Hot dogs should never get boring. I make them often, especially during the nicer weather months of the year. Fortunately, it takes very little effort to transform a normal dog into something fantastic. These Stroganoff hot dogs combine grilled onions and mushrooms with a creamy sauce and fresh toppings. For easy outdoor cooking, cook the onions and mushrooms on the same grill you cook the dogs on, using a vegetable basket or griddle.
No Boring Hot Dogs Here
A nice Italian sausage or bratwurst can be substituted for hot dogs for an even more amazing dish. But using a regular, good ole dog will still make for an outstanding Stroganoff hot dog!
If you prefer to make your dogs in the air fryer, go for it! No matter how you cook them, try my little ‘trick’ for hot dog greatness. Cut a shallow slit down one edge of the dog before cooking. As it cooks, the dog will open up slightly. When you put it on the bun, put it in cut-side up. That’ll give the toppings a place to settle into instead of sliding off!
I smoked a few shrimp the other day since I already had the smoker going. I figured they’d be great in a Cobb salad, and I was right. For some reason, I was hankerin’ for a nice creamy dressing to top off the salad. But not any ole wimpy dressing. Something with a kick, something spicy. And something that makes you think about the tropics. Like coconut. I love the taste and creaminess of coconut so I made a spicy creamy coconut salad dressing that satisfied all of my cravings!
Nice And Coconut-y. And Spicy.
This spicy cream coconut dressing is really refreshing and spicy. It’s not only perfect on a salad, but is great as a dip for veggies. If it’s too thick for your liking just add a bit more mayonnaise or a splash of milk.
I love making and eating Cobb salads, specially in the summer when there are so many great ingredients to choose from. Check out my smoked chicken Cobb and my southwestern Cobb salads. They are all great!
Check out my new site, Dress My Salad, for more great salad dressing ideas!
These little sauce dipping cups are great for serving salad dressings. They keep me from over-dressing my salads, which is something I’m prone to do since I’m a dressing-aholic. They’re easy to clean up, too. And they’re also great for dipping nuggets, tenders or even chicken wings.
I grilled up a great batch of cedar-planked spicy shrimp the other day. They were perfect in a big Cobb salad. I didn’t want a wimpy dressing to tone down the kick from the shrimp. Since avocados were in season and on sale, I grabbed a few ripe ones and made this incredibly easy spicy avocado salad dressing.
Refreshingly Delicious
This spicy avocado salad dressing is reminiscent of guacamole. In fact, it’s thick enough that you can also use it as a spread on sandwiches or wraps, or even as a dip for chips or vegetables. If you find it to be too thick you can thin it with some milk or buttermilk. Or just add a bit more sour cream.
You can leave out the jalapeno if you like and still have a great dressing that won’t scare your non-heat-loving friends off.
Check out my new site, Dress My Salad, for more great salad dressing ideas!
These little sauce dipping cups are great for serving salad dressings. They keep me from over-dressing my salads, which is something I’m prone to do since I’m a dressing-aholic. They’re easy to clean up, too. And they’re also great for dipping nuggets, tenders or even chicken wings.
I love making and eating Cobb salads, specially in the summer when there are so many great ingredients to choose from. Check out my smoked chicken Cobb and my southwestern Cobb salads. They are all great!
Place all but the salt and pepper into a blender and pulse until smooth.
Season with salt and pepper and pulse a few more times.
If you have any leftover dressing place it in a container and place a piece of plastic wrap directly over it, contacting the dressing without any gaps.
My wife reminded me of this recipe the other day. It was a favorite of ours years ago, when we started our first blog, Crossroads Of America. I was just starting to learn how to cook. This recipe for slow cooker creamy Italian chicken was simple enough for me to not mess up. But it’s still great tasting and looking. Over the years I’ve changed it up a bit. That same great creamy texture and Italian flavor is still there, though. As simple as it is, it’s a great recipe. I still make it now even though I sure have cooked a lot since starting our first blog so many years ago.
Customizable Tastes
The original recipe for slow cooker creamy chicken calls for using a packet of Italian salad dressing mix. And that’s perfectly fine. Since first making this dish I have come up with my own mix. I think it has a bit more flavor. Making your own also lets you adjust the flavors to your tastes. For me that means adding more garlic salt or onion powder, or just more basil (I love basil).
