The Year of Appetizers In Review

The Year of Appetizers In Review

    Here's a short entry to share my top five appetizers that I've made this year. Just like anything, there have been some "fails" and some which have surprised me. Fails include Appetizer #3 - Cheese Crackers and Appetizer #1 - Potpourri Cheese, both of which I just really didn't like the taste. The biggest surprise to me was that I liked Appetizer #5 - Cheese Puff Surprises. I liked the combination of 'salty' olive flavor and the texture of the cheese puff. I made one appetizer which I've made numerous times prior to this year of appetizers and just really love. That recipe is Appetizer #4 - Lemonchick's Un-stuffed Jalapeno Popper Tartlets. I've also made one of these new-to-me appetizers twice. I really liked the Sweet Zucchini Pickles. Search the blog for these recipes and if you happen to try these recipes or any of the others, let me know what you think. I'd really love to hear some comments. 

#1 - Chinese Barbecued Ribs - Appetizer #6

#2 - Sweet Zucchini Pickles - Appetizer #18

#3 - Pineapple-Cheese Ball - Appetizer #24 

#4 - Sweet Caramelized Onion Dip - Appetizer #16

#5 - Herbed Parmesan Bread Dipping Oil - Appetizer #20

Honorable Mention -  Cheese Puff Surprises - Appetizer #5    

Appetizer #24 - Pineapple-Cheese Ball

 The Year of Appetizers

Appetizer #24 - Pineapple-Cheese Ball

    This is it! Appetizer #24, the last in the Year of Appetizers. This recipe is in the First Baptist Church - Chandler, Texas cookbook. I do not see a published date, but I'd guess late 1980s/early 1990s. The recipe suggests chilling this overnight, but eight hours is just fine. Less than eight hours would probably be fine as well; you just want the ball to be solid. I also cut the recipe in half and it still turned out a pretty good size. To make the original recipe size, simply double the ingredients. I really liked this appetizer and I think you will also. Try it!

Ingredients: 

1 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened

4 1/4 oz crushed pineapple, drained

1 cup chopped pecans, divided use

1 1/2 tbsp green pepper, finely chopped

1 tbsp onion, finely chopped

1 1/2 tsp seasoned salt (I used Jane's Krazy Mixed-Up Salt)

Directions: 

In a medium bowl, stir softened cream cheese with a fork until smooth. Mix in crushed pineapple, 1/2 cup pecans, green pepper, onion and seasoned salt. Shape into a ball. Spread the last 1/2 cup pecans onto a plate. Roll the cheese ball in the pecans, covering the entire surface of the cheese ball. Chop more pecans if you need or want more.  Wrap in plastic wrap or place into an airtight container and refrigerate for several hours (I chilled the ball for eight hours and it was perfect) or overnight. Serve on a large platter surrounded by crackers. If desired, garnish with pineapple slices, maraschino cherries or parsley. Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container. 

Pineapple-Cheese Ball

Pineapple-Cheese Ball on Crackers

First Baptist Church - Chandler, Texas Cookbook

Chocolate-Pistachio Bread

 Chocolate-Pistachio Bread

    Okay, so I was excited about making this bread. However, it did not turn out moist as I had hoped it would.  The friend I gave it to said she liked it though. We enjoyed slices over dinner last night and I do feel it would be yummy with hot coffee or tea. It would be yummy served warm with a scoop of ice cream and hot fudge on top. So that would be my serving suggestion, serve warmed with ice cream and hot fudge sauce. The recipe is in my Betty Crocker The Big Book of Bread from 2013. Try it and see what you think. 

Ingredients:

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cups butter, melted

3/4 cup milk

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup chopped pistachios

1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I substituted chopped dark chocolate and milk chocolate kisses)

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

sugar crystals for topping if desired

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottom of a 9x5 inch glass or shiny metal loaf pan. Do not use a dark colored pan (It will make the bread burn around the edges). Mix sugar, butter, milk and egg in a large bowl. Mix until thoroughly blended. Add in your dry ingredients, stirring until well combined. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes. Remove and cool in pan on a baking rack for ten minutes. Run a knife around the loaf to loosen. Remove loaf from pan and let it cool completely on the baking rack. Wrap tightly if you are not going to eat immediately. This will last up to four days at room temperature or refrigerated. 

Chocolate-Pistachio Bread

Chocolate-Pistachio Bread

Appetizer #23 - Mini Chickpea Cakes

 The Year of Appetizers

Appetizer #23 - Mini Chickpea Cakes

    The next to last appetizer in this year of Appetizers is in 2004's 100 Best Appetizer Recipes. These were easy to make; the part that took the longest, was shredding the carrot.  The recipe says you'll make about two dozen. I used my small cookie scoop for sizing and then flattened them with the back of a spoon and I got about 2 1/2 dozen. *It's okay if they're not perfectly round; I had some that came out misshapened and it was fine. I really liked this little appetizer. Try it!

Serve warm on a platter with a dish of creamy Italian salad dressing for dipping. 

Ingredients:

1 15oz can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)

1 cup finely shredded carrots 

1/3 cup seasoned bread crumbs or plain breadcrumbs with 1/4 tsp Italian seasoning added

1/4 cup creamy Italian Salad Dressing

1 egg

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F. Drain and rinse chickpeas in a large colander.  Using a potato masher, coarsely mash chickpeas in a large bowl. Stir in bread crumbs, salad dressing and egg, mixing well. Stir in carrot until well combined. Shape mixture into patties using a small cookie scoop or tablespoon, placing on lightly greased cookie sheet and flattening with the back of a spoon, or gently press into patty shape using clean hands. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes, remove and flip chickpea cakes. Return to the oven for 9 to 10 more minutes. Both sides of chickpea cakes should be lightly browned. Remove from cookie sheets and serve warm with creamy Italian dressing. 

Mini Chickpea Cakes

Mini Chickpea Cakes

Peanut Apple Salad

    Peanut Apple Salad

    As promised, here's the Peanut Apple Salad recipe from my 1963 "It's easy to be a Gourmet...with SAUCY Peanuts ...and other fine Oklahoma Peanut Recipes!" recipe booklet. I made a half recipe and added a little more maraschino cherry. Remember to wash apple and celery before dicing. Double the ingredients to make the full recipe. This was easy to make. I am enjoying some for breakfast! 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups diced apple (this came out to 1 1/2 apples for me)

1/2 cup diced celery

1/2 cups salted peanuts, rough chopped

10 maraschino cherries, chopped

1/4 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing

1 1/2 tbsp honey

1/2 tsp celery seed

Directions:

Combine apples, celery, peanuts and cherries in a medium sized bowl. In a small bowl mix mayonnaise/salad dressing, honey and celery. Pour dressing over the apple mixture and stir to thoroughly coat. Note that you can add the dressing ingredients individually stirring after each addition. Serve with or without lettuce cups. 

Peanut Apple Salad

Fluffer-Nutter Open-Faced Sandwich

 Fluffer-Nutter Open-Faced Sandwich

    Okay, so this is the first of two recipes I planned to make from my 1963 "It's easy to be a Gourmet...with SAUCY Peanuts ...and other fine Oklahoma Peanut Recipes!" recipe booklet. As you would suspect, there are a lot of "curious" recipes in this booklet, which incorporate peanuts into recipes with ingredients that you might never think of trying together. Peanuts are nutritious and are an excellent source of monounsaturated fats; this booklet tells us that there are 5.57 grams of protein, 10.7 grams of fat, 16 mg calcium, .45 mg iron, 3.7 mg niacin, .028 mg riboflavin and .068 mg thiamine in 3/4 oz of salted peanuts. Current nutrition facts per one ounce of peanuts are: Calories: 161, Fat 14g, Sodium: 5.1 mg, Carbohydrates: 4.6g, Fiber: 2.4g, Sugars: 1.3 and Protein: 7.3 {Source: www.verywellfit.com}. You can find more information on peanuts at www.okpeanutcomm.org. 

The Fluffer-Nutter is listed in the Sandwiches section under "Peanut Spreads". It does not contain measurements, just ingredients. I give amounts below, but use more or less peanut butter if you like. If desired, add a sprinkle of chocolate shavings before or after toasting. I enjoyed this simple snack and I have a feeling you might also. 

Ingredients:

1 slice bread (white/wheat)

1 tbsp creamy or crunchy peanut butter

mini marshmallows, as many as you can fit in one layer on your slice of bread

chocolate shavings for decoration if desired

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 250 degrees F. Spread your desired peanut butter on one slice of bread. Top with one layer of mini marshmallows. You are ready to toast. Place your slice of bread directly onto a rack in your oven and toast until marshmallows are puffy; your bread should be toasted on the bottom. Remove from oven and char the top of the marshmallows if you desire (I did!). I used a large Bic multi-purpose lighter. 

Fluffer-Nutter Open-Faced Sandwich

Apple-Fig Bread w/Honey Glaze

 Apple-Fig Bread w/Honey Glaze

    Grrr. I already wrote this post once, but accidentally deleted it just before I could hit "publish".  This recipe is in the Betty Crocker The Big Book of Bread. I really like this book and have made several recipes from it. I've never made this one, and I'm glad I did not. If you don't have all-spice, do what I did and substitute with a little more cinnamon and some nutmeg. Serve with hot tea or hot coffee.  Serves about 12. 

Ingredients:

For the Bread:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsps ground cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground allspice

2/3 cup white sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup milk

1 cup chopped, peeled apple

1/2 cups chopped, dried fig

For the Glaze:

1/3 to 1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 tbsps honey (Heat slightly in microwave for about 10 - 15 seconds to make it easier to mix)

1 tbsp softened butter

dash allspice (or cinnamon)

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare pan by spraying the bottom only of an 8x4 loaf pan with cooking spray. In a medium sized bowl, combine dry ingredients. In a large bowl, beat oil and sugar for about a minute. Beat in egg, then egg yolk. Beat in vanilla. Stir in flour and milk, alternating and mixing well after each addition. Mix in apples and figs to smooth batter. Pour into prepared pan and bake in oven for 55 to 65 minutes. Test for doneness, with a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Loosen the sides of the loaf from the pan to remove. Set loaf top side up on the rack and cool completely (about 2 hours). In a small bowl mix 1/3 cup powdered sugar, honey, butter and allspice or cinnamon until smooth. You can add more powdered sugar to reach desired consistency. Spread glaze over loaf and allow to set. Serve immediately or wrap tightly with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator. 

Apple-Fig Bread w/Honey Glaze

Apple-Fig Bread w/Honey Glaze

Appetizer 22 - Old Bay Potato Skins

 The Year of Appetizers

Appetizer #22 - Old Bay Potato Skins

    This recipe is another creation of mine.  Add as much Old Bay seasoning , green onion, cheese and sour cream as you like.  Enjoy! 

Ingredients:

3 large potatoes, washed 

old bay seasoning

cheddar or colby-jack cheese, shredded

sour cream

green onion, chopped

Directions:

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Bake potatoes until softened (you can easily poke the potato with a fork). It's a fine line, but you don't want the potatoes too soft. Remove from oven. Cut potatoes lengthwise into wedges.  Gently scoop potato from skin, leaving about 1/4 inch or so of potato on the skin. Save the scooped potato in a small bowl and use as you wish in another recipe. Lay potato wedges on a baking pan and sprinkle with Old Bay seasoning on top of potato skins. Top skins with cheese and sprinkle with more Old Bay if you wish. Bake skins until cheese is melted. Remove from oven. Cool slightly. Serve hot topped with sour cream, green onion and add another sprinkle of Old Bay if you like. Enjoy!

Old Bay Potato Skins

Old Bay Potato Skins

Appetizer #21 - Corn Dog Bites

 The Year of Appetizers

Appetizer #21 - Corn Dog Bites

    This is my creation. I used hot dogs, but you could use kielbasa sausage as well. Serve these with your favorite dipping sauce, like mustard, honey-mustard or even ketchup.  You could also serve these as part of a meal with french fries or tater tots or a vegetable. But, it is fried, so you may as well have the fries or tots! I list a whole package of hot dogs in the ingredients, but you'll cut them up and use as many as you have batter for or that you want.

Ingredients:

1 package hot dogs

1 box of Jiffy cornbread mix

1 egg, slightly beaten

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup flour

oil

spicy seasoning/your favorite seasoning (optional)

Directions:

Place flour in a small bowl and set aside. Pour cornbread mix into a large bowl. Add in milk and egg, whisking until thoroughly combined. Add seasoning if using and stir to combine. Heat oil to appropriate temperature or test oil by dropping a tiny bit of batter in your oil.  Cut each hot dog into about 5-6 pieces; you want them to be kinda small; use your best judgement for sizing. Add a few pieces of hot dog into the flour and coat each piece. Dip pieces one at a time into the cornbread batter and thoroughly coat. Gently drop battered hot dog pieces into hot oil and fry until golden brown. Remove corn dog bites from hot oil and place onto plate/tray covered with paper towel. Continue frying until you have used all of the hot dogs and batter. Serve hot on a platter with your choice of dipping sauce. 

Corn Dog Bites

Corn Dog Bites

Appetizer #20 - Herbed Parmesan Bread Dipping Oil

 The Year of Appetizers

Appetizer #20 - Herbed Parmesan Bread Dipping Oil 

    I'm a big supporter of Ronald McDonald House. There are two houses in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. One in Dallas and one in Fort Worth. I know there is also at least one Family Room at a local hospital as well. In 2016, the Dallas house celebrated their 35th anniversary of serving families. The Dallas house provides all three meals for families staying in the house. I've been honored to help serve meals at the Dallas house. This the meals that heal cookbook consists of recipes submitted by cooking volunteers and includes some favorite recipes for meals which have been served over their first 35 years. There are Ronald McDonald Houses all around and there are hundreds of hospitals worldwide, which are home to at least one core Ronald McDonald House Charities program. If you are so inclined, check out how you can support your local Ronald McDonald House or Ronald McDonald House Charities.

    This simple appetizer was very, easy to make. I served the oil with freshly, toasted French bread and it was delicious. 

Ingredients:

1/2 tsp Italian herb seasoning or 1/4 tsp each dried oregano and basil

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (or use avocado oil, like I did)

2 tsp grated parmesan cheese

1/8 tsp ground black pepper (the original recipe doesn't give an amount; this is what I used)

crusty French/Italian bread

Directions: 

On a 6-inch plate, combine the Italian seasoning, parmesan and pepper. Drizzle oil onto plate and stir gently with the tip of a spoon, to combine. Dip hot bread into oil and enjoy!

Herbed Parmesan Bread Dipping Oil

Herbed Parmesan Bread Dipping Oil