Bennigan's Broccoli Bites

Christmas Carol's Note:

If you've ever been to Bennigan's, you may have enjoyed this wonderful appetizer. We go there quite often for them. They're basically a blend of broccoli, cheeses, bacon, and onion, rolled in bread crumbs and deep-fried. They are then dipped in a special honey-mustard sauce. This is a copycat recipe from the website Recipe Goldmine and it's right on the money! They're very easy to make and if you want to WOW your party guests with something deliciously different, by gosh- this'll do it!

• Total Time: 31 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 1 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 10

Broccoli Bites

• 3 eggs
• 6 ounces shredded colby cheese
• 6 ounces shredded monterey jack cheese
• 1 (16 ounce) box frozen chopped broccoli, thawed,drained,and dried
• 2 1/2 ounces hormel real bacon bits
• 1/2 ounce diced yellow onion
• 1 ounce all-purpose flour
• Italian breadcrumbs, as needed

Honey-Mustard Dipping Sauce

• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1/3 cup hellman mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup Dijon mustard
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice, plus
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions:

1. Drain thawed broccoli by pressing through a strainer.
2. Dry well with paper towels.
3. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs with a whisk until well-blended.
4. In a large plastic container, place all ingredients except bread crumbs.
5. Add beaten eggs.
6. Stir together with a spatula until thoroughly combined.
7. Refrigerate for 1 hour{This will bind the mixture together}.
8. Meanwhile, make dipping sauce.
9. In a medium bowl, combine sour cream, mayonnaise, and Dijon mustard.
10. With a whisk, blend mixture thoroughly.
11. Slowly pour in honey and lemon juice and continue mixing until smooth.
12. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
13. Heat about 4 cups of oil in a deep fryer or deep pan at 350°F.
14. Pour bread crumbs into a shallow pan.
15. Remove mixture from fridge and form portions into 1 inch balls and coat well with bread crumbs.
16. Place Broccoli Bites into fry basket or pan.
17. Make sure they do not stick together.
18. Fry one minute, then remove and place on paper-towel lined plate to absorb excess oil.
19. Serve hot with Honey-Mustard Dipping sauce.
20. Note; These are best kept warm so you may want to use a chafing dish or even a slow cooker set on"low" for serving.

Reviews

[mailbelle]

Was going to post this, but it's already here! My recipe had the "ounces" converted to "tablespoons" which is easier for me - 5 tablespoons bacon bits, 1 tablespoon minced onion, 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour.

[BethHallKelley]

* Note: I prefer to use fresh broccoli because the freezer kind contain tough stalks and very little on the florets. I steam just a bit and chop it up, let cool, and dry out. Then do the recipe as uaual.
Divine- don't be shy with the cheese and bacon.

[Chef #1415202]

Absolutely delicious and easy to make! My daughter made first and used fresh broccoli. She used the florets (2 cups) keeping a little bit of the stem then cut into smaller pieces. Note: If the pieces are a little too big they won't stick together that well. She used a 12 oz. bag of mixed monterey jack and colby Cheese. And, she also used 1 1/2 teaspoons of onion powder since she doesn't like real ones. If mixture not sticking well, add an extra egg. We used the small Pampered Chef scoop to form balls. When making the dip, you could cut in half because in my opinion it makes too much for the amount of broccoli bites made from this mixture.