Posted on 05/31/2019 4:19:23 PM PDT by Jamestown1630
Freeper Lizma2 requested an appetizer thread last month; and since appetizers are one of my two favorite things to cook, I’m happy to oblige. I’ll repost some of my favorites and a new one I’ve found, and hopefully others will have contributions.
This pastry 'Sunflower' - or 'Tarte Soleil' - is visually beautiful, but not that difficult to make. You can do it with a wide variety of fillings, and sweet or savory.
Here’s a recipe from ‘Italian Food Forever’
http://www.italianfoodforever.com/2016/07/sunflower-spinach-puff-pastry-tart
and from ‘Entertaining with Beth’, a video showing the technique:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIF-6CFsYxk
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A couple of decades ago, when chef Jean Georges introduced his Seared Scallops with Cauliflower and Caper-Raisin Sauce, it became a great hit here in DC, and I guess everywhere he had restaurants; and I think it's still a favorite. It’s a little fussy to make, but a wonderful combination of flavors:
https://www.foodwine.com/food/special/jeangeorges/raisin.html
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One of my standbys – great with drinks – are these Cheese and Olive Puff Balls. I’ve made these without olives for those who don’t like them, and they’re still a hit. As with anything, the better the cheese you use, the better the dish; but this is usually a hit even with standard supermarket cheddar. (I think this recipe may go back to the 1950s):
Olive Cheese Puffs
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Ingredients:
2 Cups grated, sharp Cheddar Cheese
¼ lb. Butter (one stick from a pound)
1 cup of Flour, salted to taste (I usually don't use salt; the olives and cheese are enough)
pinch of Cayenne
Jar of Pimento-Stuffed Olives
1.Blend together in a food processor the grated cheese, butter, and flour.
2.Process until dough comes together in a ball.
3.Chill, covered, for about 20 minutes before forming puffs. (You don't want it to get too hard. When I've tried making the dough the day before and doing the balls the next day, it's been very subpar. You want to make the balls the same day that you make the dough, and chill just a bit, to get it firm enough to handle well.)
4.Pinch off a ball of dough, about an inch in diameter, and pat it into a thin disc in your palm; then place an olive in the middle. Pinch up the dough to cover the olive, and roll between your palms until smooth. (Or, dough can be rolled out to ¼ inch thickness, cut into 2 inch squares, and each square wrapped around an olive - but that's too much trouble for me, and usually results in too much dough.)
5.Place puffs on a cookie sheet and bake 15 minutes. ( I usually use parchment paper on the sheet.) Then remove to a wire rack to cool.
(To freeze unbaked, freeze on cookie sheet and remove to freezer containers when hard. When ready to bake, allow 3-5 minutes extra baking time.)
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This recipe for something called 'Mushroom Julienne' could be an actual dinner course, or an appetizer, depending on how you present it. I love watching this elegant, joyful Armenian lady on the YouTube 'Heghineh Cooking Show’:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ4CTmb5gGo
-JT
This in from my SIL and is always appreciated by guests:
CASA LAZARO BAKED CROSTINI
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Slice long baguette (French, sourdough, whole wheat, or artisan) about 1/3 inch slices, spread out in baking tray that’s been lightly PAM-sprayed.
3. In a large bowl, combine the following into a well-mixed spread:
- one 16oz cottage cheese or ricotta
- one pkg blue cheese crumbles
- one/half container shredded parmesan cheese
- six to eight ounces fresh pesto
- sliced bunch of green onions and/or onion powder to taste
- crushed garlic or garlic powder to taste
- herbs (oregano, basil, thyme, sage, rosemary)
- black pepper & sea salt, to taste
- white wine to taste
- Optional: slices almond; finely chopped apricots
4. Spread the mix liberally on the baguette slices, and place baking tray in the oven. Bake about 15 minutes, or until top is bubbly and lightly browned.
5. Meanwhile, chop one bunch of fresh basil, and one bunch of fresh oregano, and mix in small bowl - have ready. Then, slice 2-3 tomato’s, about 5 slices to an inch.
