Category Archives: Appetizers

Roasted Red Pepper Stuffed Mushroom Caps

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This summer we had a LOT of Italian red peppers in the field ….. we decided to try roasting and canning them – they were a fantastic success!

Creamy and delicious stuffed mushroom caps

Creamy and delicious stuffed mushroom caps

To make stuffing for about 12 medium – large mushroom caps

1/3 cup softened cream cheese
1/2 cup minced roasted red pepper
1/4 cup minced green onion
1 mushroom (minced)
1 stalk celery (minced)
1 tsp paprika

salt and pepper to taste

Lightly toasted sliced almonds
fresh parsley

First, sauté the minced mushroom and celery until lightly browned.

Stir all ingredients together until smooth and creamy – taste and adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper, but also be aware if you have enough red pepper flavour. If not, mince some more!

Stuff mushroom caps and bake at 375 until bubbly – sprinkle almonds and parsley over top and serve

Curried Crab Dip

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This has been a family favorite for many years, and one I am often requested to bring. It is easy to serve with crackers or vegetables. When you want to get fancy, pipe it into little prepared pastry cups – looks like you are a pro!

Curried crab dip

8 ounce pack cream cheese (softened)
2 tbsp good quality mayonnaise
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp tabasco sauce
1 small tin crab meat

Blend softened cream cheese with spices until nicely creamed together. Stir in crab meat (if you want to make it extra luxurious use 2 tins crab meat!)

Turn into serving dish and sprinkle with freshly chopped chives.

Torn and Tossed Garlic Bread

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Everybody loves the crunchy crust and soft tender bits of garlic bread – why not get more of it?

Torn garlic bread is crunchy and soft all at the same time.

Torn garlic bread is crunchy and soft all at the same time.

I had a loaf of sourdough bread and half a loaf of French bread – rather than tear it I cut it all into approximately 2 inch pieces.

Melt 1/2 cup butter, stir in 2 garlic cloves and 1 small shallot – both chopped fine. Naturally, use more garlic if you feel so inclined (and everybody is eating it…).

In a large bowl combine the melted butter, garlic and shallot mixture – add in the cubed bread, season with salt and pepper and toss well.

This is great made earlier in the day too, just let it sit and absorb all those flavours.

When you are ready to serve, spread cubes on baking sheet – take care not to overcrowd the pieces. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes just until the outside is nice and crispy, golden brown.

Sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve – everybody will love it!

Serve this with as any side dish, or with your favorite soup or salad.

Creamy Tahini Salad Dressing

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This salad dressing makes a large jar – use it on anything! So great for pasta salads, rice salads, dressed up grilled vegetables, brush it on chicken for grilling, let your imagination run wild. You will love it – something we first had with my “Red Rice Rocks”, also known as a bowl of goodness.

1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes

1/3 cup water

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

2 generous tbsp tahini paste

2 cloves garlic, crushed

red chili flakes (optional)

1 1/4 – 1/2 cups vegetable oil

Combine all ingredients except the oil in a blender – blend briefly, and then slowly drizzle in the oil until smooth and creamy.

Crispy Peanut & Sweet Chili Chicken Wings

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2 pounds chicken wings
1 tbsp. oil
1/3 cup sweet chili sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp. smooth peanut butter
2 tbsp. lime juice
1 tsp tamarind concentrate
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp. sriracha sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 ” piece of ginger, minced

Marinate chicken wings for as long as you have available – Remove from marinade (reserve marinade) then bake on a rack in preheated oven (400 or 425 convection) until golden brown and crispy – at least 30 minutes.

Heat the marinade in a small saucepan until it boils and reduces slightly.

When they are starting to get golden brown and crispy, toss them in the reduced marinade and put back on rack to get all crunchy.

Garnish with chopped peanuts and cilantro.

Shrimp Cocktail

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I love shrimp cocktail ….. so why not make it at home instead of buying that frozen ring with the canned cocktail sauce??  I get it, when you are in a hurry, or just need to pick something up – those work.  If you have a few minutes though, and really only a few moments, make your own at home, infusing the shrimp with flavour along the way ….

Soooo delicious!

Soooo delicious!

Poached Shrimp

3 cups water

1 cup your favourite white wine (dry)

juice and zest of 1 lemon

1 onion, thinly sliced

2 bay leaves

2 tsp salt

1 1lb bag of frozen shrimp

Pour all ingredients except shrimp into a medium saucepan, and heat to boiling.  Turn down the heat and allow flavours to simmer and blend for about 5 minutes.  Add the shrimp, stir, and cover with a lid.  Remove from heat and allow shrimp to poach for 10 minutes.  Keep an eye on them, you don’t want them to do any more than turn pink. Strain the shrimp out and put in fridge to completely cool.

Cocktail Sauce

1 cup ketchup

1/2 cup (heaping) horseradish

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

juice and zest of 1 lemon

 

Combine all ingredients and set aside to serve with shrimp

 

Pork and Prawn Burgers

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These delicious burgers have an Asian twist to them, and are absolutely oozing yumminess!  Tonight they were served on a slim style bun, but can be enjoyed on a regular bun as well.  For an appetizer, make the patties small and serve on individual lettuce leaves.

