December 31, 2011: Crab Stuffed Belgian Endive Recipe

My husband and I don’t really have any New Year’s Eve traditions other than enjoying a nice meal of steak and lobster. If you need to prepare an hors d’oeuvre for a party tonight, this recipe looks very elegant and fits the bill as far as including seafood in the menu. I got this recipe some years ago from The Food Network website and modified it slightly.

Crab Stuffed Endive

½ cup mayonnaise

2 t. Dijon mustard

2 t. lemon juice

½ t. minced garlic

¼ t. hot sauce (such as Tabasco)

¼ t. salt

2 T. chopped green onions

¼ cup seeded, small diced tomatoes

2 T. small capers, drained

1 T. minced shallots

1 T. chopped fresh parsley

1 pound lump crab meat, picked over for shells and cartilage

4 heads endive, cored, leaves separated and wiped clean

In a bowl, combine the mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, garlic, hot sauce and salt. Whisk to combine. Fold in the green onions, tomatoes, capers, shallots and parsley. Gently fold in the crab meat, turning to coat with the dressing and being careful not to break up the lumps. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Spoon a heaping tablespoon of the stuffing into the endive leaves.

Makes about 40 hors d’oeuvres

December 18, 2011: Goat Cheese Phyllo Cups Hors d’oeuvres Recipe

Here’s another recipe fantastic for holiday parties. It doesn’t take a lot of preparation time and they taste good even if they’re not served hot. You can always swap out ingredients, too, using different veggies and cheese combinations (but do keep the base of cream cheese and egg white intact).

Goat Cheese Phyllo Cups with Korean Pork Skewers and Mozzarella Cheese Focaccia Bread

Goat Cheese Phyllo Cups

1 sheet phyllo dough (or one package frozen phyllo cups)

4 ounces cream cheese

2 ounces crumbled goat cheese

1 egg white

1 T. minced pimiento

1 T. finely minced, fresh jalapeno pepper (seeds removed) - optional

2 green onions, thinly sliced (white parts, reserve greens for garnish)

1 t. minced garlic

¼ t. cayenne pepper

½ t. garlic salt

¼ t. freshly ground black pepper

Cut thawed phyllo dough into 12 squares. Press squares into bottom of greased muffin cups.

Cream together cheeses. Whisk in egg white. Add remaining ingredients. Spoon about a tablespoon of mixture into each phyllo cup. Prick edges of dough with a fork. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, until browned on the top and dough is puffed. Sprinkle with chopped or sliced green onion as garnish.

Makes a dozen hors d’oeuvres

Tip: for a bit of crunch, add a couple tablespoons of slivered almonds.

December 17, 2011: Christmas Party Hors d’oeuvres Ideas and Recipe

This year, the most popular appetizers for a party are served on a stick. Yep, they look cute and they’re easy to eat, to boot, which is especially important if your guests are encouraged to stand and mingle while eating.

The menu for my holiday party includes (items with asterisk denote recipes included here):

• Assorted Christmas cookies and candies
• Strawberry Pecan Cheese ball (seasoned with a mix) and Pringles honey wheat stix
• Tray of pickled jalapenos and okra (that I canned over the summer)
• Crackers topped with Alouette Spinach Artichoke soft cheese and slices of smoked sausage
• Meatball skewers (using my baked meatball recipe but made much smaller) with cheese cubes and olives
• Korean Pork skewers*
• Goat Cheese Phyllo cups* (look for recipe in tomorrow’s post)
• Spiced Apple Cider
• Hot Chocolate
• Egg Nog with Brandy

Photo courtesy of yourlife.usatoday.com

Korean Pork Skewers

This recipe courtesy of USA Weekend magazine

1 pound pork tenderloin

3 T. Asian chili sauce

2 T. each soy sauce and rice wine vinegar

1 T. each minced fresh ginger and garlic

½ t. hot red pepper flakes

Thinly slice the pork tenderloin into about 30 pieces (freeze it slightly to make slicing easier).

Combine remaining ingredients in zip-top bag. Add pork. Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.

Thread pieces of pork onto small bamboo skewers. Place on grill rack over a broiler pan. Broil close to heat about 5 minutes, until cooked through. Garnish with thinly sliced green onions, if desired.

Makes 30 hors d’oeuvres

December 5, 2011: Lil Smokies in Barbecue Sauce

This is an old favorite recipe for serving at holiday parties because it’s quick and easy to make while being quite popular with guests. Sometimes, however, I prefer to serve it as a main dish for my husband and I (it makes a little bit more than the two of us can eat but it’s great for a leftovers lunch the next day). Although it may sound strange to add jelly to the sauce, try it before you knock it; it’s quite yummy!

Lil Smokies in Barbecue Sauce

¼ cup finely minced white or yellow onion

1 one-pound package Lil Smokies (Hillshire Farm brand, for instance) sausage

½ cup ketchup

2 T. corn syrup

1 T. prepared yellow mustard

1 t. chili powder

½ t. ground cumin

2 T. grape jelly (or seedless jam, such as blackberry)

1 t. Tabasco sauce

1 t. Worcestershire sauce

In a small crockpot, add minced onions and turn heat to high. Allow onions to cook for a few minutes, until they begin to soften. Add remaining ingredients and turn heat to low. Simmer for an hour or so, until heated through and the flavors have been allowed to meld. Taste and adjust sauce as necessary.

Serves 3 – 4 as main dish, 8 as appetizer

October 24, 2011: Quick Chile Con Queso Recipe

I don’t know if you’ve figured it out yet but I hate to waste food. Recently I took several bags of assorted chips to a church function and ended up with a little bit leftover in each. I’m not a plain chip gal so I made this easy chile con queso to use as a dip with the tortilla chips.

