Food Lust People Love: appetizer recipes

Showing posts with label appetizer recipes. Show all posts

Sunday, December 28, 2025

Spicy Baked Artichoke Dip

This spicy baked artichoke dip is creamy, cheesy and delicious but oh, so easy to make! It can be prepared ahead and baked when you are ready to serve.

It was four days before Christmas. As I finished checking out at my local grocery store, the self-check employee wished me a merry Christmas. I returned the good wishes and then laughed, saying, I’m sure I’ll be back before then!

I was, in fact, there at least two more times. And my daughter was there once. We have lists! We plan ahead! And, yet, multiple trips to the store seem to be unavoidable somehow. Tell me it’s not just me, please.

With the goal of not having to go out again for a while, I challenged my fellow Sunday FunDay bloggers to share appetizer recipes that can be made with the store cupboard and/or refrigerator/freezer items they usually have on hand. I’m thinking for New Year’s Eve but, truly, any party would do.

Spicy Baked Artichoke Dip

This recipe calls for mayonnaise. DO NOT substitute Miracle Whip or salad cream – they are too sweet.

Ingredients

1 cup or 240g mayonnaise

1 1/2 cups or about 190g finely grated Parmesan

1 can (14oz or 400g) quartered artichoke hearts, drained weight 8 1/2oz or 240g

1 small hot red chili pepper

Optional additions: Sometimes we like to add crabmeat, cooked shrimp or crispy bacon before baking the dip to bubbling richness.

To serve: crackers or toasted baguette slices

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Lay the drained artichoke quarters out on folded paper towels so they can dry while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Mince the chili pepper.

Measure the mayonnaise and Parmesan into a mixing bowl.

Chop the artichokes roughly, discarding any tough pieces of the outer leaves.

Add them into the mixing bowl along with the chili pepper and mix all the ingredients together.

Spoon the dip into the baking pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes for a smaller, deep ovenproof dish. Or for a little less time in a bigger, shallow pan. The dip should be golden on the top and bubbling hot.

Serve the dip with crackers or sliced baguette. Leftovers are great in a baked potato or piled on toasted baguette slices and warmed in an oven.

Enjoy!

It’s Sunday FunDay and today, as I mentioned above, we are sharing appetizer recipes made with ingredients we usually have on hand (and hope you will too!) Check out the links below.

Baked Sweet Potato from Sneha's Recipe
Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Celery from Palatable Pastime
Go-to Queso Dip from Amy's Cooking Adventures
Jalapeño Popper Dip from A Day in the Life on the Farm
Savory Chevre Truffles from Culinary Cam
Spicy Baked Artichoke Dip from Food Lust People Love
Tomato and Boursin Bruschetta from Karen's Kitchen Stories

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.

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Sunday, November 9, 2025

Creamy Duck Liver Mousse

The perfect make-ahead appetizer for your holiday feast, this creamy duck liver mousse is flavorful and rich. Serve with sliced baguette and let guests dig in!

I was practically skipping up to the cashier when I unexpectedly found duck liver in my local grocery store. Turns out they have it in the refrigerated section quite often so I don’t how I had missed it up till then. But I knew exactly what I wanted to make!

One of my favorite party dishes from years past was a chicken liver pâté that was always popular and I was just imagining how much richer and more lovely one made with duck liver would be.

I was not wrong! We really loved this. Processing the just-cooked liver with chilled duck fat made such a smooth and creamy mixture that I decided it deserved to be called mousse rather than plain old pâté!

Creamy Duck Liver Mousse

If you can’t find duck liver, chicken liver can certainly be substituted.

This makes two dishes of about 5 1/3 oz or 150g each. This recipe was adapted from one on the BBC Good Food website. bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/velvety-duck-liver-parfait

Ingredients

For the mousse:

10 1/2 oz or 300g duck liver

1 cup or 240ml milk

2 tablespoons butter

1 shallot, finely sliced

1 garlic clove, sliced

1 1/2 teaspoons brandy

1 1/2 teaspoons port

Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 1/2 oz or 100g duck fat, chilled

For the sealing the top:

1 3/4 oz or 50g duck fat or butter

For decoration:

1/2 teaspoon whole black or mixed peppercorns

Small sprigs fresh thyme

Method

In a small mixing bowl, soak the duck liver in the milk for an hour, refrigerated.

Drain and discard the milk. Cut away and discard any large sinews from the liver. It’s messy to do this but the only really successful way to make sure you remove all of the sinews is to grab the end of one with one hand and then press along the sinew with your other hand to separate it from the liver. Repeat till the sinews are all removed.

