The Traveling Epicurean

franks hot sauce

Best Buffalo Chicken Dip Ever!

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Best Buffalo Chicken Dip Ever!

This delicious buffalo chicken dip is my top viewed recipe on my YouTube Channel at 160,704 views and climbing! It takes center stage every time! You may find yourself not straying too far in fear that it will be devoured. The layers start with room temperature cream cheese, chicken tenderloins sautéed in Franks Hot Sauce, a drizzling of homemade buffalo sauce, and finally a sprinkle of crumbled blue cheese, sharp cheddar and mozzarella. It bake’s in the oven until bubbly and served with tortilla chips. I also like to serve this appetizer with carrots, celery and cucumber slices on the side.

I have a secret for you! I’ve been using rotisserie chicken instead! It comes out just as good as sautéing the tenderloin and it saves time! Just toss the rotisserie chicken pieces with some of the butter whisked with the Frank’s Red sauce, and begin to layer. You can also bake chicken wings at 400° for 40 minutes and then toss with this butter-Frank’s Red Hot sauce and you’ll have amazing Buffalo wings!

The Buffalo chicken dip gives all the amazing flavors of that typical “buffalo wings and blue cheese” with out all the work! I am very particular about my blue cheese dressing so I highly recommend my easy homemade blue cheese dressing recipe!

This buffalo chicken dip recipe came from my friend Lisa who just recently made it for a party we were at and it didn’t last very long! I make this dish all year round not to mention how totally awesome it is for football season.

IMG_7406I think this buffalo chicken layered dip is a win win for you and your party. Everyone will be asking you for the recipe. I hope you enjoy this “BEST Buffalo Chicken Dip” recipe and the show too! Don’t miss the “Behind the scenes bloopers” included at the end of the show. And if you want to make an amazing desert that will get you lots of oohs and ahhs try the Pavlova or the “Death by Chocolate Meringue Pie”! Don’t forget a Homemade Caesar Salad and an entré of Lobster Mac n’ Cheese or Eggplant Balls with pasta or Zucchini Spaghetti!

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Ingredients: NOTE: You can use ROTISSERIE Chicken!

  • 3/4 lb chicken tenderloins raw OR 1/2 of a ROTISSERIE Chicken
  • 1 tbsp olive oil (NOTE: this is only if sautéing up the tenderloins)
  • Sprinkle of salt (only if sautéing up the tenderloins)
  • 1 -8 oz pkg Philadelphia Cream Cheese
  • Frank’s Hot Sauce
  • Buffalo sauce: 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter (Kerrygold or favorite) & 1/3 cup Franks Hot Sauce
  • 1/4 cup Blue cheese crumbles
  • 1/4  cup sharp cheddar cheese
  • 1/4  cup mozzarella
  • (1) 9″ Deep-dish baking pie plate

Directions:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 375º
  2. Melt 1/2 stick of butter in microwave, then add 1/3 cup of Frank’s Red Hot Sauce, whisk until combined – this is the “homemade buffalo sauce” – set aside
  3. Add 1 tbsp. olive oil on medium heat
  4. Add in the chicken tenderloin pieces to a pan on med. high heat, sprinkle with a pinch of salt begin to sauté for 3 minutes
  5. Flip chicken pieces over and sauté another 3 minutes
  6. Once they start to golden slightly add 2 tbsp. Franks hot sauce and let reduce on low 1-2 minutes
  7. Remove from heat and shred or cut up
  8. OR toss ROTISSERIE CHICKEN meat from 1/2 of a chicken, cut up or pulled apart to bite-size pieces with enough Frank’s Red Hot/butter sauce mixture to coat
  9. Begin the layering on top of the cream cheese
  10. Smear 8 oz. of room temperature cream cheese in bottom of your bake dish
  11. Then add the shredded chicken for the layer next
  12. Drizzle homemade buffalo sauce over the chicken (save some to drizzle after the layer of cheeses)
  13. Sprinkle 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
  14. Then Sprinkle 1/4-1/3 cup cheddar and mozzarella each – if using 9″ baking dish go with 1/4 cup, if using 12″ baking dish you could use 1/3 cup if you want a little extra
  15. OPTIONAL – Drizzle more buffalo sauce over the cheeses
  16. Bake for 20 minutes until bubbly and serve with tortilla ships, carrots and celery

Michigan Sauce at Kathleen’s

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Michigan Sauce at Kathleen’s

We make this incredible Michigan sauce in the show with ground turkey, but many who make this savory sauce make it with ground beef! Michigan sauce is made from simmering ground turkey, warm water, French’s Yellow Mustard, Franks Hot Sauce, Hunts Tomato Sauce, chili powder, ground cumin all awhile mashing the ground meat with a potato masher to achieve a tender, fine sauce.

