Showing posts with label Snacks/Appetizers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Snacks/Appetizers. Show all posts

Chocolate-dipped Strawberries

1 package each semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips
Vanilla chips or almond bark for drizzling
2-3 lbs strawberries
quart-size ziplock bag
canola oil

Combine chocolate chips in microwave-safe bowl and microwave 30 seconds at a time to prevent scorching, stirring after each time, until chocolate is smooth (go down to 15 second intervals when chocolate is nearly melted). Stir in canola oil to thin chocolate until dipping consistency is reached (approximately ¼ - ½ C). Dip strawberries (berries must be dry!) and gently shake to remove excess chocolate; set on parchment to harden. Melt vanilla chips and pour in ziplock bag. Snip the tiniest bit off one corner and drizzle over berries; let harden. Store berries in a cool place (not fridge, it will make them sweat) and serve same-day.

Blue Cheese Bacon Cranberry Cheese Ball

2 oz Blue Cheese (1/2 C.)
8 oz Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 C. Bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled (approx. 4 strips)
1/2 C. Craisins
1/2 C. Chopped pecans, toasted

Combine cream cheese and blue cheese. Mix in bacon. Form into a ball and roll in Craisins and pecans. Refrigerate until firm. Serve with crackers or veggies. Makes 1 large or 2 small cheese balls.

Todd's Salsa

1 28 oz. can Ro-Tel Tomatoes
1 28 oz. can Whole Peeled Tomatoes
1 small white onion
4-8 Jalapeños out of a jar (The kind you put on nachos. Amount depends on how much heat you want)
1 T. Garlic Salt
3 t. Ground Cumin
2 t. Sugar
1 T. White Vinegar

We mix up all those ingredients in our food processor. If your food processor is not big enough or you don't have one you can half the recipe by using the small cans of tomatoes instead and halving the rest of the ingredients and just making it in your blender.
The last four ingredients you can play around with for the taste you want. That is about what we use. I have also added a little lime juice on occasion.

This wonderful recipe comes from my neighbor--it's our very favorite!

Best Cheese Ball

2 pkgs. cream cheese
1 C. crushed pineapple, well drained
½ C. chopped bell pepper (green, red, orange)
1 T. chopped white onion
1 t. season salt

Mix well & form into ball. Roll in chopped pecans & parsley. Serve w/ crackers.

Rolo Pretzel Turtles

1 package small regular shaped pretzels (waffle squares or rounds)
1 13-oz. package rolo candies (aprox 60 in package, unwrapped
1 package pecan halves (toasted), almonds or m&m candies

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Cover a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and place pretzels individually to form one layer only. Place one Rolo Candy on top of each pretzel. Place the baking sheet in a 250 degree oven for 4 minutes or until the candies are softened, but not melted.

Immediately remove from the oven and quickly place a pecan half on top of a candy and push down to squish the chocolate into the pretzel and flatten out. Cool for 20 minutes, then place uncovered in refrigerator for about 20 minutes to set. Transfer to a decorative plate.

Toasting Pecans: To toast pecans, spread them out on a plate and microwave for 30 seconds at a time. Stir the pecans around with your hand in between cooking times until toasted. If you do not like pecans you can use almonds or m&m's in place of the pecans.

Caramels

1 C. sugar
1 C. real butter
1 C. brown sugar
1 C. sweetened condensed milk
1 C. Karo syrup

Cook between 244-248 degrees or until soft ball stage. Take off heat & pour into buttered pan. I keep it on medium, stirring the whole time so you don’t get burnt flakes in it. Our candy thermometer wasn’t working right, so I did the whole test in a cup of cold water. I used the thermometer for a bit of a gauge, but then when it got around where I thought it might be done, you just drop a little by teaspoon into a cold cup of fresh water, and see if you can ball it up with your fingers. Once you can do that, and it balls up to the consistency you’d like your caramels, it’s done! (Or you can try a reliable candy thermometer.) Make sure you spray or butter the pan. We pour ours onto a cookie sheet. Then let cool. Then you have to cut it all up with a sharp knife into the size of pieces you want, and cut up a bunch of waxed paper to wrap them in.

From my neighbor, Amelia Torgerson.

Seafood Wontons

3 lbs. cream cheese
1 T. Lawry’s garlic salt
½ t. black pepper
1 T. powdered onion
1 t. horseradish

Combine all the above; mix well & set aside.

1 C. minced onion
1 C. minced celery
2/3 C. thinly sliced green onions
1 lb. imitation crab meat (squeeze to remove some juices, but not too dry)

Combine minced onion & celery with cream cheese mixture. Gently fold in crab meat & green onion until well combined. Put a little filling in wonton wrappers & fry until golden brown.

