Home Cooking with Jess

I have resided in Moundsville since my middle child, Miley, was a baby but the tailgating tradition started years before when I was living in Elm Grove. My friend Jess would come down and watch the Steelers games with her kids and they would play with Bella, my oldest. 

Gradually more and more people came over and would bring their own dish to contribute, and yes, I have stolen a few of them. The one I remember being so fascinated by was wontons.   

These are actually very simple and a really versatile appetizer. When I first started making these, I made them with cream cheese, crab meat a little bit of shredded mozzarella and some seasoning. I used the imitation crab meat to save on cost. The recipe I’ll share is for jalapeño popper wontons, but I really think there are a lot of different dips you could put in the wonton wrappers and they’re all going to be pretty delicious. I’ve done it with left over buffalo chicken dip and I bake these on a cookie sheet. If you want to fry them, that will work, too.

Finding Those Wonton Wrappers

So, the big question … where do you buy these wrappers? I do most of my grocery shopping at Kroger and they have the wonton wrappers in the organic and tofu area. These are pretty inexpensive for a pack of them and are often on “WooHoo” special which just means they will expire in a few days and are under $2.  

They also are right next to the egg roll wrappers and you can quarter those to use as wonton wrappers (I’ll have to remember to eventually share the Ruben eggrolls I made because those are terrific).

That’s a good segway … 

I love Reubens. I’m not sharing a Reuben recipe this time, but I know a lot of people who have tried and loved Reuben dip. But who knew that corned beef was so freaking expensive? There are a couple of things that I always breeze by when I’m grocery shopping. One of them is the meat counter to see if the pre-package Private Selection corned beef is a “woohoo” sale. If so, this $6 for 8 ounce of corned beef is markdown 50 percent off and I buy all the store has to freeze them.

Most of my appetizers cost under $5 to make, so I can’t justify paying full price for corned beef though I do love it! I’ve made Reuben meatballs, Reuben coleslaw and Reuben dip.  But as I said, no Reuben recipe this time. I’m giving you a more cost-effective, super good and arguably better dip that you have likely never had.

The recipes are essentially the same but you’re using smoke sausage or kielbasa instead of corned beef, and also you do not need Thousand Island dressing. Smoked sausage often goes on sale for either $1.49 or 99 cents, and when that happens I grab a few packs and put them in the freezer.

Outside of using it for dips, I put kielbasa in a crockpot with sauerkraut like I’m assuming many other people do and it’s an easy quick dinner that my kids won’t go near. So, they get hotdogs that night. The kids will eat the smoked sausage with fried noodles or potatoes. Just not soaked in kraut.

I fell upon this recipe by looking for bite-size appetizer that included sauerkraut. I found a recipe for kielbasa sauerkraut balls and those are also delicious. I just really like turning appetizers into dips.  Obviously, adding ingredients and stirring and popping it in the oven is less time consuming.  

I’m a big fan of the toll House pretzel crackers for dips and this was the first dip that made me love them. It’s a perfect match. As I keep mentioning, I try to eat mostly keto and pork rinds are really great with this as well. I could also eat it with a fork.  

Jalapeño Wontons

• 1 package of wonton wrappers
• 1 package of cream cheese
• 2 tbsp of jarred jalapeños 
• 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
• Cooking spray
• Small bowl with water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Mix all ingredients except wrappers.
3. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray and line up the wonton wrappers side by side.
4. Take half spoonful of the mixture and place in the center of the wrappers.
5. Dip you fingers in the water and trace the outline of the wonton wrapper.
6. Fold one corner of the wrapper to the diagonal corner and press along the sides (it will look like a paper football… or I guess a triangle.)
7. Spray the tops of the completed wontons with cooking spray.
8. Bake for 8-10 minutes until starting to brown and then flip them and cook for another 5 minutes. 

If you want to dip these, a pepper jelly is good or the Frank’s Redhot brand chili sauce. 

Kielbasa Kraut dip

• 1 pack of smoked sausage of your choice
• 1 package of cream cheese
• 1 cup of drained sauerkraut
• 1/2 of Swiss cheese 
• 1/2 cup of sour cream
• 1 tsp Onion power (or you can dice and sauté half an onion if you have it)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. Dice the smoked sausage.  I do this by slicing it into coins and the cutting those like I’m cutting a tic-tac-toe board. (That’s a super culinary definition. Ha!) 
3. Mix all ingredients and bake for 30 minutes. 

Use vessel of choice. 

Enjoy!

Home Cooking with Jess