Showing posts with label appetizer recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label appetizer recipes. Show all posts

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Prosciutto-wrapped Asparagus with Garlicky Baked Brie

This Prosciutto-wrapped Asparagus with Garlicky Baked Brie is a quick appetizer that is more than the sum of its parts! It looks fancy but is so easy.

Food Lust People Love: This Prosciutto-wrapped Asparagus with Garlicky Baked Brie is a quick appetizer that is more than the sum of its parts! It looks fancy but is so easy.

When my husband and I first got married, there were three things he absolutely would not eat. Asparagus was one of them. As I questioned his aversion more closely, it turned out that the only asparagus he’d ever tried was from a can. Tinned, as he and the rest of his British contingent would say. 

Well, I had to agree with him on that front. My mom LOVED canned asparagus – could, in fact, make a quick meal of it when she’d get home from work, just opening a can, eating the asparagus and, I’m stifling a gag here, drinking the salty juice. 

So we always had canned asparagus in the pantry. Occasionally it would turn up on the dinner table, slimy and soft. Ugh. Definitely NOT my favorite thing.

But when I got older, I discovered fresh asparagus. What a revelation! Pan-fried, roasted or steamed till just done, still a bit crunchy, fresh asparagus was nothing like its canned/tinned relative. A third cousin, twice removed, if you will. Removed to far, far away, please. 

I introduced my husband to fresh asparagus and suddenly, we were down to two things he would not eat. Score! (In case anyone is wondering, the other two were olives and beets. He loves olives now too. After almost 38 years of wedded bliss, I’ve given up on ever getting him to like beets. He will tolerate the golden ones roasted but it's okay. The more for me.)

Prosciutto-wrapped Asparagus with Garlicky Baked Brie 

As you can see from the photos, I have a small round baking dish that is expressly for the purpose of baking Brie or Camembert. If your dish is a bit larger, no worries. The Brie will still be delicious albeit a bit more spread out when it bakes. This recipe is inspired by one on deliciousmagazine.co.uk

N.B. This dish needs to be served right out of the oven. It can be assembled earlier in the day and kept refrigerated until ready for baking. Remove both pans from the fridge as you preheat your oven as not all oven-safe pans can go straight from chilled to a hot oven. 

Ingredients
1 round (8.8 oz or 250g) Brie 
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
Black pepper
2-3 sprigs fresh thyme, stems discarded
12 slices prosciutto or parma ham
12 asparagus spears, hard ends trimmed
Olive oil to drizzle

Optional to serve: Some crusty bread

Method
Preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C.

Carefully slice the top rind off of the Brie and put it in a small baking dish. (Discard the rind.) Spread the garlic and thyme leaves around then give the whole thing a couple of generous grinds of black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.


Wrap a prosciutto slice around each asparagus spear and put them in a baking pan. Do not crowd them. We want them to crisp up so they can’t be jammed in close together. Drizzle with a little olive oil.


Put both the asparagus pan and the Brie baking dish in your hot oven for 10-15 minutes or until the prosciutto is crisp and the Brie is golden and melted.


Serve immediately while the melted Brie is still hot so you can dip the asparagus in it! The Brie is also fabulous spread on crusty bread, if you are serving some alongside it. 

Food Lust People Love: This Prosciutto-wrapped Asparagus with Garlicky Baked Brie is a quick appetizer that is more than the sum of its parts! It looks fancy but is so easy.

Enjoy! 

It's Sunday FunDay and have we got some great recipes for you! Many thanks to our host, Sue from Palatable Pastime and her chosen seasonal ingredient, asparagus! 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.


Pin this Prosciutto-wrapped Asparagus with Garlicky Baked Brie!

Food Lust People Love: This Prosciutto-wrapped Asparagus with Garlicky Baked Brie is a quick appetizer that is more than the sum of its parts! It looks fancy but is so easy.

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Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Baked Chicken and Feta Meatballs

Tasty and delicious, these baked chicken and feta meatballs are made with fresh cilantro and chili peppers and are finished with a squeeze of lemon juice, more feta and cilantro.

