Caldo de Queso, is a Sonora-style cheese and potato soup with green chiles, onions, and tomatoes in a light broth. Recipe by Taste of Tucson cookbook author Jackie Alpers.
Cheese and Dairy
Gun Barrel Mac and Cheese
This cowboy inspired macaroni and cheese recipe from The Unofficial Yellowstone Cookbook is famous for its cylindrical shape and ability to pack a real wallop.
Sonoran Tortilla Pizza
Sonoran style thin and crispy tortilla-crust pizza with exotic mushrooms, lemon infused ricotta, garlic and parmesan from Taste of Tucson cookbook author Jackie Alpers.
Mr. Narwhal Ice Cream Float Inspired by the Movie Elf
A frosty, blue ice cream float resembling Mr. Narwhal in the classic Christmas movie, Elf. This recipe is from The Unofficial Elf Cookbook by Jackie Alpers.
Arizona Cheese Crisp
Tucson’s Sonoran style Mexican Arizona cheese crisp made with flour tortillas, roasted Hatch green chile strips and a creamy green chile Ranch salsa. Thank you Fry’s Foods for sponsoring this recipe.
Linguine With Whole Canned Clams
A meaty yet lighter creamy, cheesy, linguine with white clam sauce made with whole canned clams, greek olives, and tomatoes.
Late Night Improv Snacking
This snack is best eaten very late at night, preferably after attending a party of some other festive gathering. It’s easily assembled and pleasant to look at, even when blurry.
Funeral Potatoes
A healthier recipe for the comforting cheese and hash brown potatoes casserole that’s covered in baked sour cream and cheddar potato chips, with a cowboy inspired spin from Yellowstone’s “train station.”
Creamed Corn Chowder with Popped Amaranth
This rich and creamy, charred corn chowder is made with buttermilk and topped with popped Amaranth which is a gluten-free, ancient grain native to the Western and Southwestern United States that can be popped like popcorn which adds a nice crunch.
Tate’s Rattlesnake Sausage Chowder
This spicy rattlesnake sausage chowder has a bite, but at least it won’t take a bite out of you. Inspired by Tate Dutton’s brave move in a key episode of Yellowstone. This recipe is reprinted from The Unofficial Yellowstone Cookbook: Recipes Inspired by the Dutton Family Ranch, by Jackie Alpers.
Carne Asada CRUNCH Quesadillas
Sonoran carne asada, scallions, cheese and crunchy tortilla chips stuffed in quesadillas and grilled. Many years ago, Ben Galaz owner of BK Tacos taught me how to make Sonoran-style carne and cebollas asada. I’m using his recipe though he cooks the meat on a Santa Rita style grill with a wheel to adjust the height of the grate, and I use a Weber Kettle. If mesquite wood is not available, hickory, pecan or cherry are good substitutes.
Sonoran Street Corn Cups
Recipe for Elote en Vaso, Mexican street corn in cups. Pan fried corn kernels tossed in a creamy sauce seasoned with chile and lime. From the Taste of Tucson Cookbook by Jackie Alpers.
Roasted Whole Baby Cauliflower with Herbs & Parmesan
I’m fascinated by the idea of roasting an entire head of cauliflower, so when I came across these adorable baby cauliflower at the market the wheels started turning. They make a visually stunning side dish, perfect on cold winter nights. You can substitute one large cauliflower if you can’t find the little ones.
Parmesan & Pepperoni Crustless Pizza
If you bake a layer of Parmesan cheese in the oven it will crackle and pop after a while, turning into a crispy, cheese cracker that’s much tastier than any pizza crust I’ve encountered. I topped this baked cheese crisp (which is a popular dish called Frico in Italy) with pizza spices and toppings before sliding it into the oven. The results: crustless pizza!
Sunny Parmesan Pepperoni Crisps
Bake a little sunshine into your life with these bright and happy two-ingredient pizza flavored cheese crisps.
Sonoran Chicken Tortilla Soup
Make this Sonoran-Style Mexican chicken tortilla soup from the Taste of Tucson cookbook in 30 minutes or less!
Parmesan Crisps with Caviar
Festive enough for New Year’s Eve, this pretty appetizer only takes about 5 minutes to make. Bacon infused caviar adds a unique smokiness that will intrigue your guests and is fairly inexpensive, but any decent quality caviar will do. The one-ingredient parmesan crisps are a savory, no-carb alternative to blini.
Nachos Supreme Stuffed Bell Peppers
Sweet bell peppers stuffed with creamy nacho cheese, avocado, pickled jalapeños, black beans and crunchy tortilla chips.
Beef Patty Tacos
Teresa Matias told me that to help satisfy her children’s cries for burgers when buns weren’t handy, she would fold a hamburger patty into a tortilla and fry it. Topped with cheese, lettuce, and tomato, it later became a regular menu item at her restaurant, Teresa’s Mosaic Cafe. Apparently, a lot of moms had the same experience, because the beef patty taco has been standard restaurant fare around southern Arizona since at least the mid-1970s.
Chorizo, Egg and Cheese Breakfast Taco
I ate this for breakfast every day for weeks while writing my Taste of Tucson cookbook. The fat from the chorizo makes the egg really crispy and adds a lot of flavor without too many extra calories.
Skillet Stuffing Shakshuka With Thanksgiving Leftovers
Recipe for Shakshuka made with leftover Thanksgiving stuffing. Be sure to make extra-extra stuffing for Thanksgiving so that you can make my Skillet Stuffing Shakshuka the next morning with the “leftovers”
Spooky Spaghetti Carbonara
This spooky spaghetti carbonara with mushrooms is elegant enough for a Halloween themed adult dinner party.
Linguine with Walnut Pesto
Walnuts taste even better in pesto than pine nuts. Spinach linguine keeps this easy pasta recipe a lovely shade of green.
