[Jamestown1630]

This week: Appetizers!

(If you would like to be on or off on this weekly cooking thread ping-list, please send a private message.)

-JT

[Fungi]

In the levant it is called a selection of “meze,” a selection of small dishes or appetizers.

[golux]

Cooking delicious, new recipes is one of the pleasures of life... Bacon, butter and cream are a recipe for pleasure! (I'm a Jew, though, so we go with turkey bacon... For shame!)

I also enjoy the ritual of finding new, exciting things for my family to taste. Tonight I am mixing a block of cream cheese with fried onions, green peppers and one of those packs of frozen spinach. Salt, pepper, a little chili powder, touch of nutmeg, cream over shredded sharp cheddar, over No. 5 pasta, a little while in the oven and... We'll see!

Every day I thank my FRiend Kenny Bunk for teaching me his recipes and encouraging me to be brave in the kitchen. (Well - I worked as a chef for many years so we learned from each other!)

Many is the time we clinked glasses and said - now THAT's delicious!

Thank you for this post. Bon Appetit!

[FatherofFive]

Broiled Fresh figs wrapped in prosciutto

Cut fig in half. add a bit of gorgonzola. Wrap with prosciutto. Broil till just crispy

Yummy

[Qiviut]

Somebody sent me this recipe two days ago - looks good & would make nice appetizers:

Mini Quiche 4 Ways
https://www.culinaryhill.com/mini-quiche-4-ways/

A little bigger than a phyllo shell, but still probably 2-3 bites, I’m guessing. The variations are bacon, ham & cheese, spinach & mushroom.

[jonrick46]

My pizza sauce recipe with a pizza dough bonus:

Do not be intimidated by the long ingredients list. This is so good that a pizza restaurant could make big money because of its taste:

You will need:
1 large onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 oz can tomato paste
28 oz can crushed tomato sauce
1/4 cup Merlot wine
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp marjoram
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp oregano
1-1/2 tsp basil
1/4 tsp sage
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 very small pinch of cinnamon
1 TBS Concord grape jelly
1 carrot, peeled
White sugar to taste
Olive oil for cooking garlic and onions

Method:
1. Chop the carrot and put in with half of the tomato sauce, in a food processor or blender, and puree until smooth.

2. Mince onion and cook in olive oil until golden brown in a sauce pan. Do this on a low enough heat to keep this browning process under control to keep from burning. Add minced garlic and cook briefly before adding the other half of the tomato sauce. The tomato sauce can be used to stop the browning process of the onion at the perfect stage of browning. Note: never cook garlic until it turns brown. This causes the garlic to get bitter.

3. Add the tomato paste, the rest of the tomato sauce from the food processor, and all of the ingredients. Simmer on low, stirring `every ten minutes. Be careful not to cause the sauce to splatter due to excessive heat. When sauce is thick, add sugar to taste. Let cool, then put in a storage container for the refrigerator. This sauce can be stored in the freezer for six months.

Pizza Dough from a Bread Maker:

You will need:
3 cups flour
1-1/4 cups water
2 tsp salt
2 TBS butter
2 tsp bread machine yeast

[Twotone]

This is a recipe I found on Delish.com...

Jalapeño Cornbread Poppers

Ingredients:
• 12 jalapeños
• 6 slices bacon
• 1 box JIFFY corn muffin mix
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 c. sour cream
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 c. creamed corn, drained (optional)
• 1/2 c. shredded Cheddar
• 2 tbsp. finely chopped chives, plus more for garnish

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350° and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut jalapeños in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Place on prepared baking sheet.

2. Cook bacon over medium heat until crispy. Reserving grease, remove from heat and drain bacon on paper towels. When cool, chop into small pieces.

3. In a large bowl, combine corn muffin mix, egg, sour cream, and reserved bacon fat and mix until combined. Season with pepper then fold in corn (if using), chopped bacon, cheddar and chives.

4. Divide cornbread batter between jalapeño halves and bake until the cornbread is golden, 18 to 20 minutes.

Garnish with chives and serve.

[mairdie]

A music video of food, because I always collect the pictures. From Daily Mail images.

Food Music Video

[lizma2]

Back in my younger days...Every neighborhood party for years. Different colors for each holiday party, so this for the youngins here. They are jello shots in cube. And fun.

Be more reasonable tomorrow. Bed time now.

Holly Jolly Jello Shots

Servings 36
Ingredients
3 packets unflavored gelatin
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 3 oz. package of cherry jello
1 3 oz. package of lime jello (or you school colors)
1 1/2 cups vanilla vodka .

Directions
Lightly coat a square dish with cooking spray, and then using a paper towel, wipe out the dish. It will leave a light residue to help unmold your shots, but it won’t
affect the taste.

For red layer, sprinkle half of a packet of gelatin over 1/4 cup of water. Allow it to soak in a minute or two. Add one box of the cherry gelatin, along with 1 cup
boiling water. Stir until everything has dissolved. Add 3/4 cup of vodka. Repeat the same process to make the green layer.

To make the white layer, sprinkle two packets of gelatin over 1/2 cup of water. Allow it to soak in a minute or two. Pour in 1 cup of boiling water and
One 14-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk. Stir until everything is thoroughly mixed and gelatin is dissolved. You’ll have approximately 3 cups of liquid.
Allow to cool to room temperature.