Food Lust People Lust: Tasty and delicious, these baked chicken and feta meatballs are made with fresh cilantro and chili peppers and are finished with a squeeze of lemon juice, more feta and cilantro.

If you are looking for a great meatball recipe bursting with flavor that works equally as well as an appetizer or stirred into a fresh tomato sauce, this is it! 

Our star ingredient, the feta, adds salt, sure, but also creaminess and a little tang, along with the yogurt. For a while there, these meatballs were on regular rotation at our house. It’s been a while though so I’ll be making them again soon. We love them!

Baked Chicken and Feta Meatballs

This recipe makes about 45 bite-size meatballs. I use a small 2 tablespoon scoop which makes them so easy to portion and roll. This recipe is adapted from one on New York Times Cooking

Ingredients
7 oz or 200g feta
Small bunch fresh cilantro (mine weighed about 3 1/2 oz or 100g)
¼ cup or 50g old-fashioned rolled oats
1 tablespoon plain Greek yogurt
2 small hot chili peppers
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 pound ground chicken (or sub ground turkey or pork)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 lemon

Method
Wash the cilantro thoroughly and spin dry. Pinch off the hard stems and discard. Set aside 1/2 for sprinkling on when serving.

Chop your chili peppers and garlic and put them in a food processor with the other half of the cilantro. Process until finely chopped. 


Crumble your feta and set aside about 1/4 to sprinkle on for serving. Put the rest in a large mixing bowl and stir in the chopped cilantro mixture.


Mix in the oats along with the yogurt and salt.


Add the ground chicken, gently combining until you have a homogenous mixture.


Preheat your oven to 425°F or 218°C and prepare a baking pan by greasing it with the olive oil. For easy clean up, I like to line my pan first with heavy duty foil.

Use a scoop or a tablespoon to separate the chicken mixture in bite-sized pieces and place them on the prepared baking pan. Use damp (or oiled) hands to roll them into little balls. 


Bake the meatballs in your preheated oven until the bottoms are browned and the centers are no longer pink, 15 to 18 minutes.


Squeeze one half of the lemon over the pan, then use a wooden spoon to move the meatballs around, turning the browned side up, and scraping up any browned bits on the pan. 


Transfer to a serving plate and top with the reserved feta and cilantro. Cut the remaining lemon half into wedges and serve at the table for squeezing on top.

Food Lust People Lust: Tasty and delicious, these baked chicken and feta meatballs are made with fresh cilantro and chili peppers and are finished with a squeeze of lemon juice, more feta and cilantro.

Enjoy! 

Welcome to the sixth installment of our Alphabet Challenge for 2024. Today’s recipes are brought to you by the letter F. Many thanks to our challenge creator, Wendy of A Day in the Life on a Farm

Check out all the recipes brought to you by the letter F:


Here are my posts for the alphabet challenge, thus far: 
F: Baked Chicken and Feta Meatballs - Today's post!



Pin these Baked Chicken and Feta Meatballs!

Food Lust People Lust: Tasty and delicious, these baked chicken and feta meatballs are made with fresh cilantro and chili peppers and are finished with a squeeze of lemon juice, more feta and cilantro.

 .

Sunday, January 28, 2024

Chili-Fritoque

Sort of a precursor to nachos, chili-fritoque is a great appetizer made with broken tortilla chips, chili con carne and pinto beans, topped with cheese and jalapeños.

Food Lust People Love: Sort of a precursor to nachos, chili-fritoque is a great appetizer made with broken tortilla chips, chili con carne and pinto beans, topped with cheese and jalapeños.

Pronounced free-TOKΕ-ay, this dish is found on the World War II–era menu of the Original Mexican Restaurant in San Antonio. It was founded in 1899 and sadly closed in 1960. (There another restaurant by the same name now used by permission of the Farnsworths, the restaurant’s owners.) 

The original recipe included just beans but there was also a version called chiltoque with chili con carne instead of the beans. You know I had to take it one step farther and use both. As I was writing up this post, I google searched Chili-Fritoque and I'm not the only one who made this good decision.

