Browsing Tag

appetizer

Tasty

Pear Chips

October 22, 2014

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My CSA box has sent me an influx of pears lately and I was a little overwhelmed with what to do with them. Thankfully Martha Stewart steered me in the right direction (per usual) and I am excited to have a new fall friendly (and gluten free) appetizer option!

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Pear Chips

  • 2 pears (firm, under ripe)
  1. Preheat oven to 225 degrees.
  2. Use a mandolin to thinly slice pears (you don’t have to de-seed or de-stem them).
  3. Arrange them in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet.
  4. Bake pear slices for 1 1/2 hours.
  5. Flip slices them bake 1+ hour more or until edges have started to curl.
  6. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

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These taste best when served with a triple cream cheese and pecans!

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Tasty

Last Minute Appetizer Ideas

December 31, 2013

NYE tends to be one of the most stressful days of the year for me.  I always forget about it/put off planning anything, and then a day or two (or the day of), I’m running around trying to make plans – when all I usually want to do is sit on my couch and drink some champagne.  No matter your agenda for tonight, it never hurts to have a little cheat sheet of last minute appetizer ideas for any impromptu guests or plans.

Waiters

Here are some of my favorite that we have created this holiday season:

Whipped Ricotta with Pomegranates and Mint 

  1. Add whole milk ricotta to a food processor and turn on for 1-2 minutes until cheese gets to your preferred whipped consistency.
  2. Sprinkle in freshly ground pepper and sea salt. Drizzle with high quality EVOO and sprinkle pomegranate seeds and shopped mint leaves.
  3. Enjoy with flat bread or pita.

Basil & Apricot Bites

  1. Mix goat cheese with chopped basil to taste (I used 4 oz goat cheese to 1-2 Tablespoons) in a bowl.
  2. Spoon a teaspoon of the cheese mixture onto a dried apricot.
  3. Top with a marcona almond and drizzle with honey.

Apricot with Basil Goat Cheese

Beggars Purses 

  • We opted for the “save time” route by simply forgoing the actual creating of the purses and served them blini style – which was just as yummy!

Beggars Purses

For some more entertaining ideas check out here!

Tasty

Hearty Soup

October 30, 2013

Butternut Squash Soup with Pumpkin Seeds

I love the fact that soup is such a versatile food item – it can be a great snack, lunch, starter, dinner… it is relatively easy to make, and (as they say) good for the soul (or is that just chicken soup?!).  One of my favorite soups is my sister Taylor’s homemade Butternut Squash soup.

Squash Soup

So make sure to hit up your local farmers market – pick up some butternut squash, celery, onion, carrot, garlic and herbs and get to the kitchen!

From Threads – By Taylor Feezor

TATA’S BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP:

  • 1 butternut squash (halved… or if you are me and have been told many elaborate stories of forewarning injury due to watermelon or squash cutting by your mother…. quartered)
  • 1 head of garlic
  • olive oil
  • sea/ kosher salt
  • fresh thyme
  • 1 yellow onion
  • 1 stalk celery
  • 1 carrot
  • 4 cups chicken stock
  • drizzle of garlic and jalapeno olive oil after the soup is bowled

1. Halve or quarter your squash. The rinds are thick, so BE CAREFUL. I quartered mine because my new knives terrify me (I draped kitchen towels on the other end of them to get a nice grip when cutting down through them… recommend!), and noticed after baking that I might have lost some moisture doing this. The cut edge also was less soft than the inside. Do half if you HAVE THE COURAGE.

2. Take the seeds out, remove as much pith and fiber as you can from them. You are going to put these on the baking sheet and make seeds to use for later. FUN!

3. Drizzle olive oil, rub on the surfaces with your hands, sprinkle salt, stuff the cavity with fresh thyme if you have it, sprinkle whole squash with dried thyme if you don’t.

4. Cut tip off of head of garlic, place in middle of baking sheet. Sprinkle with too much olive oil, too much salt. Mix butternut seeds with this extra, cascading olive oil. Keep the whole bit near center of pan to keep things from burning. Some seeds strayed from the pack and the edge ones got burnt immediately.

5. Bake everything at 425 for 40-60 minutes. Squash is done when a fork goes through easily. You’ll know. During this baking time, I threw in a loaf of parbaked bread from TJ’s (12 minutes), and quartered leeks with olive oil and salt on another pan. They get crispy and taste like onion shoe strings (30 minutes). Great on the side, and this whole party in my oven (squash/seeds/garlic/bread/leeks) helps cut down on the old PG&E Bill.

6. WHILE ITS BAKING:

Pan fry yellow onion, thinly sliced celery and carrots in olive oil until everything becomes soft and translucent in a huge ceramic pot (or something that you will eventually be able to add everything to and run through it with a hand blender). Add 4 cups of chicken stock (trick I like…. add a little more of the bullion base than you should to the water. I think it is what made this so good).

Take out butternut, scrape it with a spoon after its cooled a little, add to your big pot of other stuff. Add 4 cloves of roasted garlic to the soup. Run through everything with a hand blender for about 5 minutes. If you want more protein, add the cubes of turkey breast from Thanksgiving your mom gifted to you when you moved in. Drizzle top with the garlic and jalapeno olive oil, and enjoy!

A big congrats to Christa Pulling – the winner of the PopSugar Must Have Box giveaway!!

Tasty

Salt and Vinegar Chips

October 9, 2013

One of my guilty pleasures? Salt and vinegar chips!

Salt & Vinegar Chips

I have been into baking my own chips for sometime, but wanted to take things to the next level and figure out how to make flavored baked chips… here is what I did:

1. Used a mandolin to thinly slice 3 russet potatoes (thinness is to your liking, I prefer on the thinner side).

Mandalin

2. Immediately submerge potato slices in ice water, while you continue to slice the rest of the potatoes.

Ice Bath

3. Drain potatoes and transfer to a large pot.  Fill pot with white vinegar, until potatoes are completely covered.

White Vinegar

4. Bring potato slices to a boil over medium high heat, let boil for 5 minutes.

Boil

5. Remove from heat and cover.  Let sit for at least 30 minutes to let the vinegar flavor marinate.

6. Gently remove potatoes from vinegar and dry on paper towels.

Potato Slices

7. Transfer to a baking sheet (coated with cooking spray) and spray top side of potato slices with oil or cooking spray as well.  Sprinkle with kosher salt.

Baked Chip

8. Cook for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.

Salt Vinegar Chips

9. Enjoy!

Vinegar Chips

Tasty

Bruschetta Dip

October 2, 2013

Tomato Garlic BasilI had to prep a gluten free appetizer and got overwhelmed by the fact that pretty much every hors d’oeuvre I love is based on carbs/bread/gluten.  My solution bruschetta dip!  Or as I also call it… Italian salsa!

Bruchetta with Chips

  • 2-3 cups heirloom tomatoes/Sweet 100’s (the key is GREAT produce… I picked everything up from the farmers market that day)
  • 3 cloves garlic (or more if you really love garlic)
  • a large handful of basil
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • kosher salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  1. Slice tomatoes into bite-size pieces (I quartered them), cut basil into thin strips (I rolled  5 leaves at a time and used herb shears to cut thin strips), and mince garlic.  Combine everything in a large bowl. 
  2. Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
  3. Let sit at room temperature for at least an hour to let the flavors really meld together.
  4. Serve with gluten free crackers (if going the gluten free approach)… otherwise serve with buttered and toasted baguette bread slices!

Bruchetta DipI can’t wait to serve the leftovers with a scoop of burrata cheese and a balsamic glaze drizzle…