Wontons may be frozen for later use. Fry until light golden brown, then drain on paper towels. Freeze in single layer, then wrap well. Later, defrost wontons then fry until golden brown.

For variety, try substituting chopped salad shrimp for crab meat.

This recipe was given to me by the former owner of Bamboo Hut restaurant while I was serving a mission in Hawaii.

Carmel Popcorn

1 C. brown sugar
1 square butter
½ C. Karo syrup

Cook on medium heat, stirring, until it comes to a soft boil. Boil 3 minutes and add 1 t. vanilla; pour over popcorn.

Pork Picadillo Triangles

Pork:
1 ¼ lbs. pork shoulder
½ medium onion
2 cloves garlic, peeled & crushed
½ t. salt

Cut all fat from meat & cut in chunks. Put everything in a saucepan with barely water to cover. Boil, then simmer-boil until pork is tender & flakes easily—about 70 minutes. Cool in broth.

Filling:
2 T. oil
½ med. onion
1 large garlic clove, chopped
¼ t. cloves, ground
¼ t. cinnamon, ground
½ t. fresh ground pepper
3-4 t. currants (substitute raisins)
2 T. slivered almonds
2 heaping T. candied fruit
(pineapple or apricots, etc.)
2 fresh jalapenos, skinned
8 oz. peeled, seeded tomatoes
Sea salt to taste
1 box phyllo dough, thawed in fridge 1 day

Heat oil & lightly sauté onion & garlic. Meanwhile, chop meat on/off in processor until loosely shredded. Return meat to onion pan & sauté 1-2 minutes. Put meat into food processor again & add everything else.
Pulse on/off until everything is finely minced & well combined. Add another 1-2 T. oil if it appears dry. Add more chiles if you like it spicier. Fill about 30 triangles of phyllo. Run sharp knife down the side of all layers of phyllo to cut a 2 ½ in. strip. Each time you take out a sheet, butter edges liberally & quickly with clarified butter. Lay another sheet on top of first. Butter again. Fill & roll, like a flag fold, or just roll like a cigar. Do not let any filling slip out of folds or it will stick to the sheet. Always bake on parchment paper. These can be frozen, without touching each other, & then bagged. Carefully place back on parchment paper & thaw 20 minutes before cooking. Cook in moderately hot oven.

I got this from Grace Wilson-Fletcher. I lived with her when I was doing my internship in D.C. She is a caterer and studied at L'Acadamie de Cuisine where she got this recipe.

Wassail

2 qt. apple cider
2 C. orange juice (pulp free)
2 C. pineapple juice
½ C. lemon juice
1 C. sugar
1 t. vanilla
12 whole cloves
4 cinnamon sticks

Bring ingredients to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer 10-15 minutes. Remove cinnamon sticks & cloves. Strain, if desired. If possible, chill overnight to allow flavors to blend. Serve warm. Makes 3½ quarts.
*To serve in punch bowl, stud orange slices w/ cloves & float in wassail.

Best Shrimp Dip

1 8 ounce cream cheese
1 pint small curd cottage cheese
1 T. freshly grated onion
2 T. mayo
1 can of shrimp

Using electric blender, combine cream cheese and cottage cheese; blend until light and creamy. Add mayo and onion. With a spoon blend, in drained shrimp and add shrimp juice to consistency desired. Add onion salt and garlic salt as desired. Chill at least 3 hours before serving.

Savory Cheese Triangles in Phyllo

(Plus: How to Clarify the Butter)
¼ lb. butter
2 lbs. leeks, white part only
6 oz. Montrachet or similar chevre
(goat cheese)
½ phyllo sheets
½ - ¾ lb. butter, clarified, for phyllo

Cut off all but 1” of soft green leaves of the leeks. Cut bottom of leek in an “X” & slice very thin. Soak in water & pull leeks out of water with strainer. Soak again. (Leeks are a root vegetable & very muddy!) Saute washed & sliced leeks in ¼ lb. butter about 10 minutes. Remove leeks & cool. Add crumbled cheese & stir into leeks. Taste for salt & pepper. Cut phyllo strips about 2 ½ inches wide with a sharp knife! Butter edges well. Lay another strip on top. Add filling on bottom & roll the flag fold. “Flash freeze” on cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Later you can transfer them to bags & they won’t stick together. At serving time, defrost on cookie sheet with parchment about 20 minutes. Bake in 400° oven 11-12 minutes until barely light golden brown. Serve.
Clarified butter: allows you to cook at 400° without the butter burning or smoking. Simply boil butter on low heat in a heavy pan until butter is very clear, about 10 minutes. Scoop foam off the top & discard the “whey” at the bottom. It does reduce the volume of finished butter by one-half.

