Kitchen Kapers with Nancy

We have the recipe for Buffalo-Chicken Dip from Amanda Thomas-Henke. It really is delicious and a big hit during holidays and sports events. You can cut back on the hot sauce if your taste buds aren’t up to it. This is Amanda’s concoction, but she uses a couple other recipes (allrecipes.com and franksredhot.com) on which to base her recipe. She recommends using rotisserie chicken from Costco, which she considers not only the best rotisserie chicken but also the best dealyou’re likely to find. No hype, simply based on her experience. 

Oriental Rice is raw rice with onion soup, mushrooms, and water chestnuts, all canned to make it extremely convenient to put together and stick in the oven for an easy dish for your family’s supper. We found this recipe in Paths of Sunshine Cookbook. I have prepared this dish many times, but instead of white rice, I use a rice medley which I find in the rice aisle. It is wonderful! 

Chickpea Salad from thepioneerwoman.com website appears to be beautiful, delicious, AND nutritious! Plus… NO COOKING REQUIRED! Chickpeas and garbanzo beans are the same vegetable. The names are interchangeable in English and Spanish. They have been around for thousands of years; however, you can find them in the canned foods section next to all the other beans in your grocery store! This recipe makes six servings. 

The Three-Day Coconut Cake is contributed by Isabel Beach, a reader in Summerville, SC. This cake is really meant for special occasions, and Christmas surely qualifies! It is spectacular, beautiful, and it is about 8-9 inches high. The hardest part is that you must leave it alone for three days to age properly in the refrigerator. Well, you are supposed to leave it alone… this is easier said than done. You may have to stand guard in front of the fridge and look very serious. 

From an old friend at First Presbyterian Church of Apopka, Treasures and Pleasures, we have Sis Pitman’s recipe for Peanut Butter Fudge. Sis has passed much to our sorrow, but we still have some of her recipes. 

 
BUFFALO-CHICKEN DIP 
Contributed by Amanda Thomas-Henke, Reader 

1 rotisserie chicken 
1 tsp black pepper 
1 tablespoon minced garlic 
1/4 to 1/2 cup minced sautéed onion 
1 cup Frank’s Red Hot (original or whatever you like) 
16 oz cream cheese or Neufchatel 
1 cup Blue Cheese dressing (Marzetti Ultimate Blue Cheese is the best – Litehouse is another good brand, and you can find both in the refrigerated section of the grocery store produce section) 
1-1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (fresh cheese that you shred is best) 

1) Pick over the chicken, discard skin and bones, and shred the meat. I generally stick with the white meat and make stock with the rest, but feel free to use the whole thing. You’ll end up with a lot of chicken in this dip either way. 2) Being careful not to let it scorch, heat the chicken, pepper, garlic, onion and hot sauce in a pot over medium heat until heated through. 3) Stir in cream cheese and blue cheese dressing, and cook, stirring until well blended and warm. 5) Mix in half of the shredded cheese and transfer the dip to a slow cooker. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top, cover, and cook on low until hot and bubbly. You can also bake it in a large baking dish in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 mins or more, until golden brown. 

ORIENTAL RICE 
Recipe from Florida Federation of Garden Clubs 
Paths of Sunshine Cookbook 

1/2 cup butter or margarine 
1 cup long grain rice, uncooked 
1 (10-ounce) can onion soup 
1 can water 
1 (6-ounce) can mushroom stems and pieces 
1 (6-ounce) can water chestnuts, thinly sliced 

Melt butter in casserole dish, set aside. Mix: rice, soup, water, mushrooms and water chestnuts. Pour into casserole with melted butter. Bake covered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove cover and continue baking for 15 additional minutes. 

CHICKPEA SALAD 
Recipe from THEPIONEERWOMAN.COM 

Salad: 
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed 
7 ounces feta, cubed 
1 English cucumber, cut into half moons 
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved 
1 orange bell pepper, diced 
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced 
2 avocados, cubed 
1 cup chopped Italian parsley 
1/2 cup torn basil 

Dressing: 
1/3 cup olive oil 
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar 
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 
1 grated garlic clove 
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes 

1) For the salad: In a large bowl, fold together the chickpeas, feta, cucumber, tomatoes, bell pepper, red onion, avocado, parsley, and basil. 2) For the dressing: In a medium bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, salt, black pepper, and pepper flakes until combined. Pour over the salad and gently fold to combine. Serve immediately. 

Tip 1: Play around with your herbs by substituting dill, mint, or cilantro for the basil. Tip 2: If you are making the salad ahead of time, hold back on the avocado and parsley and basil. Stir these goodies in right before serving to ensure they are bright green and beautiful! 

ISABEL BEACH’S THREE-DAY COCONUT CAKE 
Recipe from Reader of The Apopka Chief newspaper 

1 cup butter flavor Crisco or Parkay margarine 
2 cups sugar 
5 eggs 
3-1/2 cups White Lily Self-Rising flour, sifted before measure 
1 cup milk or coconut milk 
1 teaspoon vanilla 

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour and milk alternately. Add vanilla. Pour batter in three 9-inch pans. Line each pan bottom with a circle of wax paper. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Cool. Mix filling as follows. 

Filling: 
2 cups frozen coconut, thawed 
2 cups sour cream 
2 cups powdered sugar 
1 teaspoon vanilla 

First, use two long lengths of plastic wrap to lay on the cake plate, then build the cake up from there with enough wrap to pull up the sides and lay on top to seal over the finished cake. Split all three cake layers with thread so you end up with six layers. 

Put filling in between all layers but NOT on top. Then you frost the outside and top with stiff whipped cream or Cool Whip. Wash your hands well, then pack the coconut up the sides and on top of the cake. Sprinkle two cups coconut all over the top and around the sides of the cake. The coconut keeps the plastic from sticking. Cake will be about 8-9 inches tall when finished. Refrigerate for three days. 

SIS PITMAN’S PEANUT BUTTER FUDGE DREAMS 
Recipe from First Presbyterian Church of Apopka, Treasures and Pleasures  

1 cup white sugar 
1 cup brown sugar 
1 cup milk 
Few grains of salt 
1 cup marshmallows 
1/4 pound peanut butter 
2 tablespoons butter 
1 teaspoon vanilla 

Cook sugar, milk and salt to the soft-ball stage. Add marshmallows, peanut butter and butter just before removing from the stove. Cool, add vanilla and beat, then pour into a buttered pan. 

NOTE: Peanut butter weight is: 1 pound = 1.89 cups, divided by 4 = 0.4725 cups, so you can probably do 1/2 cup (or little less) of peanut butter and be just fine. Or 1/4 pound peanut butter = 7-1/2 tablespoons.