Personally, why would anyone order just beans and cheese or just chili and cheese when you could add all three to this tasty corn chip dish? 

Chili-Fritoque

The recipe is adapted from The Texas Cookbook by Arthur and Bobbie Coleman, published in 1949.  For the chili con carne, homemade is always better than canned. I use this recipe here: Classic Chili con Carne. An oldie but goodie. 

Ingredients
2 cups or 360g cooked pinto beans (canned are fine but rinse them!)
2 cups or 540g chili con carne
2 cups (or more) broken tortilla chips (I'm a fan of more.)
2-4 small dried red chili peppers
1 cup or 113g grated cheddar or American cheese

For serving: sliced jalapeños 

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C. 

Use a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle to grind your dried chili peppers finely.


Mix the beans, chili con carne and ground chili peppers together in a large bowl. 


If you are baking all the chili-fritoque servings at once, mix in all the broken tortilla chips. 


If not, separate the mixture and the broken chips and only mix the chips into the portions that you are ready to bake and serve. Place the chip/mixture in individual baking dishes.


Divide cheese evenly, sprinkling a fair share over each one. 


Bake in your preheated oven just long enough to melt the cheese and heat the beans and chili through, about 10-15 minutes. You can broil right at the end if you’d like the cheese to brown a little. Top with a few slices of jalapeño. 


Serve with extra chips and a spoon for scooping, if desired. 

Food Lust People Love: Sort of a precursor to nachos, chili-fritoque is a great appetizer made with broken tortilla chips, chili con carne and pinto beans, topped with cheese and jalapeños.

Enjoy! 

Tomorrow is National Corn Chip Day so my Sunday Fun Day friends and I are sharing recipes that will help you celebrate this foodie holiday. Check out the links below: 

 
We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.


Pin this Chili-Fritoque appetizer!

Food Lust People Love: Sort of a precursor to nachos, chili-fritoque is a great appetizer made with broken tortilla chips, chili con carne and pinto beans, topped with cheese and jalapeños.

 .

Wednesday, January 3, 2024

Anchovy Deviled Eggs

Filled with salty minced anchovies, lemon zest, mayo and Dijon mustard, these tasty anchovy deviled eggs will disappear quickly from your party table.

Food Lust People Love: Filled with salty minced anchovies, lemon zest, mayo and Dijon mustard, these tasty anchovy deviled eggs will disappear quickly from your party table.

Every Christmas Eve our menu is all appetizers, a throwback to the days when we had plenty of presents to wrap and so no one had time for a sit down dinner. 

We pop open a bottle of Champagne and fill our small plates with artichoke dip, smoked or cured salmon with avocado, caviar with its necessary accompaniments of chopped egg and onion, bacon wrapped smoked oysters and, of course, deviled eggs. The cheeseboard also boasts a variety of cheeses and duck liver pâté.  

On Christmas morning, we usually make something special for breakfast but my favorite part is the leftover deviled eggs. They make a perfect Christmas morning meal! 

Anchovy Deviled Eggs

This recipe is adapted from one I read in The Guardian newspaper and saved almost three years ago. I can’t say that they’ll replace my classic deviled eggs which I adore but the anchovies and lemon zest add a lot of flavor. In short, we liked them a lot!

Ingredients for 14 deviled eggs
7 eggs, hard-boiled
7 anchovy fillets, packed in olive oil
1 tablespoon olive oil from anchovy jar
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
3/4 teaspoon smoked paprika, plus an extra sprinkle for garnish
7 tablespoons mayonnaise

Green onions, finely chopped, for garnish
Cornichons or small pickled onions, optional to serve

Method
Using a sharp knife, mince the anchovies very finely. 


Put the anchovies in a bowl with the oil then add the lemon zest, mustard, paprika and mayonnaise and mix until smooth. 


Peel your hard-boiled eggs and cut them in half lengthways. Scoop out the yolks and add them to the anchovy mixture.