Wash your hands with hot water and lots of soap and reward yourself with a tot from that bottle of brandy you have out for later in the recipe. You've earned it! Cut the liver up into big chunks.

Heat the butter in a large frying pan, then gently fry the shallot and garlic for 3-4 mins until soft.

Remove the shallot and garlic to a small bowl, leaving behind as much butter as possible. (I prop up one side of the pan so the butter will collect on the other side, then remove the shallot and garlic.)

Turn up the heat then fry the liver until just browned on all sides. It spits and spatters a lot so I recommend using a spatter guard. DO NOT cover the pan with a lid! We don’t want the liver to steam or cook through, just brown.

Add the brandy and port then boil those off as quickly as possible.

Remove the pan from the heat and transfer the liver to a plate. Season the liver generously with the salt and freshly ground black pepper and leave it to cool completely.

Tip the cooled liver into a food processor with the shallot, garlic and the cold duck fat, and blitz until smooth and creamy.

Push the mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl.

Taste for seasoning, adding more salt and pepper, if necessary. Spoon into serving dishes or ramekins. Place in the refrigerator to set.

Once the mixture has set, make the topping. Gently melt the duck fat in a small pan or in a bowl in the microwave.

Put the peppercorns and thyme on top the mousse to decorate and gently pour in the melted duck fat to cover. Leave to set in the fridge.

Serve with slices of baguette for spreading.

Enjoy!

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing appetizers for your Thanksgiving feast. Many thanks to our host Amy from Amy’s Cooking Adventures. Check out all the links below.

Baby Corn Rumaki by Palatable Pastime
Baked Brie with Dried Cranberries, Apples and Walnuts by A Day in the Life on the Farm
Charcuterie Bites Pumpkin Centerpiece by Our Good Life
Cranberry-Chevre Twice Baked Potato Skins by Culinary Cam
Creamy Duck Liver Mousse by Food Lust People Love
Date and Walnut Bites by Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
Membrillo - Quince Paste with Manchego Cheese by Karen's Kitchen Stories
Mini Bread Cornucopia by Amy's Cooking Adventures
Mini Pumpkin Cheese Balls by Mayuri's Jikoni
Mixed Vegetable Sliders by Sneha's Recipe

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Sunday, July 20, 2025

Copycat Hobi’s Bites Original Hot Crackers

These Copycat Hobi’s Bites Original Hot Crackers are crunchy, spicy and totally more-ish! When you cannot simply buy a favorite snack food, sometimes you just gotta make them yourself.

A couple of years ago I invited a friend to join us for Sunday lunch and she arrived with hot boudin and Hobi’s Bites Original Hot Crackers to serve as an appetizer. The boudin - a Louisiana sausage made with cooked pork, rice, onions, peppers, and seasonings, all stuffed into a casing - was tasty but it was the spicy crackers that stole my heart. They were HOT.

I immediately asked where she had bought them and added Hobi’s Bites to the shopping list. I discovered that they come in many flavors but the original hot are the best, very spicy with a lovely crunch. I don’t buy them very often because they are that addictive, high in sodium and calories, and they disappear quickly.

When our Sunday FunDay host proposed celebrating National Junk Food Day which is July 21st, I was excited to make my favorite spicy crackers, as a special treat. A little research revealed that some people call them fire crackers and recipes abound.

Another thing I learned was that in the UK, they don’t have saltines! That ubiquitous cracker of my childhood, which, along with a glass of 7-Up, could cure any stomach bug. I guess they eat water crackers but those seemed too bland. I chose to use two different crackers, one French, the other from the Philippines. Both turned out great.

In fact, I shared a bag of my copycats with my neighbors because I know they are fond of spicy food. I was hanging out the laundry yesterday when he popped over to tell me how addictively delicious they were and could he please put in an order for more! So you can bet I’ll be making these again! You know, just for them, because they are such good neighbors.

Copycat Hobi’s Bites Original Hot Crackers

This recipe is adapted from one on the Southern Living website. Use whatever plain crackers you can find and as I mention below, buy some 2 or 2 1/2 gallon Ziploc bags, the better to coat the crackers evenly with the spicy oil.

Ingredients

1 cup or 240ml olive oil

1/4 cup or 60ml hot sauce (I used a mix of Louisiana Habanero and Dunn’s River Jamaican-style hot sauce.)

