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. Whether you are tied together by a love of sports, faith, family, or friends, we gather together in groups to form community and frequently this time is based around a shared meal. 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. During a COVID year, these rules have become even more stringent--finger foods and shared utensils make me cringe! All of this being said, I still 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 (winking at you Kristina)!!!
This week, I indulged my potluck food craving by making a Pigs in a Blanket wreath complete with gooey baked cheese! This is one of those dishes that comes complete with a handy video detailing all of the secrets of its preparation edited down into a 2-minute Facebook friendly teaser. I discovered that the ACTUAL preparation of this gastronomic delight was, in fact, just as easy as the video portrayed (NAILED IT). This dish is fancy and pedestrian simultaneously in the best possible way.
Neil and I wrapped up our weekend with another internet sensation--Mississippi Pot Roast. If you have never experienced it, Mississippi Pot Roast is a dish that sounds terrible on paper but is DELICIOUS when concocted. Chuck roast, pepperoncini (with juice), Ranch dressing mix, a packet of powdered au jus mix, and nug of butter all slow cooked in the crockpot (or rushed in the insta-pot for those late afternoon cravings). You can serve it over mashed potatoes, shredded on a crunchy loaf of bread, or just eaten like stew out of a bowl. Midwest 1980’s cooking at its finest and definitely a keeper in our kitchen rotation.
Mississippi Pot Roast (adapted from someone somewhere you 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 (something magical happen to the peppers when they mix with the juice so you might want a second jar if your roast is large or you particularly like peppers)
1 packet of dry au jus powder (can substitute the beef gravy mix or the beef consommé powder)
1 packet of dry Ranch dressing seasoning
1 stick of butter (this dish is pretty salty, so I suggest using unsalted butter)
Directions:
To cook in a crock pot: put your pot on low, plop in your chuck roast, sprinkle both flavoring packets over the top of the roast covering as completely as possible. Dump in the jar (or 2) 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 degrees, is easily shreddable with a fork, and when you are ready to eat.
To cook in an insta-pot: Add all 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 - complete 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 each green onions - green part sliced thin
1 T chopped rosemary
2 each 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 degrees
Cut the top crust off of the wheel of cheese and set aside (but keep). Sprinkle onions, rosemary, and garlic on the cheese then replace the reserved cheese rind.
Place the first pie crust on your cutting board, center the wheel of cheese in the middle, gently cover 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 bottom layer. Adjust as necessary to make a compact, orderly (even pretty?), wreath design.
Slide onto a parchment lined sheet pan. Brush your savory pastry delight with egg yolk wash and sprinkle with your chosen garnish. Bake for 30 minutes. Then let rest of 10 minutes so the molten cheese filling doesn’t destroy the roof of your mouth.
Gently cut the top of the pie crust topping off of the cheese wheel and enjoy.
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