Mash them into the rest of the filling with the tines of a fork. Mix well. 


Spoon the filling into each egg white or use a piping bag with a large tip to fill them. If your filling is quite chunky, it might keep getting stuck if the tip hole isn’t large enough. 

Decorate with a light sprinkle of paprika and a few bits of green onion.

Food Lust People Love: Filled with salty minced anchovies, lemon zest, mayo and Dijon mustard, these tasty anchovy deviled eggs will disappear quickly from your party table.

Serve chilled or at room temperature with a few cornichons and/or pickled onions, if desired.

Food Lust People Love: Filled with salty minced anchovies, lemon zest, mayo and Dijon mustard, these tasty anchovy deviled eggs will disappear quickly from your party table.

Pour your favorite tipple to accompany this excellent appetizer and enjoy! 

Happy New Year!

Last year was extra busy (and frankly a bit fraught) so my blog was fairly neglected. This is a creative outlet that gives me a lot of pleasure, from recipe development, baking and cooking, and then finally writing about the process. I hope to find more time for this hobby I enjoy in 2024. To that end, I am joining my fellow bloggers every other week, to create recipes and work our way through the alphabet, starting with, of course, A. 

Many thanks to the group creator and lead, Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm. Check out all the A links below. 


Pin these Anchovy Deviled Eggs! 

Food Lust People Love: Filled with salty minced anchovies, lemon zest, mayo and Dijon mustard, these tasty anchovy deviled eggs will disappear quickly from your party table.

 .

Sunday, April 23, 2023

Lobster Bruschetta

Lobster bruschetta is a wonderful appetizer with bright flavors from ripe tomatoes, fragrant basil, sharp garlic and, of course, succulent lobster. Treat your friends and family with this delicious finger food. 

Food Lust People Love: Lobster bruschetta is a wonderful appetizer with bright flavors from ripe tomatoes, fragrant basil, sharp garlic and, of course, succulent lobster. Treat your friends and family with this delicious finger food.

Years ago, when our girls were young and we lived in a house with a pool, Sunday afternoons were devoted to swimming and lounging around. Mid-afternoon, I’d head to the kitchen to toast some baguette slices and stir up bruschetta as a snack. 

Our traditional bruschetta was very much like this lobster version, sans the lobster, of course. Tomatoes, basil and garlic combined with olive oil and vinegar – sometimes dark balsamic, sometimes white – create a flavorful mouthful that is more than the sum of its parts. 

Lobster Bruschetta

I made this recipe with the meat of one lobster and since I wasn’t serving many people, I kept the lobster bits pretty chunky. If you need to stretch it to serve more, you can add more tomatoes, garlic and basil and chop the lobster a little bit smaller. It will still be quite delicious. 

Ingredients
1 cooked lobster, about 1 1/2 lbs or 700g
2 ripe Roma tomatoes, almost 9 oz or 250g whole
Leaves from one sprig fresh basil
2 cloves garlic, minced, plus more to rub on toasted baguette
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 tablespoon good quality olive oil
1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
About 20 slices baguette, toasted

Method
Rub the toasted baguette slices with garlic and set aside. 


Remove the meat from the lobster and cut it in to small chunks. 


Cut the tomatoes in half. Cut out the hard core and remove the pulp and seeds. Dice them into small cubes.


Stack the basil leaves one on top the other and roll them up. Slice them thinly, a technique chefs call chiffonade. 


In a mixing bowl, combine the tomatoes, minced garlic, basil and sea salt along with the olive oil and vinegar. 


Add in the lobster and stir again.


Or if you are passing the lobster bruschetta around and it will get eaten quickly, you can top them all just when you are ready to serve. If you top the bread too early, it can get soggy and no one wants that. 


Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing recipes that would be perfect for a Spring brunch. Check out the links below. 



 
We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

Pin this Lobster Bruschetta! 

Food Lust People Love: Lobster bruschetta is a wonderful appetizer with bright flavors from ripe tomatoes, fragrant basil, sharp garlic and, of course, succulent lobster. Treat your friends and family with this delicious finger food.