2 tablespoons ranch dressing mix

1 tablespoon crushed red pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

16 oz or 450g saltine or similar crackers

Method

Place oil, hot sauce, ranch dressing powder, crushed red pepper, cayenne, smoked paprika and salt in a small mixing bowl.

Whisk to combine.

Add the crackers to a 2-gallon size Ziploc bag. (*See note below.) Pour the seasonings over them.

Seal and gently turn the bag over several times to coat the crackers with the spice mixture. The more times you do, this the better the coating.

*Note: As already mentioned but let me reiterate, when I make these again, I will use a bigger bag because I found that the crackers stuck together in the 1-gallon bag so it was hard to coat all sides. With more room in the bag, they’d be easier to shift around. I recommend using a 2- or 2 1/2-gallon Ziploc bag.

Let crackers soak at room temperature at least 1 hour turning the bag over every 10 to 15 minutes. Be gently with them to keep the crackers mostly intact.

Preheat your oven to 300°F or 149°C with racks in the upper third and lower third positions. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with aluminum foil.

Transfer the crackers to prepared baking pans, arranging cracker in a single layer.

Bake in the preheated oven until dry, crisp, and golden, 15 to 18 minutes, rotating baking pans between top and bottom racks halfway through bake time.

Remove from oven. Carefully remove the crackers to wire racks to cool.

Repeat the process to bake the remaining crackers.

Let the baked crackers cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Serve immediately or store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Enjoy!

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are celebrating National Junk Food Day! Many thanks to our host, Camilla of Culinary Cam. Check out the links below.

Brownie Pizza by A Day in the Life on the Farm
Copycat Hobi's Bites Original Hot Crackers by Food Lust People Love
Crunch Bars (copycat) by Karen's Kitchen Stories
Donuts & Chicken Strips by Amy's Cooking Adventures
Roasted Pumpkin Hummus Veggie Wrap by Sneha's Recipe
Walking Taco by Mayuri's Jikoni

Pin these Copycat Hobi’s Bites
Original Hot Crackers!

Wednesday, June 4, 2025

Lobster Butter

Made with equal parts roe and butter, along with the creamy fat, if desired, this lobster butter is a deliciously rich savory spread for bread, crackers or toast.

A couple of years ago, at a huge book sale held in aid of Guide Dogs for the Blind – Jersey, I bought a little paperback called, The New Channel Island Cook Book. It is a wealth of knowledge (albeit a bit dated, published in 1989) about local produce with all sorts of recipes from the ubiquitous Jersey Royal potatoes to a fruit I’d never heard of called babaco which was reputedly imported from Ecuador and is similar to papaya.

Apparently, back then, they were hoping that as tomato farming was winding down due to competition from growers abroad, babaco production would pick up some of that slack. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way.

From what I can discern, babaco is still grown in the Channel Islands but there are only a few plants that still produce the fruit in Guernsey. In fact, maybe it was only ever grown there.

Another ingredient I was unfamiliar with is calabrese. Turns out this is a variety of what we call broccoli these days and the stalks were peeled and eaten! As they should be. I will never understand people who cut the broccoli stalks off and discard them. They can be tough on the outside but are delicious on the inside, either cooked or raw.

Quite a few of the recipes include seafood, understandable since it's an island cookbook, so when I lucked into a boiled lobster a while back, I started perusing its pages. I came across a very simple recipe for a part of the lobster I must confess I usually discard, the roe or eggs. What a waste! From now on, I’ll be making lobster butter.

Lobster Butter

The ingredient amounts will naturally depend on the size of your cooked lobster. This is where a kitchen scale comes in handy. Weigh the roe and any fat you will be using, then measure an equal weight in butter.

Ingredients

Roe from a cooked lobster or the roe and the fat

An equal quantity of butter

Method

Weigh the lobster portion of the ingredients. The roe weighed 48g and the fat weighed an additional 11g.

Add the roe and fat and an equal amount of cold butter (59g, in this case) to your mortar.

Mash together until smooth.

As you can see, I used the back of a spoon instead of my pestle. This takes a bit of time and persistence, but it's worth it! Isn't it a gorgeous color?

Serve with crackers, toast or slices of nice crusty bread. A cold glass of a dry white wine goes nicely!

Freeze any leftovers rolled up in a baggie or cling film to create a sliceable log for later.

Enjoy!

Welcome to the 12th edition of Alphabet Challenge 2025, brought to you by the letter L. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the L recipes below: