Making fall-inspired dishes perfect for football season

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QC Life) - College football and the NFL are both back and are already seeing their seasons heat up.

To get you gameday ready, Chef Jill Aker-Ray came into the QC Kitchen with some delicious fall-inspired recipes.

While she was with us, she made some homemade ranch power, beer cheese dip and autumn apple dump cake. She was even kind enough to share her recipes, which can be found below.

Homemade Ranch Dressing/Seasoning

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup buttermilk powder
• 1½ tablespoons onion powder
• ½ tablespoon dried chives
• ½ tablespoon dried parsley
• ½ tablespoon dried dill
• ½ tablespoon garlic powder
• 1/4 tablespoon white pepper
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients. Use right away with any dish of your choosing or store in an airtight container in your pantry for up to 1 year.
2. To create a ranch dip, take out a small bowl and whisk together 1 tablespoon of the dry ranch dressing mix and the sour cream.
3. Cover the bowl with storage wrap and refrigerate the ranch dip for at least an hour before serving.

Beer Cheese Dip

Ingredients:

• 2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup beer or nonalcoholic beer
• 1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix
• 2 cups sharp shredded cheddar cheese (or other favorite cheese)
• 1/2-1 tsp horseradish

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, beer and dressing mix until smooth (see separate recipe for homemade ranch seasoning mix)
2. Stir in cheddar cheese
3. Serve with pretzels, crackers, chips or crudites

Autumn Apple Dump Cake

Ingredients:

• 42 ounces apple pie filling
• 15.25 ounce spice cake mix (or yellow cake mix)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
• 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
• 2 sticks salted butter - cold, sliced into thin pats/slices

Directions:

1. Give your slow cooker a light coat of cooking spray, to prevent sticking and burning.
2. Dump the pie filling not crockpot and evenly spread it.
3. Next sprinkle the dry cake mix, and spread it evenly all over the top of the pie filling.
4. Sprinkle cinnamon or pie spice over the dry cake mix.
5. Sprinkle chopped pecans over the cinnamon and dry cake mix.
6. Slice cold butter all over the top of the cake.
7. Cover and cook on high for 2-3 hours, or on low for 5-6 hours.
8. You’ll know it’s fully cooked when the butter has melted and transformed the dry cake mix into a golden crust, and the mixture is bubbly.
9. Scoop it out and serve it with your ice cream, whipped cream and/or caramel sauce.

Related: Making a honey chipotle glaze perfect for football season

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