dip) (Costco, I buy the 32oz Block and cut it in half)
2 – 12oz Bottles of Franks RedHot Wings Sauce Buffalo Flavor (make sure to get wings sauce and not pepper sauce) (Kroger)
1 – 1oz Packet of Dry Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing (Kroger)
1 – Half a stick of unsalted butter (unsalted is key here) (Kroger)
2 Tablespoons of minced garlic
1 – Sheet Pan
2 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Cutting Board
2 Forks

Prep:
Shred the half a block of Tillamook Cheddar Cheese and store in fridge
Sit the 2 blocks of cream cheese out of the counter to soften
Clean any excess fat off the chicken breasts

Directions:
Put the crock pot on HIGH. Put 3 of the chicken breasts onto the base of the crockpot. Try to make sure they do not over lap and make good contact with the base of the crockpot. Pour 2/3 of a bottle of wings sauce evenly over the breasts and pour the entire packet of dry ranch dressing on top. Cover the crockpot with a lid and set your timer for 90 minutes.

With 45 Minutes left turn the chicken breasts over in pot so the top side now is flush with the bottom of the crockpot. When you are done turning the breasts preheat your oven for 375 degrees. Take the remaining chicken breasts and rub them with the 2 tablespoons of EVOO and lightly cover with salt and pepper. When the oven is preheated put the chicken breasts into the oven for 35 minutes.

Once the chicken breasts have finished roasting in the oven, set them on the side and let them rest. Once your 90 minute timer is up pull out a cutting board and two forks, pull one of the breasts from the crockpot, and begin to pull the chicken. I put a fork in the fattest part of the breast and drag the other fork across the breasts to pull or shred the chicken. This takes some time, but it gets the desire result. Once you have pulled the first breast a part put the pulled chicken back into the crockpot and pull another breast out. Repeat this with all 3 breasts in the crock pot. Once you have finished with the breasts in the crockpot take ¼ a stick of unsalted butter and cut it into pats. Place the pats at random on the pulled chicken in the crock pot. Pour the remaining 1/3 of bottle of wings sauce over the pulled chicken.

Take the 3 breasts that were roasted and pull them one at a time on your cutting board just like the ones from the crock pot. Add them to the crockpot as you go. Once all three roasted breasts have been added to the crock pot repeat adding pats of butter and add ½ of the second bottle of wings sauce. If the mix is too mild or not covered in sauce enough, add the remaining wings sauce. Add the 2 tablespoons of minced garlic and stir into the crockpot.

Allow the mixture to heat up in temperature then begin to add the shredded cheese. Do it a little bit at a time, stirring to make sure the cheese melts in before adding more. Do this until all the cheese is gone. Then cut up the cream cheese blocks into squares, should get about 8 squares per block. Drop the blocks in one at a time and stir in to incorporate. Once all the cheese is added let the pot sit for about 10-15 minutes. Once the dip has heated back up in temperate, taste it for spice heat level, if it’s not spicy enough add remaining wings sauce if you haven’t already.  

You can consume the dip immediately or let it cool and refrigerate over night to allow flavors to meld more, and then reheat the next day. Either way you can eat with Tortilla Chips, on burritos or tacos, on a sandwich bun like a sloppy joe (I recommend sweet or Hawaiian buns/rolls), or as a topper to hot dogs, burgers, or chicken. I recommend pairing with Blue Cheese (actual cheese or dressing) and Celery if at all possible.