I like to serve this over rice or pasta. With lots of the sauce.
This recipe for slow cooker creamy Italian chicken was simple enough for me to not mess up, but still great tasting and looking. Over the years I’ve changed it up a bit, but that same great creamy texture and Italian flavor is still there.
Combine the dressing mix and water and pour over the chicken.
Cover and cook for 3 hours.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
Add the mushrooms and sautee until just starting to soften. Remove and let cool slightly.
In a large bowl combine the cream cheese and canned soup. Whisk until smooth.
Fold in the mushrooms and pour mixture over chicken.
Cover and cook another hour or until chicken is done.
Notes
If you use thicker chicken breasts you may need more cooking time. Slice them thin or butterfly them for a quicker cooking time. You can substitute 1 1/2 pounds fresh chicken tenders for the breasts.
On a bun. As a dip. In a wrap. On a cracker. It doesn’t matter how you serve this slow cooker creamy bacon chicken, you’re going to love it. Tender, moist chicken. Creamy cheese. Bacon. Ranch dressing flavors. Bacon. Oh, I said that already. I love bacon. There’s no reason that you couldn’t add a bit more bacon to the crockpot. Kinda slip an extra piece or two in for that extra bacon-y flavor.
Creamy Deliciousness
Slow cooker creamy bacon chicken is mighty darned good as it is. Now, you know me (or well, maybe you don’t) but I like a little kick to my food. I would not be afraid to use jalapeno cream cheese instead of the plain stuff. And I wouldn’t be afraid to add a few squirts of Sriracha or my favorite hot sauce, either. Heck, throw in some diced roasted jalapenos too. You can always make two versions. One nice and mellow and one nice and spicy.
Shredded vs Cubed
If you want your chicken to have a bit more texture than the shredded version in the recipe, just cut into small cubes instead. Same great taste with a little bit different bite.
I make what I think is a mighty fine spicy tomato soup. Lately, I’ve been concentrating more on using roasted tomatoes in my dishes, so I decided to give this roasted tomato soup a try. It definitely came out chock full of great roasted tomato flavor. Just perfect. A little herb-y, and a little creamy. And a lot tomato-y.
Time Well Spent
The tomatoes took about an hour to roast. They came out looking and smelling absolutely fantastic. If it would’ve been a nicer day out I would’ve tossed them on my Weber grill, but the weather just wasn’t cooperating. Either way, they made this roasted tomato soup fantastic.
Perfect Tomato Flavor
What a fantastically tomato-y soup!
I like to use my good ole trusty Dutch oven to make this soup and pretty much darned near anything like it on my stovetop. It’s nice and big and sturdy. That extra weight helps it maintain and distribute heat perfectly. As an added bonus, it’s actually pretty easy to clean up too!
Lately, I’ve been concentrating more on using roasted tomatoes in my dishes, so I decided to give this roasted tomato soup a try. It definitely came out chock full of great roasted tomato flavor. Just perfect.
Preheat your oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or use a Silpat,
Place the tomatoes cut-side up in a single layer on the baking sheet.
Drizzle the tomatoes with 1/4 cup of the olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, sugar, and thyme.
Roast the tomatoes until they are wrinkled and soft, about 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let cool until cool enough to handle. Remove skins.
Heat remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat.
Add the onions and a pinch of salt, stir, and cook until starting to soften.
Add the garlic, stir, and cook another minute.
Add the tomatoes, vegetable stock, bay leaf and the basil. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and simmer, partially covered, for 30 minutes.
Add the cream.
Using an immersion blender to puree the soup until smooth. If you do not have an immersion blender you can transfer the soup to a blender, but let it cool first or it will explode in the blender. You have been warned!
Serve warm garnished with chives and croutons if desired.
This absolutely fantastic pasta-free dish reminds me of one we made years ago, but with pasta. It has all the great flavors, but uses zoodles (zucchini noodles) instead. I recently picked up a zoodler (spiralizer… spiral slicer… I’ve been making up names for it as I go), and just love how they are such a great low-carb substitute for pasta. Parmesan chicken zoodles combine some of my favorite tastes in one bite. First, cream. Gotta have cream. Second, chicken thighs. I love chicken thighs. I prefer them over chicken breasts. Sure, thighs aren’t as lean so if you want, you can substitute chopped chicken breast instead.
