Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Buffalo Chicken Dip

A few years back I told my big brother I had plans to go to a party that upcoming weekend and he suggested I make his (in)famous buffalo chicken dip. I was a bit wary because he's had some crazy concoctions in the past (calling chicken nuggets + spaghettios in a bowl chicken parmigiana), but I decided to give it a try. It seemed simple enough - take a couple chicken breasts and cook them with some Frank's red hot sauce, shred the chicken, add cream cheese, top with shredded cheddar and throw in the oven. The dip barely made it through the first 30 minutes. People ate.that.shit.up. I'd love to say I made it all the time after that but the truth is I hate shredding chicken so I seldom made the delectable dip.

Until recently that is. I was inspired by The Keg Tap's How to Make Hot Sauce with Beer video. I thought to myself...ooooh I bet that would be DAMN delicious for my dip! (yeah, I use mad alliteration when I'm excited, don't judge me). I consulted with Irving and decided that the green jalapenos and serranos from my local supermercado would have to suffice since I couldn't find the red versions. Let me first say, I have never cooked spicy peppers before. Repeat, I have no cooked any type of pepper other than my friendly bell pepper varieties. I realize this comes as a shock considering my Mexican heritage, but the truth is I grew up with my mom in the kitchen and she's Colombian. Apparently we haven't built up the same spicy eating antibodies.

So let's get on with it then. I almost died. Here I am getting everything prepped and excited about this here sauce. I'm heating the oil just as Irving instructs. And then. Calamity. The instant I dropped those peppers into the saute pan I regretted it. A burst of spicy pepper smoke erupted from the pan and headed straight for my face. DEAR GOD. THE PAIN. I mean seriously. I thought this was it. This is how I die. I've gone blind. I can't breathe. What will my parents tell people? Oh, Natali? She perished in a mushroom cloud of jalapeno smoke. I CAN'T BREAFFFFF! This is where I start to regret all my terrible life choices. I am too young. This can't be how I get taken out. Some peppers? Say it ain't so. I have disgraced my grandmother, she'd be so disappointed in my lack of spicy cooking prowess. This is just sad. Eventually the cloud subsides and I'm able to regain normal breathing and eyesight. Undeterred by this minor setback, I carry on with the sauce recipe.

After finally finishing the spicy sauce of doom I begin prep for my chicken dip. Remember when I said I hated shredding chicken? Well I made an adjustment to the recipe, I cheated and used canned chicken instead. GENIUS! Rather than bore you with any more details I'll simply list the recipe below :) Hope you enjoy!

what you'll need:
2 cans of chicken (I got mine from costco, nothing fancy just some 10oz cans)
2 packages of cream cheese (8oz each)
3/4 cup pepper sauce (I used my new beer hot sauce but you could totally use Frank's Red Hot or something similar)
1.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese (I maybe used a little more, I like it cheeeeesy)
**please note you can also add some ranch dressing to tone down the heat**

directions:
Heat the chicken up in a pan along with your sauce of choice. Preheat the oven to 350. Once the chicken is all nice and saucy transfer it to a shallow baking dish and mix in the cream cheese. I like to toss in a little of the shredded cheese too at this point but that's totally optional. You can also do a dollop of daisy sour cream or ranch if you like it really mild.

After that's all mixed up and spread in the dish top it off with a layer of shredded cheese and pop that bad boy into the oven. Let it bake uncovered for about 20-25 minutes (basically you want that whole top layer of cheese to melt). I served mine with baguette slices but you can use carrots, celery, or any other dipping favorite. Cheers!

peppers, pretty but dangerous
my nutribullet is the real MVP
Finished sauce!
The dip is ready for baking
soooo tasty!