Bavarian Cheese Dip
Beer, cheddar cheese, and pretzels — what more could you want? How about that it’s only got two ingredients and you can make it in ten minutes or less?
Rainbow Sprinkles Cream Cheese
Rainbow sprinkles for breakfast? Yes! A crunchy and slightly sweet sprinkles cream cheese recipe for everyone who needs more rainbow sprinkles in their lives.
Lasagna Dip
A creamy, warm, vegetarian layered dip that tastes like lasagna. This recipe is loaded with cheese. Serve with fresh veggies.
Lasagna Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Get the secret to how to make a perfectly melty grilled cheese sandwich with my recipe for a n oven-baked Parmesan crusted grilled cheese sandwich that tastes like lasagna.
Spicy Ranch French Onion Dip
Spicy Ranch French Onion Dip. Two Dips That Live As One, Together At Last!
Keto Arizona Cheese Crisp
The cheese crisp is the perfect comfort food. A cross between a Mexican pizza an an open-faced quesadilla, Southern Arizona restaurants started selling the dish more than 50 years ago and it’s become a staple of our local Sonoran style cuisine.
Three Sisters Masa Pizza
Corn, beans and squash are three of the earliest domesticated crops grown by Native Americans in the Sonoran region. For this recipe, prepared corn masa, which is usually used to make tortillas or gorditas, is pressed into a cast iron skillet for the crust. If you’ve never tried tepary beans, this recipe is an excellent way to experiment with them, but you can substitute black beans instead if you want.
Chicken and Broccoli Casserole
A cheesy chicken and broccoli casserole featuring my copycat condensed Cream of Chicken Soup recipe.
Baguette Breakfast Casserole
Canadian bacon, eggs, herbs, and cheese baked inside slices of crusty baguettes. From the Unofficial Elf Cookbook by Jackie Alpers. A visually stunning breakfast casserole that is elegant, yet quick and easy to prepare.
Sweet Pepper Poppers
MIni Sweet Mini Pepper Poppers stuffed with jalapeno cream cheese and topped with panko bread crumbs. Recipe development and food photography for the Food Network.
Breakfast Taco Cups
Recipe for healthy breakfast taco cups. Low-carb tortillas filled with eggs, bacon, pinto beans, cheese and salsa.
Cincinnachos! Cincinnati Chili-Cheese Nachos
Ohio meets Arizona! Cincinnati chili cheese nachos. “Cincinnachos” are the best of everything for snacking season. Cincinnati Style Chili, tortilla chips, kidney beans, cheddar cheese, raw onions and jalapenos.
Sausage, Egg & Cheese Muffin Cups
Learn the secret to making no-flour sausage, egg and cheese breakfast muffin cups that are still light and fluffy!
Sparkling Cranberry and Brie Crostini
Visually stunning sugared cranberries are a study in contrast. The tart, dark berries which appear to have been encrusted in tiny jewels, add a magical quality to these brie crostini.
Rainbow Sprinkles Compound Butter
Learn how to fold crunchy rainbow sprinkles into lightly sweetened butter, and turn any breakfast into a celebration.
Monster Eggs!
These monsterized pesto-fried eggs are green and frightening looking, but delicious and monstrously easy to make.
Crustless Quiche With Five Kinds of Peppers
A simple and satisfying crustless quiche that has all 5 things to love; peppers (both hot & sweet), onions, Swiss, Gruyere, eggs, and cream.
Keto Hot Dog Buns
made this low-carb bread replacement (often called “Oopsie Bread”) out of eggs and cream cheese from a recipe I’ve seen all over the internet. It turned out great. It smells like cheesy-bread while it’s cooking, and it’s very light, and well, bread-like. Often hot dogs are too much about the bun, so this turned out to be a perfect alternative housing for the Sonoran hot dogs in my Taste of Tucson cookbook.
Greek Country Salad
A classic Greek Salad of chunky vegetables and feta tossed in a light vinaigrette will prove that you can indeed win friends with salad.
Johnny Marzetti Three Ways
Three Johnny Marzetti recipes, including the original recipe for the pasta dish, low carb, and Paleo versions.
Iceberg Wedge Salad with Bleu Cheese Vinaigrette
Iceberg wedge salad with bacon bits topped with a smashed bleu cheese vinaigrette. Recipe and food photography by cookbook author Jackie Alpers. The Wedge salad is one of these very classic, simple recipes that’s accessible to everyone. One that’s been loved for generations and modified along the way to accommodate changing tastes. This version is topped with a lighter vinaigrette.
Fennel, Blue Cheese & Spanish Chorizo Mini Pizzas
Mini pizzas made with a herb and cheese crust and a combination of both hot and cold classic Italian toppings.
Mexican Shakshuka
Recipe for Sonoran-style Mexican Shakshuka made with eggs simmered in a spicy tomato cream sauce and topped with melted cheddar.
Chicken Parmesan in Spicy Arrabbiata Sauce
This grain-free chicken parmesan in spicy Arrabbiata sauce takes about 10 minutes to make using store bought sauce and rotisserie chicken.
Mini Pumpkin Goat Cheese Cheesecakes
A can of pumpkin’s been staring at me from the counter top for two weeks now.The internet recipe sites are all screaming at me that it’s pumpkin season, and I am indeed ready for fall. So today I finally got to work and invented something to celebrate the beginning of my favorite time of the year.
Red Wine Sausages With Creamy, Cheesy Noodles
The deep maroon hue of the wine soaked sausages contrasts nicely against the warm, heavy pasta.
Salsa Scrambled Eggs With Gorgonzola
Eggs scrambled with Gorgonzola and Salsa. A salty, spicy twist on a traditional breakfast dish.
