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Category: Appetizers
Today’s recipe is based on Chef John’s recipe – which produces a tasty Hot and Sour Soup like you get in a Chinese restaurant. The Hot is from the addition of 1/2 tsp white pepper – and truly shouldn’t be substituted. The Sour comes from ChinKiang vinegar, a Chinese black vinegar with a unique flavor profile. Major players in this recipe are shiitake mushrooms cut into thin strips, cubed tofu, and thin strips of bamboo shoots. Ginger and green onion are key supporting flavors and red bell pepper, carrot, and egg provide body and character. This soup is easy to prepare – just be certain to prepare everything before putting a pot onto the burner. So let’s get prepped…
Here is a twist on a recipe that might either start a fight or end one. As many of you know, I was single for a bit and Cooking-4-One was a personal indulgence. I could eat what I wanted to try, buying whatever ingredients I needed. But in all fairness, that is not practical when you plan meals for two. Each person’s likes and dislikes and level of experimentation have to be considered. Frankly, another aspect is storage. Even with a large kitchen, storage is a premium and buying an ingredient you may not use but once in a great while is not practical. So today’s recipe is a twist on the typical tabbouleh – substituting couscous for the bulgur. I know…
Today I want to share with you a delicious experiment I recently completed. After sharing the Balsamic Ginger Fig Jam with friends and co-workers (to rave reviews I might add), I found Adriatic figs at my local international store and decided to see if I could work the same magic with them. I was thinking something along the lines of the Fig Newton filling – but with a bit of something extra. How about an adult Fig Newton; one laced with bourbon? So, I set about to create this concoction and here are the results. Like the Balsamic Ginger Fig Jam, this recipe is super easy and foolproof due to cooking it sous vide. No scorching, no stirring, no hassle… and I like that. Besides, the…
Here is a quick Thai inspired beef satay dish that really satisfies. Intensely flavorful and simple to prepare, I just don’t know why I haven’t made this dish before… or 100 times before as a matter of fact. I like these skewers of marinated thinly sliced beef with peanut sauce when preparing as appetizer or jasmine rice and stir fried vegetables when made as a meal. Really, nothing much more is needed. And with these waning days of summer, it is a great excuse to fire up the grill. So invite some friends and make this tasty appetizer, your guests will thank you! Save Print Simple Beef Satay Prep time: 2 hours 15 mins Cook time: 10 mins Total time: …
With the heat recently, I just have not felt like cooking. These are times when simple appetizers satisfy best and this hummus recipe is easy to prepare and delicious to enjoy. The recipe is based on this one from Inspired Taste and it produces a wonderfully creamy hummus that can be tweaked as you see fit. Roasted red pepper, no problem. Roasted garlic, again easy to add. Only your imagination limits you when it comes to this Mediterranean staple. My favorite add is the simplest – lemon zest. I like the increased ‘zing’ from the lemon in contrast to the cumin. So enough babbling on, let’s make some hummus! Save Print Simple Hummus Prep time: 10 mins Total time: 10 mins Serves…
Just in case the holidays have not exhausted your party spirit (or maybe you have finally recovered and are ready to get back to enjoying the company of others!), tonight’s post is a quick and easy appetizer perfect for either a happy hour type meet-up or a true appetizer for a more formal affair. The concept for this recipe came from Leite’s Culinaria, a wonderful resource filled with interesting dishes. And this recipe called to me on many levels. First, this appetizer is beyond easy. Second, I wanted to try it with different olives and herbs. Lastly, I wanted to try preparing this dish using sous vide. So after a little research, the results are below. I also provided a link to the…
Merry Christmas! Here is a quick post I wanted to share of the appetizer I enjoyed tonight. Recently I found several sous vide recipes for lobster and I just had to try one. After reading the great information from The Food Lab/Serious Eats, I opted to use the clean and simple distillation of that information from the Sous Vide Guy. It was perfect for creating a quick holiday appetizer and the lobster cooking method could easily be used for a main course. Give this appetizer a try – whether just to spoil yourself or to indulge guests at your New Year’s Eve dinner party. It is super simple to prepare and so elegant to enjoy. Save Print Sous Vide Lobster Cocktail Prep time: 15…
I think it is high time I posted a few appetizer recipes, so let me start with fried oysters. Of course, this dish could be made into a main course by combining with other appetizers to have a small plate or tapas styled meal. During my research I found many different recipes and I decided to go with what I see is the simplest (and the one I am most familiar with). If you have seen my Schnitzel recipe, this method is basically the same – dredge in flour, shake off excess, dredge in egg, coat in crumbs, and fry in clarified butter. The process sounds difficult, but it really isn’t… just a bit messy. Best of all, the small oysters take hardly any time…
Have you ever just had appetizers for dinner? You know what I am talking about. Those evenings you are out with a group, maybe it started as a happy hour meet-up, and with the drinks you order some appetizers, some others order some and it becomes a shared meal. After sampling and maybe even ordering more, you just don’t feel like eating a full meal. Tonight was that night for me, except I was at home. I just wanted a few appetizers for dinner, especially a tapenade with some fresh from the bakery bread. Of course, tapenade does not a meal make, so I added a mini Caprese salad and some sliced dry salami and soppressata. Hey… I used what I had available and…
Last night I decided to try something new with Caprese salad. Instead of just layering the tomato, mozzarella, and basil and dressing with olive oil and balsamic glaze, I wanted to incorporate the basil into the dressing. My thoughts were to put basil into every bite easily and I needed a tasty medium to hold the basil. I could use olive oil (which would have worked just fine), but I wanted to punch it up a little. So, out came the blender and a bottle of champagne. Yes, that’s right… I chose to use champagne as the medium to carry the basil in this experiment. And the results, delicious. Of course, feel free to play with the ratios to get the results you desire. I…