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Tailgating Spicy Taco Cheese Ball

"At Christmas I serve friends and family Nannie's Cheese Logs in gift trays, and this spin off on my family's Cheese Log recipe was at the top of the list. It's fire hot and it's right up a man's alley for tailgating and parties. Best served with tortilla chips. Can store nicely for a week before serving."

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Cheese and cream cheese match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 479 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

The recipe

3 balls
Prep15 min

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Place the softened cream cheese in a large bowl and beat with a sturdy spoon or hand mixer until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes.

  2. Add the mayonnaise and the hot taco seasoning mix and stir until fully blended.

  3. Fold in the chopped pickled jalapeno peppers, then add the shredded Mexican cheese blend a little at a time, mixing until evenly combined.

  4. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for about 20 minutes so the mixture firms up enough to shape.

  5. Spread the dried parsley on a flat plate or shallow dish.

  6. Divide the cheese mixture into three equal portions and shape each into a firm ball with your hands.

  7. Roll each ball in the dried parsley, pressing gently so it coats evenly on all sides.

  8. Wrap each cheese ball tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving so it holds its shape.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Cheese + cream cheesetop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together479 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  2. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together34,118 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Cheese + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together7,861 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Cream cheese + jalapenotop 9% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together191 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Jalapeno + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together1,885 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Flavor stand-ins for the jalapeno

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (parsley, cheese, cream cheese, pepper):

  1. Dillbetter flavor fit
  2. Thymebetter flavor fit
  3. Basilbetter flavor fit
  4. Jalapenothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against parsley, cheese, cream cheese, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).