Pour half of the red mixture into the prepared pan. Place pan in refrigerator to set, about 20 minutes or so. Once set, add 1/3 of the white mixture to the top of the
Red mixture. Pop any air bubbles and return to fridge to set for about 20 minutes. Repeat with half of the green mixture. Then white, then red, then white again,
Then green. Allow finished pan to set another 2-3 hours, or overnight

When you’re ready to serve, gently pull the edges away from the pan, and invert onto a cutting board. Slice into even squares. (Alternately, you can just cut in the pan itself, but it might be harder to remove the first few squares).

[ConservaTeen]

Weekend cooking time...I’m helping my 7 year old brother and sister learn to cook.

[leaning conservative]

A very quick & very easy bit I learned from a friend. Take crescent rolls & put a chunk of her bed goat cheese in the middle & roll up & bake. They are wonderful w/ salads & soups too.

[boatbums]

One of the easiest and tasty appetizers I have served - and you don’t have to cook ANY of it - is tortilla roll-ups.

You take about 5 or so burrito size flour tortillas and spread them with a mixture of:

2-8oz packages cream cheese (softened)
1 small can chopped green chilies (drained)
1 small can of chopped black olives (drained)
3 thinly sliced green onions
1 or 2 tablespoons chopped jalapenos

Then roll each one up tightly, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm (a few hours or overnight). When ready to serve, take each one and trim off ends then slice into 1/2 inch rounds (the spirals look cool). Place on a platter and serve with a good salsa (mild or medium) to dip them in. Everyone loves them!

[pugmama]

Since moving to upstate SC, we have really been enjoying this southern classic.

http://gardenandgun.com/recipe/three-variations-classic-pimento-cheese/

[Flaming Conservative]

All sounds yummy. Years ago, I made back in wrapping water chestnuts, with a sauce of half ketchup, half brown sugar, bake till bacon is almost crisp.

[Aliska]

+anybody I haven't driven mad over my excessive verbosity.

What an enchanting, enticing concoction, that yellow stacked stuff. I HAVE to FIND OUT WHAT IT IS AND GET THE RECIPE.

Well, my persistence paid off and I finally teased it out of the website of the author of a new book to be released in October. The embedded photo is the cover photo of the book. And I happened to be a great fan of the author from cooking pages.

I NEVER would have guessed in a million years what it is and what that green stuff on top is.

i simply HAVE to make it. And buy the right stuff to make it with! Oh my! I will share where I found the recipe if anybody is interested. It turns out that I had heard of it before but I never saw such a delicious-looking version of it and was never before tempted to make it.

Incidentally, I revisited the Spanish Bar cake. The best recipe I found for it that is. I didn't have any ground allspice. And aisles online, yes I had to find and put everything back in my cart so I can order for pickup tomorrow if they do that on weekends. So I will grind my own from the whole ones. At least it will smell nice while I'm doing it.

The only problem I have left to solve is finding the energy to make the cake and getting some snowy white buttercream frosting I can run the tines of a just-right fork all down the bar lengthwise because it wouldn't be authentic or taste right without those simple fork embellishments. I don't like all Crisco frosting, like part butter, part Crisco but it might not be white enough. I do have some artificial butter flavor but I don't think I like it. I don't have any clear vanilla either but I don't think 1 tsp of regular should matter.

And my mother's version of 7-minute frosting is gorgeous and yummy but not right for the cake.

[Yaelle]

Appetizers... my favorite two to make are

Meat candy: get dates, bacon (we use turkey), and precooked sausage of your choice (I use the Italian sweet variety for families because not spicy, the kind without casings). Grind up the sausage into crumbles in a food processor.

Then prepare: with a paring knife, open the dates and remove the pits, and stuff the dates, overstuff, actually, with sausage. Wrap each one carefully with a strip of bacon. I don’t use toothpicks, I prefer just to place them on the baking sheet in a way that the bacon stays wrapped.
Bake in preheated oven at 375 for 35-40 mins. MEAT CANDY, PEOPLE.

Remember to buy as many slices of bacon, and as many dates, as meat candies you want. Think about 1/2 lb sausage for maybe 10 pieces.

My other sort of new easy appetizer are puff pastry triangles, with a bit of Brie and raspberry jam as filling.

[Trillian]

I’m doing some baking late tonight. I made two pumpkin cream cheese loaves and some focaccia bread. I have such bad brain fog that I actually forgot to put the mashed potatoes in it. I didn’t realize until after it had risen. I’ve never done that before.

I was looking at my recently bookmarked recipes and think this would make a good app.

Sweet & Sour Meatballs

Ingredients
Meatballs
1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup onion, minced
1/4 cup whole milk
1 egg - beaten
1 teaspoon kosher salt
black pepper to taste
Sauce
1 cup packed Imperial Sugar Light Brown Sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup white vinegar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
Chives to garnish, optional

Directions
In a large bowl gently mix together all meatball ingredients. Scoop into 20-24 equal balls. Set aside.
In a large sauce pan add sauce ingredients (minus chives). Whisk to combine. Heat over medium heat. Add meatballs.
Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes OR until meatballs are cooked through. Stirring occasionally.
Garnish with optional chives.

http://www.imperialsugar.com/recipes/category/snacksappetizers/Sweet-n-Sour-Meatballs