Chip Dips

We have taken to making my own chip dip. We start with an 18oz container of greek style (its thicker) yogurt, 1/2C sour cream, salt and pepper to taste. then caramelize one medium onion, diced and 3 cloves chopped garlic. Mix with the yogart/sour cream and chill.

Today we are making a new variation. Start by finely chopping 8oz. mushrooms, 3 cloves garlic and sauted them in 1T butter until all the liquid was gone. Then mix them in the same yogurt/sour cream mix.

Very tasty and we are sure you can think of other variations (bacon perhaps?) There is no picture because it just looks like a bowl of yogurt.

Tamale Ball Appetizer

This is a fairly easy and tasty appetizer recipe. In a bowl mix together 1/2 lb ground pork, 1/2 lb ground beef, 2T ground cumin, 1T each of ground cardamom, coriander, oregano and powdered garlic, 3/4C enchilada sauce and 3/4C corn meal, salt and pepper to taste. You can add heat if you wish in the form of Tabasco or red pepper flakes. At this point cook a small portion of the mix in the microwave, taste and adjust the seasonings if necessary. Form the mixture into 1/2" balls and simmer for one hour in 1 14 oz can of enchilada sauce, a sprig of cilantro and a squeeze of fresh lime juice. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve on toothpicks.

Tamale Bites

There aren't many appetizers on the blog but here is a good one. You can use any kind of precooked meat that you wish but we used turkey. Start by adding 1/2lb meat, 1t masa corn flour, 1t tomato paste, 1 small chopped onion, 1 minced garlic clove, 1t ground cumin, 2t dry thyme and 1 14 oz can stock to a frying pan. Heat to a low simmer and cook, uncovered until the liquid is reduced by half and the meat is fork tender. Set the meat and liquid aside. This dough can be made by hand or in a food processor. Mix 1C masa flour, 1/2t baking powder, 1/4t salt, 1/2t ground cumin and 2/3C stock ( we used the reserved cooking liquid from the meat) and mix until a crumbly mix is obtained. Add 1/2C melted shortening (we used lard - don't be put off, it imparts a wonderful flavor) and mix until the dough is smooth. Spray a mini-muffin tin with Pam and put a 2t ball of the dough in each cup. Smash the dough with your finger to make a well in the dough. Add 1/4C sour cream to the meat along with 1T fresh lime juice. Place the meat mixture into the dough cups and bake in a 350 degree over for about 20 min, until nicely browned. Serve plain or with your favorite salsa.

Rooster's Fire Crackers

Here's a pretty easy, tasty appetizer recipe. Preheat your oven to 450 F. Line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper. On the paper position saltine crackers so that they touch. We used rows of 7x4. Grate 10 oz. of sharp chedder cheese with a fine grater. Spread the cheese evenly over the crackers. Sprinkle on some cayenne pepper to your taste. (We also added some powdered Hickory smoke salt). Place the tray in the oven and immediately turn the oven off. Let the crackers stand for a minimum of 4 hrs, or over-night. The recipe made a nice cheesy spicy cracker. You could use other herbs if you preferred; such as rosemary, tarrigon, sage....you name it. See the link:

http://www.dorothylane.com/Cooking/Recipes/recipe.plx?recipe=251

Tapanade Twists - Coastal Living Magazine

We don't usually post appetizers here but this is a good one. To a food processor add 3/4C grated Parmesan Cheese, 1C Kalamata olives, 1T Rosemary, 2T Basil and 1 anchovie filet . Pulse until a fine paste is achieved. Prepare 2 puff pastry sheets by forming them into 10x12 in rectangles. Place 1/2 of the tapanade mix on 1/2 of the sheet, leaving a 1 inch border for sealing. Fold the sheet over, roll gently and press to seal the edge. Cut into 1/2 inch strips, twist and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 min or until the twists are nicely browned.

Cavier -Egg Layer Appetizer

This is a tasty, festive looking appetizer for the Christmas holiday. If you don't have a small spring-form pan, start by removing the top and bottom from an 8 oz. tomato sauce can and line it with a baggie. Chop 2 hard cooked eggs and mix with 2T melted butter. Mix 1C sour cream with 4 oz. softened cream cheese and 1 finely chopped green onion. Put 1/2 of the egg mix in the bottom and tamp it down. Add 1/2 of the cream cheese mix and tamp it as well. Make one more layer of the egg and cream cheese mixture. Place the "stack" in the refrigerator for several hours to firm up. Just before serving, drain 1-2 oz. of cavier (we used lump fish but salmon would also give the nice red color) for 15 min. It is important to drain it well so it won't "bleed" over the stack. Remove the baggie from the can, cut it away and place on a serving plate. Top with the cavier and some chopped green onion serve with plain crackers. Obviously, regular black cavier could be used but we liked the red and green for Christmas.

Grilled Halloumi Cheese with Lemons and Bread - From Gourmet Magazine

This makes a wonder appetizer for summer patio dining. Halloumi (Haloumi) cheese, known as "the grilling cheese of Cyprus", is a hard cheese that browns rather than melts. Mix 1 large garlic clove, minced with 1/4t salt, 1/4t sugar and 1/4 C olive oil and 2T fresh lemon juice. Slice the block of cheese first diagonally in half and then in thirds vertically. Slice 2 lemons into 12 thin slices, removing seeds if necessary. Toss the lemon slices and the cheese with the oil and juice mixture and garnish with some chopped fresh dill. Slice some crusty bread into 1/2" thick rounds and brush with olive oil. Grill the cheese 3-4 min, lemon slices 4-6 min, and bread 2-3 min or until nice grill marks appear. Eat the bread cheese and lemon in whatever combination you prefer. Serve with a chilled white wine.

Blue Cheese and Caramelized-Onion Squares - epicurious.com

This is a new ap-petizer for us. We made the crust from scratch although we think you could use Pillsbury crescent rolls flattened into a 10"x13" rectangle. The dough was made from 2C flour, 2t baking powder, 3/4t salt, 3/4C milk, 1/4C olive oil and 2T butter. Mix the dry ingregients, whisk together the liquids, pour the liquid into the drys and mix to form a ball. Roll into a 10x13 rectangle and place on baking paper on a cookie sheet. Set aside while you prepare the topping. Thinly slice 3 large sweet onions. Slowly cook them in 2T butter for about 10 min. Add 1T finely chopped rosemary, 1t sugar and 1/2t salt. Continue cooking until the onions are lightly browned and caramelized. Spread the onions evenly on the dough crumble on 6oz. blue cheese. Bake about 20 min at 425 degrees until the cheese is browned and bubbling. We served it with grapes on the side.

New Appetizer-Cheeses with Basalmic Jam

I think you could start with any jam you wished. In this case, apricot, but berries would work as well.....or cherries. Mix 3/4C of the jam with 3T basalmic vinegar and warm gently, mixing well. Allow the mixture to cool and serve over cheese on crackers. We tried both brie and blue cheese and preferred the blue. The blue cheese flavor went well with the sweetness of the jam and the balsamic. If you use blue, make sure to get a soft creamy one that will spread well, not a crumbly one.