Now you may think that adding a whole 5 oz. bottle of Frank’s Hot Sauce to this homemade Michigan sauce would make it really spicy but it doesn’t at all. The amounts of all the flavorful ingredients are pretty perfect here giving you this nicely balanced combination. You get hints of citrus and floral from the ground cumin, a bit of a kick from the cayenne in the Frank’s Hot Sauce and a little tang from the French’s Yellow Mustard. Lets not forget the chili powder that gives it the right amount of earthiness to complete the circle. Now you know how important it is to me that you always season a dish as you go along but here there is no need for salt or pepper because all of the ingredients added into this recipe take care of that.

These Michigan Sauce recipes go back for generations and are very special to an Upstate New Yorker such as Kathleen and her family. I feel honored that they were willing to share their family recipe that they hold so dear to them so that I might be able to share it with all of you.

clarecarlsOver the years there have been legends and tales going around of how this delicious Michigan Sauce recipe began. One says that the Coney Island hot dog met a sauce made from a woman in Nashville who married a man from Detroit and they moved to Plattsburgh, NY. They started selling hot dogs with this sauce and called them “Michigans”. The other says it was a couple from Detroit that moved to Plattsburgh, NY.  But if you ask some of the locals they will insist that “Michigans” have nothing to do with Detroit! Back in the 1920’s is when the the first “Michigan” stand opened up but Clare and Carl’s is the one very well known to people which opened in the 1940’s along Lake Champlain. To this day, Clare & Carl’s keeps the car hop service that made it popular a half century ago.

A typical “Michigan” is garnished with chopped onion and a line of French’s Yellow Mustard on the top. If you to go into Clare and Carl’s they would ask you if you want your Michigans “with” or “without”, referring to the chopped onions of course. You might reply, I would like two Michigans “with-buried”. This would mean you want onions and they are to be under the sauce. Now you know how to properly order your Michigans when you are in Upstate New York.

Even though this special meat sauce is an Upstate New York summer tradition I think this is the perfect dish for football season! Not to mention it’s a total make ahead dish so you won’t miss any of the game tending to that darn stove. This Michigan sauce also freezes really well so make sure to take advantage of that and make an extra large batch like Kathleen’s mom, Shirley, does for future meals and get together’s. Thank you again Shirley and Kathleen for enlightening us with your lovely Michigan sauce recipe.

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Hope you enjoy the show! You may want to try and make some refreshing Pavlova for dessert to go with this savory Michigan sauce!

 

 

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Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. Ground turkey
  • 1 cup warm water – Add 1/2 cup in the beginning and add 1/2 cup after adding the Hunts Tomato Sauce
  • 1 heaping tbsp French’s yellow mustard
  • 1- 5 oz. bottle Franks Hot sauce (whole bottle)
  • 8 oz. can of hunts-plain tomato sauce plain or garlic
  • 3 tsp ground cumin
  • 3 tsp chili powder
  • 1 small chopped Vadalia sweet onion – chopped for garnish or a Michigan “with-buried” (if you don’t get this you need to watch the show) 🙂
  • 1 pkg Deutschmacher Frankfurters (mild and delicious) OR Red Hots
  • Hot dog rolls

Directions:

  1. Add 1/2  cup water to 1 lb. ground turkey (beef) in a large sauté pan on medium/low
  2. Continue to mash these two for 10 minutes while simmering with a potato masher
  3. Change to a fork to further mash ground turkey to a finer mash for 5 minutes
  4. Stir in 1 heaping tbsp French’s Yellow Mustard until it disappears into turkey mixture
  5. Stir in 1 whole 5 oz. bottle of Frank’s Hot Sauce until it disappears into turkey mixture
  6. Stir in 1- 8 oz. can of Hunt’s tomato sauce
  7. Add in another 1/2 cup of warm water
  8. And then stir in 3 tsp chili powder and 3 tsp ground cumin
  9. Let this simmer on low for 1/2 hour
  10. Then mash a little more with the potato mash to make sure you have a fine texture.
  11. You can let simmer for another 1/2 – 1 hour til a thick consistency
  12. The more you let it simmer the more the flavors develop
  13. This sauce freezes really well for future meals
  14. Serve in a bowl with a drizzle of French’s Yellow Mustard and some chopped onions on top OR on top of a steamed hot dog in a bun with a drizzle of French’s Yellow Mustard and some chopped onions on top …YUM!