 .

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

Escargots à la Bourguignonne

The classic French dish title, Escargots à la Bourguignonne, means snails with rich, fragrant garlic parsley butter, in this case, baked in a casserole dish. Yep, no need to stuff them in shells! This way is much, much easier and just as delicious!

Food Lust People Love: The classic French dish title, Escargots à la Bourguignonne, means snails with rich, fragrant garlic parsley butter, in this case, baked in a casserole dish. Yep, no need to stuff them in shells! This way is much, much easier and just as delicious!

This recipe is adapted from one by the late great Anthony Bourdain, from his book, Les Halles Cookbook: Strategies, Recipes, and Techniques of Classic Bistro Cooking, where he shares recipes from his French bistro in New York. 

In the introduction to the escargot recipe, he declared that in all of his (at the time) 28 years working in US restaurants, he had never seen a single restaurant serving fresh snails. To his knowledge even the best ones use canned escargots. 

Well, if they are good enough for Anthony Bourdain, they are certainly good enough for me. If you don’t have this cookbook, allow me to entice you to get a copy. The recipe for the mushroom soup alone is worth the price (so creamy and rich, with zero actual cream - and do NOT skip adding the little bit of sherry at the end - so good!) but my favorite part is all the snarky asides and personal commentary that accompany the recipes. Anthony Bourdain at his absolute finest. 

I was fortunate enough to get my copy as a gift from my daughters one Christmas so it’s a treasured book in more than one way. I highly recommend it if you are a fan of 1. Anthony Bourdain and/or 2. French cooking. I wanted to add an Amazon affiliate link but it looks like the book is out of print. The only available copies are so expensive, which is disappointing. See if you can borrow one from your library. 

Escargots à la Bourguignonne

This recipe will serve four for a generous appetizer or two little pigs for an absolutely super rich lunch. In a nod to adding something healthy if eating this as a whole meal, a fresh tomato salad with a simple vinaigrette goes nicely. Two cans of snails yields about 220g once they are drained and rinsed.

Ingredients
2  (7.5 oz or 200g) cans snails in brine, drained and rinsed
1 shallot or half a purple onion, minced
½ cup or 120ml dry white wine
1 head garlic, peeled and separated
1 ounce or 28g flat parsley leaves
1/2 cup or 113g butter
Salt and pepper
To serve:
1/2 long baguette, sliced in rounds
 
Method
In a small pot, combine the snails, shallot (or onion) and white wine and bring to a simmer. 


Cook for 15 minutes. Drain and set the snails aside. Anthony adds this comment, which made me laugh: “I know, I know—they’re ugly. But they’re good. Hang in there.”

In the food processor, combine the garlic and parsley and pulse until finely chopped. 


Add the butter and process until the mixture is a smooth, green paste. 


Season with a little salt and pepper.


Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C. 

Choose a baking dish where the snails will cover most of the bottom. Spoon the snails into it. Dollop the garlic parsley butter over the snails. 


Bake for about 15 minutes in your preheated oven or until the butter is melted and there is the slightest color on the snails. 

Remove from the oven and serve immediately with the sliced baguette. 

Food Lust People Love: The classic French dish title, Escargots à la Bourguignonne, means snails with rich, fragrant garlic parsley butter, in this case, baked in a casserole dish. Yep, no need to stuff them in shells! This way is much, much easier and just as delicious!

Enjoy! 

It's the first Wednesday of the month so my Foodie Extravaganza Foodie friends are sharing recipes again. This month our theme or main ingredient is garlic! Many thanks to our host, Radha of Magical Recipes


Foodie Extravaganza is where we celebrate obscure food holidays by cooking and baking together with the same ingredient or theme each month. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board.


Pin these Escargots à la Bourguignonne!

Food Lust People Love: The classic French dish title, Escargots à la Bourguignonne, means snails with rich, fragrant garlic parsley butter, in this case, baked in a casserole dish. Yep, no need to stuff them in shells! This way is much, much easier and just as delicious!