Pork & Prawn burger

The dipping sauce makes these burgers particularly delicious, make sure to have napkins handy, and lean over your plate.

1 pound (450 grams ish) lean ground pork

1 bag of frozen RAW prawns (around the same weight as the pork), chopped in small but identifiable pieces

2 eggs

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 heaping tbsp fresh ginger, minced

2 tbsp. soya sauce

2 tbsp. sesame oil

1/4 cup finely sliced chives

In a large bowl mix up the eggs, garlic, ginger, soy sauce and sesame oil.  Gently toss in the pork, prawns and chives.

Form patties, and allow to rest in the fridge to set up.

Either grill or cook on hot griddle.  These are delicate, so make sure not to try and turn or rotate until they are well cooked on the first side.

Pork & Prawn burgers

Serve on a toasted bun with aioli on the bottom, and pickled cucumbers on top.  To take this on to the most delicious burger, be sure to serve with the dipping sauce.

Sweet Chili Sriracha Aoili

4 tbsp. mayonnaise

1 tbsp. sriracha (or other Asian style hot sauce)

1 tbsp. sweet chili paste

Blend well and allow to sit in fridge for flavours to come together.

Quick Pickled Cucumbers

1 cup very thinly sliced cucumber – tossed with rice vinegar, and seasoned lightly with salt, pepper, and a few chili flakes

Dipping Sauce

For each person, use a little individual dipping bowl and in each:

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp. rice vinegar

drizzle of chile oil or chile flakes (to taste)

a couple slices of fresh garlic, and fresh ginger

sprinkle of chives or spring onion

Prosciutto wrapped nectarines

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Anything wrapped in prosciutto has to be great! These are fabulous little appetizers that – once you have made them for anybody – are sure to be requested again. I have made them with both nectarines and peaches – whatever looks best in the market.

These appetizers are sure to be a crowd pleaser

These appetizers are sure to be a crowd pleaser

Cut fruit into wedges large enough to handle – probably 6 wedges out of one piece of fruit. ( try to use fruit that isn’t too soft…..)
Put 1 heaping teaspoon of goat cheese into cavity from stone
Tightly wrap prosciutto (I usually halve slice lengthwise)
If desired, glaze with a bit of warm apricot jam

Grill just until you have beautiful grill marks and the prosciutto crisps up a bit.

Roasted Squash Soup with Chipotle & Chorizo

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It is squash season and soup is the best way to enjoy those cool fall nights.

Chipotle Chorizo Squash Soup
1 butternut squash

1 red onion

6 cups chicken or vegetable stock

2 chorizo sausage

2 tsp chipotle chile in adobo sauce

cilantro, roughly chopped

green onion, sliced

 

Quarter a whole squash lengthwise, quarter the onion, & drizzle with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Roast at 375 until fork tender.

While the squash and onion are roasting, remove chorizo from casing, and crumble into soup pot.  Fry until sausage is crispy, and allow to drain on a paper towel. Drain any residual grease from pot, but do not clean.

In same soup pot heat up chicken or vegetable stock.  When squash and onions are fork tender take them out of the oven and remove skins and put the pulp into the pot.  Simmer until quite tender.

Using an immersion blender puree until smooth.  (Alternatively you could use a blender and blend in small batches, but always remember to leave room for the steam to escape out the lid or it will explode and you and your kitchen will be covered in hot, steamy soup …. NOT a good thing).  

Return to simmer, and taste – adjust for seasonings with salt, pepper and if you like it spicy, add a bit more chipotle.

Garnish with cilantro, green onion and crispy chorizo.

Serve as a starter course or a whole meal with fresh hot baking powder biscuits.

Use your imagination – all soup recipes are just a starting point.  Tonight’s version of this soup included some leftovers …. in this case I had some leftover stewed yellow heirloom tomatoes with squash (yum yum), and a little bit of chipotle chicken leftover, so they went into the pot before using the immersion blender.  

Avocado Salad Dressing

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Ever slice open an avocado to use in a salad and think …. yuck … half of this is disgusting????  That happened to me this week when I really had a craving to add creamy avocado to my salad.  After fuming for a moment I decided to turn it into a dressing.  I know I always say to taste taste taste – but it is really important to do that with this dressing – you really want it to pack a punch of flavour into a mouthful.  By the time you dilute it with all your salad ingredients you still need to get all that avocado party going on.

Avocado Salad Dressing

In a mortar and pestle combine:

avocado (1/2?)

grainy dijon mustard (1 tsp)

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tbsp lime juice

Grind well until it is all creamy and bright – slowly drizzle in about 1/3 cup good quality olive oil and continue until it is all smooth.  (Yes, sure – you could do this in a blender, or a bullet, or just in a bowl)

Taste and adjust for seasonings.  If you like it a bit spicy, add a few chili flakes.  If you like garlic, add a garlic clove before you really start grinding it with the mortar and pestle.  You get the idea – add stuff you really like.  And – yes, that is a glass of wine in this photo – everything I make tastes better when I cook with wine!