My daughter Jade was born a foodie. She has always loved food and everything that has to do with food. She appreciates good food and is a bit of a snob when it comes to processed and fast foods. She's been my main assistant in the kitchen and lately she's been venturing out on her own.
She made these king crab legs crostini when the rest of us were happy enough to dunk them in butter and swoon. She was nice enough to make enough crostinis for everyone and we all deemed these to be equally swoon worthy. It's like swooning on a silk covered duvet rather than on the sofa. Very classy tasting and nice variation of texture and flavor. Certainly good enough to serve company.
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These delectable appetizers actually have a fancier name than just cheese puffs and bacon wrapped oysters. They are the December challenge for Recipes to Rival and they are properly called Gruyère Cheese Gougères & Galatoire’s Oysters en Brochette.
This is what we had to nosh on on New Year's Eve and they were delicious. Those hollow cheese puffs were begging to be filled so the girls and I have been filling them up with all sorts of stuff from cream cheese dip to turkey & potato salad.
Click here for the recipe for cheese puffs and bacon wrapped oysters.
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It's friday and today let's have a little bit of this and that. This is a collection of appetizers and snacks we've cooked up.
You can't ever go to a Filipino party without running into our version of the eggroll, LUMPIA! I am, of course partial to lumpia compared to other eggrolls, it's what I grew up eating. I love eating it with a garlicky vinegar sauce but my girls go for the sweet and sour sauce on theirs.
Everyone who's ever tried the Filipino Lumpia will agree it's the best eggroll around.
Another family favorite not far behind the lumpia is Vietnamese/Thai inspired spring rolls. I had put off making these for the longest time because those almost transparent wrappers scared me. Yeah, I was afraid I'd make a mess of them. I finally tried my luck last summer though, and guess what, they were great! Those translucent wrappers are actually sturdier than you think. We've been making these regularly since.
If you’re still hungry for more, you can also give these a try. There's the fried zucchini, always a hit with the kids; the spinach and artichoke dip that is a hundred times better than the ones you get at the restaurant; and of course crab stuffed mushrooms. Yummy!
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Have you ever heard of Rillettes? According to this article from the L.A. Times By Amy Scattergood, it's "the new wave in L.A.'s charcuterie renaissance -- can be made of pork, game, poultry, fish or even vegetables."
What is it? In my simple translation, it sounds like potted meat. For one, it is served in pretty mason jars and served with toast or bread. How do you make rillettes? It's pretty simple according to the article:
To make rillettes, meats are first marinated or given a brief salt cure, then braised or confited (poached in their own fat) until very tender. The tender meat is then mixed with a bit of the reserved poaching liquid and fat, maybe a few herbs. That's it.
Packed into jars or terrines, loaf pans or ramekins, sometimes sealed with a layer of fat, they're stored in the fridge, where they can last for up to a week -- longer if sealed with a layer of duck fat or butter.
It actually sounds interesting. I just may try it out. Read the whole article, Bring the bistro experience home with savory rillettes and get additional tips on how to make it.
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Potstickers are really very easy to make, and they are great to have in the freezer for the times when you need a quick snack or a quick and easy meal.
They can be steamed, boiled, fried or dropped into soups. Whichever way you prefer to have them, they are delicious and very easy. When you make your own potstickers, you can also make them more healthy by adding veggies and using better quality meats. Best of all, you can customize the flavors to suite your palate and pocket book :)
Click here for the recipe...
I finally had a chance to try my hand out at making my own spring rolls and decided to have a wrap up day when the girls had their sushi rolling day. This would have been a great entry for Lasang Pinoy’s Binalot event, but things just didn’t synch up right and I missed the deadline.
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This is an old appetizer standby, and a favorite at parties. For parties, you probably should use smaller, bite sized mushrooms. This time though, I had some large mushrooms that were just waiting to be stuffed so I fixed this for dinner for me and the husband and still had plenty leftovers for lunch the next day. We had a nice big salad with plenty of tomatoes and cucumbers from the garden with these and they were delicious! It was a perfect, light summer dinner.
INGREDIENTS:
12 fresh mushrooms, large
3 Tablespoons butter
1/4 cup onions, chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup spring onions, chopped
1 cup (a little over) lump crab meat
2 Tablespoons mirin
1/4 cup mayonaise
2 Tablespoons Parmesan Cheese
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
Salt/pepper to taste
Olive oil
Remove the mushroom stems and chop, set the mushroom caps aside. In a skillet, melt the butter and add the onions, garlic and chopped mushroom stemps. Saute' for a few minutes until they are fragrant, the onions are translucent and almost all liquids have evaporated. Stir in the spring onions, mirin, mayonnaise, parmesan cheese, and bread crumbs. Remove skillet from the heat and add the crab meat. Mix well and season with salt and pepper as needed.
Spoon the crab mixture into the mushroom caps and place them on a baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes.
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Everytime we go out to one of those chain restaurants, my girls always get either the chili con queso dip or this one, both usually served with tortilla chips. I looked at several recipes on the internet and came up with this one which is a combination of two or three recipes found. This time around, we served this with toasted baguettes for our Super Bowl Sunday party which the girls didn't want to label as such since we only watch the commercials and half-time show anyway.
INGREDIENTS:
4 cloves of garlic (pre-baked for 20 mins at 20-30 minutes)
1 package of frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and drained thoroughly
1 package of frozen artichoke hearts, cooked according to package directions, drained and chopped
1 jar of Alfredo sauce (store-bought)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 pk (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
Combine all the ingredients in an oven safe dish and mix well. Cover and bake in the oven preheated to 350 degrees until it is warm and bubbly (about 40-50 mins). Serve warm, but also still good after it cooled off.
The clone actually had this for lunch today. What I did: spread about 2 tablespoons of the dip on a large flour tortilla, top with lettuce, chopped carrots, and cucumbers. Roll up, and you have one healthy veggie burrito for lunch!
We love cooking and eating Mexican food, and guacamole is one of our favorites either as a dip or as an accompaniment to any Mexican dish. However, we have also gotten into the habit of making it every time we cook out on the grill. It just pairs up well with grilled meats. This is a very simple version, and I find it works best with picky kid palates.
2-3 avocadoes, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped
1 lime, juiced
2 roma tomatoes, seeded and diced fine
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic, finely minced and mashed
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
Mix all ingredients together, slightly mashing the avocado in the process. We like to leave some avocado chunks in our guacamole. Great to dip tortilla chips in or just a condiment for grilled meats.
These tidbits are a mouthful of flavor for mushroom lovers. The recipe, like everything I like to make, is quite simple:
2 pounds of medium to large button mushrooms, stems removed, chopped and reserved
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 medium sized onion, finely chopped
1/2 pound of baby spinach leaves chifonade
1/4 cup of fresh bread crumbs
salt & pepper to taste
3 tablespoons of olive oil
Heat a skillet and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and saute the garlic, onion and chopped mushroom stems until fragrant, and most liquid had evaporated. Add the spinach chifonade and cook until wilted. Add bread crumbs to absorb some of the liquids, and season with salt and pepper. Stuff the mixture into the mushroom caps, and put in an oven proof dish. Drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and bake in a 350 degree F oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until mushrooms are tender.