Sun-Dried Tomatoes For The Win
Next up? Sun-dried tomato. Sun-dried tomatoes were not something I was exposed to growing up. They were a new flavor experience to me when I started cooking. I really like them. They have such a great texture and deep flavor. The oil they are packed in is absolutely great for cooking (so don’t ever toss it out!).
If you know me or follow this blog at all, you know I gotta have some kick. Some heat. It doesn’t have to be much, but a little something to offset the sweetness of the cream is necessary in this dish. Use a little or a lot.
Finally, zoodles. Thinly sliced zucchini. Cooked so they have just a bit of crunch. Almost like pasta, and essentially carb-free. Perfect!
Looking for the perfect spiral dessert? Try my apple zoodles!
I was jonesin’ for comfort food the other day, so I made some. It’s kind of hard to tell, but under that mound of gravy is a juicy, tender chicken breast. This paprika chicken with sour cream gravy has always been a favorite in our house! It’s not fru-fru but it’s definitely easy. And there are never any leftovers.
Butterfly Your Chicken For Best Results
Although the recipe for paprika chicken with sour cream gravy doesn’t call for it, I butterfly the chicken first. The chicken cooks more evenly when it is first butterflied. It also tends to cook quicker. And I think it looks better on the plate than I big, thick piece of chicken.
This paprika chicken with sour cream gravy has always been a favorite in our house! It’s not fru-fru but it’s definitely easy. And there are never any leftovers.
It was one of those almost-stormy evenings. I was in the mood for grilling, but as a backup, I needed to pick something I could cook inside in case the skies opened up. Well, they didn’t, so i was able to grill the fantastic shrimp for this grilled creamy shrimp and mushroom pasta. If it had stormed, I would’ve roasted the shrimp in the oven and still enjoyed a great dinner. But grilled shrimp, well, that’s just better.
Easy And Fantastic
The cream sauce and mushrooms in this grilled creamy shrimp and mushroom pasta are fantastic. The entire dish is incredibly easy to put together. If you don’t want to fret with the shrimp just used pre-cooked frozen shrimp from your grocery store. Just defrost them ahead and of time and you’ll be good-to-go.
No Worries
Don’t be surprised when you start making the sauce that the cream cheese doesn’t melt and get creamy. Once you add the hot water from making the pasta the cream cheese will dissolve and make a fantastic sauce.
Beware Of Flare-Ups
When grilling the shrimp, the butter and oil in the marinade may cause flare-ups on your grill. Be prepared to move the skewered shrimp to another place on the grill until the fire dies down. And by all means, don’t burn yourself!
I recommend that you use a grill basket when making this dish if you don’t have skewers. I makes cooking easier and you don’t have to worry about anything falling through the grates. And cleanup is easier too!
Don’t be surprised when you start making the sauce that the cream cheese doesn’t melt and get creamy. Once you add the hot water from making the pasta the cream cheese will dissolve and make a fantastic sauce.
Wow. I grew up eating a lot of canned cream corn. This isn’t that cream corn. This is something completely special and beyond delicious. From the first bite my wife and I just looked at each other. It was the ‘oh my goodness this is fantastic’ look. Grilled cream corn with a creamy Gorgonzola cheese sauce that is incredible. I can’t say enough just how much we enjoyed this dish.
No Fresh Corn? No Problem.
If you can’t get fresh corn-on-the-cob you can substitute canned corn. You can still make a delicious grilled cream corn with Gorgonzola cheese. Just drain it well first and spread it out on a baking dish and place under the broiler until it starts to char just a bit. Or you can actually skip the roasting and just use the corn right out of the can (after draining).
I like to use my good ole trusty Dutch oven to make this corn and pretty much darned near anything like it on my stovetop. It’s nice and big and sturdy. That extra weight helps it maintain and distribute heat perfectly. As an added bonus, it’s actually pretty easy to clean up too!
his is something completely special and beyond delicious. From the first bite my wife and I just looked at each other. It was the ‘oh my goodness this is fantastic’ look.
