Kelli has had an extraordinarily hectic week between the Ag Conference and hosting a Legislative Tour. While she is recovering, we at The Fallon Post hope you enjoy this previously printed article:
Hi, Friends. Can we sit down for a moment and have a conversation about potlucks? Potlucks come in many different shapes and sizes. Ultimately they all have two things in common: a gathering of people from different households and food. In fact, food is one of the easiest and greatest ways of laying the foundation for meaningful shared experiences.
I have to be totally honest: the more culinary training and experience I amass, the more wary I am about potlucks. On one hand, a potluck presents an amazing opportunity to experience a wide variety of dishes prepared by people from wildly different backgrounds and cultures. On the other hand, a potluck presents perhaps the perfect petri dish for contamination and time-temperature disaster.
In a normal year, I have very strict rules about what I will and will not eat at a potluck. For example, if I am craving potato salad, or any other dish containing cooked then chilled ingredients paired with mayonnaise, I make it myself. All of this being said, I crave potluck foods. Sometimes, all I want to eat are small portions of Swedish meatballs, pigs in a blanket, devilled eggs, roll-ups, pinwheels, little smokies, beanie weenies in barbeque sauce, and spinach artichoke dip.
This week, I indulged my potluck food craving by making a Pigs in a Blanket wreath complete with gooey baked cheese. This dish is fancy and pedestrian simultaneously.
Neil and I wrapped up our weekend with another internet sensation: Mississippi Pot Roast. Serve it over mashed potatoes, shredded on a crunchy loaf of bread, or just eaten like stew out of a bowl.
Mississippi Pot Roast (adapted from someone somewhere who had a terrible idea that ended up working out)
Ingredients:
- 1 chuck roast - doesn’t matter how big or which particular type
- 1 jar of pepperoncini with juice
- 1 packet of dry au jus powder (can substitute beef gravy mix or beef consomme powder)
- 1 packet of dry Ranch dressing seasoning
- 1 stick of unsalted butter
Directions:
- To cook in a crock pot, put the pot on low, plop in the roast, and sprinkle both flavoring packets over the top, covering as completely as possible. Dump in the jar of pepperoncini with all of the juice. Top with the stick of butter, cover, and walk away. Your roast is finished when it has reached 185°, is easily shreddable with a fork, and when you are ready to eat.
- To cook in an Insta-pot, add all the ingredients in the order described above. Cook on the “meat” setting for at least 45 minutes under pressure. Natural release and enjoy.
Pigs in a Blanket Wreath of Joy - with baked brie dip
Ingredients:
- 1 package of cocktail weenies (my pack contained 25)
- 1 package of pie crust - contains 2 separate crusts
- 1 8 oz wheel of brie or camembert
- 2 ea green onions - green part sliced thin
- 1 T chopped rosemary
- 2 ea garlic cloves minced
- 2 egg yolks - whisked together
- Some sort of garnish i.e., Everything Bagel Topping, Sesame Seeds, or Poppy Seeds
Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 400°
- Cut the top crust off of the wheel of cheese and set aside (but keep). Sprinkle onions, rosemary, and garlic on the cheese, replace the reserved cheese rind.
- Place the first pie crust on your cutting board, center the wheel of cheese in the middle, and gently cover it with the second pie crust, pressing the crust around the cheese to seal it in.
- Cut slices into the border of the pie crusts (like spokes on a wheel or rays around a sun). Starting with the top layer, roll the cocktail weenies inside the pie crust segments to form a wreath around the cheese center. Repeat with the bottom layer. Adjust as necessary to make a compact, orderly wreath design.
- Slide onto a parchment lined sheet pan. Brush with egg yolk wash and sprinkle with chosen garnish. Bake for 30 minutes. Let rest for ten minutes. And enjoy.
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