Piggy Dip Au Gratin Recipes

THE PIG DIP

Steps:

• For the pork jus: Heat a large pot over medium heat and add the pork and bacon. Cook slowly until very caramelized and then remove from the pot. Add the chopped vegetables and shallots and cook in the remaining fat until caramelized. Pour in the wine to deglaze, scraping up bits at the bottom, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add stock, thyme, peppercorns and bay leaves and simmer for 10 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, and then return to the pot and cook until reduced by half. Reserve 1 cup for the dip, and reserve the rest for another use.
• For the marmalade: Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions, fennel and salt and cook until dark brown. Stir in the sugar and cook until caramelized and spreadable. Add the vinegar to deglaze, scraping up bits stuck to the bottom and cook down until the vinegar is no longer astringent. Stir in the pepper, and then spread onto a baking sheet to let cool.
• For the dip: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Slather the butter on the baguette and toast. Place the pork and bacon on a baking sheet, top with the Comte and warm in the oven. Smear the bottom bun with fennel-onion marmalade and the top bun with the Dijon mustard. Place the sliced pork and bacon on the bottom bun and top with the prosciutto. Cut in half and serve with pork jus. Use remaining onion fennel marmalade for other recipes.

PIGGY DIP AU GRATIN

Steps:

• With a sharp bread knife, cut the top of the loaf of bread off and hollow out the inside of the loaf, leaving the shell.
• Combine cheeses, garlic, onions, bacon bits and sour cream, mix well and place mixture in bread shell.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
• Serve with crackers.

PIGS IN A BLANKET

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375°. Working quickly while cold, unroll the crescent dough sheet on a lightly floured surface and separate the perforated dough into 8 triangles. Cut each dough triangle into three equal skinny triangles.
• Place one cocktail sausage on the wide base of one skinny triangle. Roll the sausage toward the pointed end of the triangle, allowing the dough to overlap and wrap around the sausage. Place the rolled sausage on a parchment-lined baking sheet, point-side down. Repeat with the remaining dough triangles and sausages.
• Whisk together the egg with 1 teaspoon water in a small bowl until smooth. Brush the egg wash over the dough and sprinkle with the everything bagel seasoning, if desired. Bake at 375° until the dough is puffed and golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes.
• Make the dipping sauces (optional): For the Spicy Mayo Dipping Sauce, stir together the mayo and chile-garlic sauce in a small bowl until smooth. For the Maple-Dijon Dijon Dipping Sauce, stir together the mustard and syrup in a small bowl until smooth. For the Quick Ranch, stir together the sour cream, pickle juice, and chives in a small bowl until smooth.
• Serve the pigs in a blanket warm with Spicy Mayo, Maple Dijon, or Quick Ranch Dipping Sauces.

CRAB DIP GRATIN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350º.
• Feel through the crab meat to make sure there aren't any remaining bits of shell still attached.
• Melt the butter in a 2 quart, heavy-bottomed pan. Add the shallots, cayenne and pepper and sauté over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant - only about 30 seconds.
• Pour the dry vermouth and the lemon juice into the pan, and raise the heat to medium-high, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze it. Cook, uncovered, over medium-high heat for 5 minutes.
• Lower the heat to medium-low. Cut the cream cheese into large chunks (about 2 tablespoons each), and stir them into the pan, stirring well to make sure the cheese melts and is well combined with the other ingredients.
• Once all the cream cheese is melted, add the Gruyere and Parmesan cheeses. Stir well until they are melted and combined with the rest of the ingredients.
• Stir in the crab meat, half and half, and Tabasco, mixing to combine the ingredients well.
• Taste the dip - the cheeses add a fair amount of salt, so I don't usually add any more. But if you like you could add some salt at this point.
• Bake at 350º for 30 minutes. Garnish with chives and serve with crackers or toast rounds.

PIGGY PUDDING DESSERT CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• In a medium bowl, combine butter or margarine, flour and chopped walnuts. Mix, then pat into bottom of 9x13 " pan.
• Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 20 minutes. Allow to cool.
• Beat softened cream cheese with confectioners sugar until smooth. Fold in 1/2 of the whipped topping. Spread over cooled crust.
• In a medium bowl, combine chocolate pudding mix with 3 cups milk. Mix well and spread over cream cheese mixture.
• Spread remaining 1/2 container of whipped topping over pudding. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup chopped nuts.