6. Optional for meat-eaters only - also use thin-sliced deli ham (chicken or roast beef second choices.)
7. As soon as baguette slices are ready, remove from oven and IMMEDIATELY add layer of chopped basil/rosemary; thin-sliced ham if desired; and slice of fresh tomato on top. A sprinkling of fresh parmesan on top of tomato is also good.
8. While baguette topping is still hot and semi-melted, press the above ingredients into the cheesy topping so they adhere to top of crostini.
9. Place on serving platter and serve to guests.
The only problem is eyeballing the peppers you buy to gauge whether the holes are going to be too big or too small. I think some of them have different-sized holes.
That looks very good. I loved ‘A Chef’s Life’ when we were watching it. I don’t watch many cooking shows anymore - at a certain point so many of them got silly - but that was an excellent one. I liked when she would go around and talk to the farmers and others who supplied her ingredients.
That’s why I cut them in half lengthwise. Sorry if my “recipe” was not more clear. So they look like little boats, easy to fill and then wrap the bacon around. When I use my own grown ones, the sizes vary but they all taste the same.
I grew 2 different mammoth varieties last year. They were both delicious. Plus I pick them when just mature, I think they get hotter the longer they are on the plant. Then I clean out every seed and membrane. About the only way I can eat jalapenos, except my own pickled ones.
I laughed because I love pimento cheese & my husband finds it gag inducing. I stopped by a little store this afternoon & bought their housemade pimento cheese. It’s one of those things you either love or can’t stand.
Hi, Liz. There it is in all its splendid glory. You got a wrapped roll which you undid and dropped it in the cylindrical cone. A NYC staple for many years.
I guess you just have to be brought up on pimento cheese. I don’t understand pulley bones or boiled peanuts, either. I did bring moon pies and RC cola to a picnic last week (as a joke). I was astonished: everyone piled into them!
Looks delicious.......never had one......but I understand your nostalgia for them.
I see everyone talking about bacon wrapped jalapenos . I like them but I also like garlic stuffed olives wrapped also. I did use bacon but they were too salty. I tried rinsing and soaking the olives in water and that was an improvement. Then I got some sidepork and wrapped the olives. That turned out great.
The legend of the South is they add peanuts to their
cola.
I wouldn’t doubt that.
MONTEREY JACK WAFERS / Makes 36-48 wafers
METHOD Cut lb Jack Cheese into 1/4" slices, then in circles 1-1/2" in diameter. Bake on non-stick sheetpan,
3" apart (will spread) 10 min 400 deg. Do not overbake. Remove immediately; cool. Store airtight.
VARY can sprinkle with cayenne, onion powder, garlic powder to get different flavor profiles.
Mushroom, Brie and Arugula Pizza (with Truffle Crème Fraîche)
ING •one recipe homemade pizza dough •extra virgin olive oil (plain or truffle flavored) •8 oz or more wild mushrooms or fresh, sliced white or crimini sliced mushrooms •6 oz brie •6 oz crème fraîche •1/4 tsp truffle salt •1 to 2 oz truffles, chopped finely (can use truffles in a glass jar, from Italy) •fresh arugula
METHOD Begin by sauteeing sliced mushrooms in bit evo, sprinkle with a little salt. Next, mix creme fraiche, truffle salt and chopped truffles; set aside. Shape the dough into 2 rectangular shaped pizzas, or how ever many you want to make, in whatever shape you like. Drizzle w/ bit lolive oil, then top with the truffle creme fraiche, and slices of brie. Now sprinkle the mushrooms on top. Bake 500 deg til cheese is bubbly.
SERVE topped w/ arugula.
That’s got to be the weirdest treat I’ve seen :-)
Needs strategy to consume......so as not eat into the cone and risk losing the ice cream.....
....and I keep wondering how they shipped those cones in bulk without crushing them...
....how did they stack and pack them?
I was born in Ohio, husband on Staten Island. We’ve lived in Mississippi for 26 years. I missed your pulley comment & had to look it up. When I was young we had a wishbone pull in my family. If you got the wishbone you pulled it with another person & whoever got the bigger piece got to make a wish. I think the tradition came from my mom.
Boiled peanuts look like they came out of a horse’s hind end. No thanks.
Pulley bones are sold here in Alabama because they think it makes the best fried chicken. Basically it is a horizontal cut across the breast. The papers here call it The Montgomery Cut.
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