 .



Friday, March 17, 2023

Ballymaloe Potted Shrimp

A traditional Irish starter, this Ballymaloe potted shrimp recipe is from the Ballymaloe Restaurant cookbook, updated by Irish cooking teacher and doyenne Darina Allen. Flavored with garlic and lemon juice, this Irish recipe is fresh and so tasty. 

Food Lust People Love: A traditional Irish starter, this Ballymaloe potted shrimp recipe is from the Ballymaloe Restaurant cookbook, updated by Irish cooking teacher and doyenne Darina Allen. Flavored with garlic and lemon juice, this Irish recipe is fresh and so tasty.

Unlike English potted shrimp, the Irish version doesn't have nutmeg which makes this my favorite potted shrimp. Not that I don't like nutmeg but I've always kind of thought it weird with shrimp. The Irish also use Atlantic shrimp instead of the Morecambe Bay brown shrimp typical in English potted shrimp. I used wild caught cold water shrimp which I thought might be close to the Irish ones. 


When Myrtle Allen opened Ballymaloe Restaurant in East Cork back in 1964, it was a revolutionary place, serving delicious recipes using only local seasonal ingredients. It would not be an understatement to say that Ballymaloe changed Irish food culture with that emphasis. 

Her daughter-in-law, Darina Allen, a chef in her own right, continued Myrtle’s legacy and expanded her reach when, along with her brother, she opened the Ballymaloe Cookery School in 1983. Darina is also a leader in the Slow Food Movement in Ireland. 

Darina's own daughter-in-law Rachel Allen is a well-known food writer, cookbook author and tv chef as well as also teaching at the Ballymaloe Cookery School. I'm pretty sure when you search "Irish chef," photos of the Allen family appear near the top of the list!

Ballymaloe Potted Shrimp

Darina says that this amount serves four as a first course – and it is rich because of the clarified butter - but two of us polished this off in no time. I anticipated that, as you can see, by only putting it in two little pots. If I were indeed serving four, I'd double the amounts. Although the recipe is originally from the Ballymaloe Cookbook, Darina also shared it online, in a tribute to Keith Floyd

Ingredients
1 small clove garlic
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 oz or 56g clarified butter or ghee, with extra as needed
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (plus tender sprigs to garnish, if desired)
freshly ground black pepper
4 oz or 110g (about 1 cup) shelled, cooked salad shrimp
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Method
Use the side of a wide knife to crush the garlic into a paste with the salt. I hit the garlic clove once then added the salt, which makes it easier to crush. 


Bring the clarified butter to a low boil along with the thyme leaves, crushed garlic and a couple of grinds of black pepper. 


Add the shrimp and toss for about 30 seconds. Set aside to rest. Season with a little more salt, if necessary and add the lemon juice. Stir to combine.

 
Pack the shrimp into little pots and pour over the clarified butter. 


Melt a little more ghee as need to just about cover the shrimp. Finish each pot with the tender end of a fresh thyme sprig. 


Put the pots into the refrigerator and leave to set. Potted shrimp will keep in the refrigerated for three or four days so they are a great make-ahead starter for dinner parties.



Remove the little pots from the refrigerator and leave to come to room temperature before serving with sourdough bread or sliced baguette.


Enjoy! 

It’s been seven great years posting recipes with my Fish Friday Foodie friends so I am sad to say that this will be our final group post. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm who started this group and kept us motivated to add more seafood to our menu plans for so long. Today, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, we are sharing Irish recipes. Check them out below. 


Fish Friday Foodies is ending its run but our recipes can still be found on our Pinterest page! Check it out for more wonderful fish and seafood recipe ideas.


Pin these Ballymaloe Potted Shrimp!

Food Lust People Love: A traditional Irish starter, this Ballymaloe potted shrimp recipe is from the Ballymaloe Restaurant cookbook, updated by Irish cooking teacher and doyenne Darina Allen. Flavored with garlic and lemon juice, this Irish recipe is fresh and so tasty.

 .