Hot Spinach Dip

2 C. (8 oz.) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 10 oz. pkg. frozen chopped spinach
(thawed & squeezed dry)
8 oz. cream cheese, cubed
2 Roma tomatoes, seeded & chopped
½ - ¾ C. grated onion
1/3 C. half & half cream
¼ t. ground red pepper
¼ t. garlic powder

Combine ingredients in bowl. Transfer to a greased 1½-quart baking dish. Bake at 375° for 20-25 min. or until bubbly. Serve with crackers or pita chips.

Lion House Cheese Logs

1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese
1 5 oz. blue cheese spread
1 C. shredded cheddar
Garlic salt, celery salt, onion salt—to taste
(about ½ t. each)
Chopped parsley or nuts (about 1 C.)

Beat cheeses together until smooth. Add seasonings to taste. Form into ball or log; roll in chopped nuts or parsley.
Makes 2 logs; serves about 25

I mix this up in a mixer & add a few nuts with the cheeses in addition to rolling.

Fleisch Salat

½ C. Mayonnaise
½ C. Miracle whip
8 oz. Bologna
4 to 5 sweet pickles
2 T. capers

Cut bologna into 1/4 inch strips.
Cut strips into 1/4 inch pieces.
Dice pickles and capers into very small pieces, almost the size of pieces you would see in pickle relish.
Mix all the ingredients and store in fridge overnight. Spread on rye or pumpernickel bread or crackers.

Chokecherry Jelly

3 ½ C. chokecherry juice
½ C. lemon juice
1 package pectin
6 C. sugar

Place juice and pectin in a 6-8 quart saucepan. Bring mixture to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. Add sugar and boil for 2 minutes.
Fill jelly jars to within 1/8 inch from the top. Cover jars with two-piece lids. Place jars in canner. Fill with water until the jars are covered by about 2 inches.
Cover and bring water to a boil. Process jelly for 10 minutes.

Cheese Pie

First you need a little mini pie pan. Then you put a tortilla on top. Then you get a little knife & you cut round the edges. Then you push it into the pan. Then you get one or two pieces of cheese; break them up into little pieces. Then you set them all in there. You get another tortilla & you set it on top of the pan; cut the edges off. Then you cook it in the oven for about 9 or 10 minutes. When it’s done you cut it in slices & share it or you can eat all of it by yourself.

Apricot-Pineapple Freezer Jam

1 ¾ C. prepared fruit (2 lbs. ripe apricots)
2 8 oz. cans crushed pineapple, un-drained
¼ C. fresh lemon juice
1 box pectin
1 C. light corn syrup
4 ½ C. cups sugar, measured into separate bowl
Rinse clean plastic containers and lids with boiling water. Dry thoroughly.
Pit and finely chop unpeeled apricots. Measure exactly 1 ¾ C. prepared fruit into large bowl. Measure exactly 1 ½ C. crushed pineapple with juice into bowl with apricots. Stir in lemon juice.
Stir pectin into prepared fruit in bowl. Let stand 30 minutes, stirring every 5 min. Stir in corn syrup. Gradually add sugar, stirring until well blended. Stir an additional 3 min. or until sugar is dissolved and no longer grainy. (A few sugar crystals may remain.)
Fill all containers immediately to within ½ inch of tops. Wipe off top edges of containers; immediately cover with lids. Let stand at room temperature 24 hours. Jam is now ready to use. Store in refrigerator up to 3 weeks or freeze extra containers up to 1 year. Thaw in refrigerator before using.
Makes about 7 (1-cup) containers.

Apple Butter

12 C. apples, peeled, cored & cut in chunks
1 ½ to 2 C. apple cider
4 C. sugar
2 t. cinnamon
1 t. nutmeg
1 t. cloves
1 t. allspice

Put about 8 cups of the apples with all other ingredients in crock pot. If room add remaining apples, if not, let it cook down until room to add remaining apples.
Cook on high until apples are very soft. Take mixture (a couple of cups at a time) and blend in blender until a gravy type consistency.
Put mixture back in crock pot and continue cooking until desired texture.
Put finished apple butter in jelly jars and process them in a water bath for 10-15 minutes.

The flavor will turn out better if you use a mixture of tart & sweet apples.

Debbie's Salsa

2 cans of diced red tomatoes
2 bunches of green onions, chopped
(use the green part for color)
Crushed red peppers - to taste
Garlic salt - to taste
Oregano - to taste
Salt and pepper - to taste

Mix all ingredients and chill.