What did I do with the rest of the chips? I used the potato chips as the topping on a tuna casserole and the corn chips as the basis for Frito Chili Pie using a jar of my homemade chili and some shredded cheese. Voila! No wasted food!

Chile Con Queso

4 ounces Velveeta, cubed

1 small roasted green chile, chopped

1 fresh jalapeno, minced (don't discard the seeds unless you want a milder dip)

1 T. minced onion (dried or fresh)

1 t. minced garlic (jarred is fine)

½ t. cilantro (dried or fresh)

2 cherry tomatoes, chopped (optional)

2 T. milk

Combine all ingredients in a microwaveable bowl. Heat for 1 – 2 minutes, until cheese is thoroughly melted. Mix well before serving.

July 29, 2011: Sundried Tomato Artichoke Spread Recipe

One of my newest favorite foods is Triscuits, roasted garlic flavor. These are some of the yummiest crackers I’ve ever tasted! If you haven’t tried them yet rush out and buy a box!

Since I’m not a big traditional breakfast eater, I often have Triscuits and string cheese along with a smoothie in the morning. But I was out of string cheese and just about any other kind of cheese other than cream so I came up with this quick little recipe to top my crackers.

Sundried Tomato and Artichoke Spread

4 ounces cream cheese
1 T. sundried tomatoes (not oil-packed), minced
2 canned artichoke hearts, chopped
1 t. minced garlic
½ t. garlic salt

Combine all ingredients and mix together until smooth. Use as a spread for crackers or a dip for veggies.

April 8, 2011: Spicy Deviled Eggs Recipe

When it comes to spring and the Easter season, it never seems complete without serving deviled eggs at least once! I’m not sure why we tend to make deviled eggs only at this time of year; they’re a great appetizer for any party or special occasion meal. Of course, we always have lots of eggs in our house because of our hens; this recipe is one of my favorite ways to serve them, especially when I’ve got a lot of eggs to use up before they spoil!

Everyone’s got their own way to hard boil eggs; what I do is place the eggs in a saucepan, sprinkle in a bit of vinegar, then add water until it covers the eggs. I bring the pot to a boil, then cover and turn off the burner for 20 minutes. When the time is up, I drain the hot water and add cold water and ice cubes to quickly cool them down.

Note: It’s hard to peel really fresh eggs. Use eggs that are at least a week old for best results.

Spicy Deviled Eggs

6 hard boiled eggs
2 green onions, finely chopped; reserve about 1 T. of green tops to sprinkle on top of prepared eggs
1 t. minced pimiento
2 t. diced jalapenos or green chile
1/3 cup mayonnaise
½ t. hot sauce
½ t. garlic salt
¼ t. dry mustard
¼ t. cumin
¼ t. freshly ground black pepper
1/8 t. cayenne pepper

Peel the eggs and cut in half. Carefully scoop out the yolks and place in a mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients except for cayenne pepper and mash until well combined. Place about 2 – 3 teaspoons of the yolk mixture back into each of the white shells. Sprinkle with cayenne pepper and reserved green onion tops.

Tip: Boil an extra egg in case one doesn't peel well and the white is unusable. I broke one while I was making this recipe so I had extra egg yolk filling - that's why the ones in the photo are so full! 

February 4, 2011: Valentine’s Day Menu for Romance

For my husband and I, Valentine’s Day is a special day, but not one on which we want to spend a whole lot of money that we don’t really have. I don’t expect jewelry and he doesn’t expect much of anything (what’s a romantic gift for a guy, anyway?). So instead of going out and buying some stupid little gift, I show my husband how much I love him by preparing a special dinner.

Not only do we eat special food, I make it romantic by setting the coffee table in the living room with good china, candles, cloth napkins, and finger foods. We sit on pillows and listen to CDs of music we find romantic (I absolutely adore Ottmar Leibert’s acoustical Spanish guitar tunes) while eating three courses of food I’ve lovingly prepared.

Here is one menu that lends itself perfectly to an intimate Valentine’s Day dinner. Enjoy!

Menu:

• Lobster Salad with Bloody Mary Granité
• Sesame Breadsticks (Homemade is preferable but store bought is fine)
• Salad of Baby Greens, Apple Slices, Toasted Pecans and Gorgonzola with Creamy Balsamic Dressing
• Bacon-Wrapped Filet Mignon
• Lobster Tails with Clarified Butter
• Cappellini Pasta with Olive Oil, Fresh Parsley, Garlic, and Shaved Parmesan
• Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Most of these recipes should be self-explanatory so I’m just going to include the recipe for the granité.

Lobster Salad with Bloody Mary Granité (courtesy of foodnetwork.com, 2003)

Granité:
2 cups tomato-vegetable juice (such as V-8)
1 T. lemon juice
6 T. lemon-flavored vodka
1 t. horseradish (freshly grated or prepared)
1 t. Worcestershire sauce
1 t. freshly ground black pepper
3 shakes hot sauce
Salt

Combine all ingredients and season with salt to taste. Pour into a shallow container and place in the freezer. Run a fork through the granité every 30 to 45 minutes while it is freezing to obtain a nice, granular texture.

Lobster Salad:
½ lb. cooked, chopped lobster meat
4 T. olive oil
2 t. finely grated lemon zest
3 T. chopped chives
Salt and freshly ground white pepper

Fold all of the ingredients together and season with salt and pepper to taste.

To assemble hors d’oeuvres, use fancy shot glasses. Fill them ¾ of the way with the lobster salad and top with the granité.

Tip: You can also rim the glasses with coarse margarita salt before filling and garnish with a twist of lemon for an extra fancy touch.

Makes 12 appetizers.