Appetizers

Pizza Dough – Quick and Easy

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Sometimes the “real way” just doesn’t seem necessary, especially for a quick meal – Bisquick for the win!

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 c warm water (110° – 115°)
  • 1 pkg dry yeast
  • 2 1/2 c Bisquick
  • flour

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven 425°.
  2. Dissolve yeast in warm water.
  3. Add Bisquick and beat vigorously.
  4. Turn dough onto well floured surface and knead until smooth – about 20 times.
  5. Divide dough into 4 pieces.
  6. Roll each piece paper thin. into a circle, about 10 inches in diameter. (Letting the dough rest for a few minutes after kneading will help in rolling it out.)
  7. Place on ungreased baking sheet or in shallow pie pan.
  8. Finish with toppings.
  9. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes until crust is brown and filling hot and bubbly.

Serves: 4

Source: Bisquick Cook Book

 

Pickled Mushrooms

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These are a great addition to an antipasto tray – or good by themselves!

Ingredients:

  • 1 Tab salt
  • 1 lb fresh button mushrooms
  • 1/2 c onion, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
  • 1/4 c parsley chopped
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1/8 tsp pepper
  • 1/2 tsp dried thyme
  • 2 c white wine
  • 1 c white vinegar
  • 1 c water
  • 1/2 c olive oil
  • 2 Tab lemon juice

Directions:

  1. Add salt to 6 cups cold water.
  2. Wash the mushrooms in this.
  3. Drain.
  4. Combine remaining ingredients in large sauce pan.
  5. Add mushrooms.
  6. Bring to boiling point and reduce heat.
  7. Simmer covered for 8 – 10 minutes or until mushrooms are tender.
  8. Refrigerate covered at least one hour.

Serves:  6

Source: Magzine

 

Marinated Shrimp

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Really good as an appetizer with Mexican food.

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb small (but not bay) shrimp, cooked
  • 1/2 c oil
  • 1/4 c wine vinegar
  • 1/2 c lemon juice
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1/2 tsp dry mustard
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper

Directions:

  1. Mix it all together.
  2. Refrigerate for 24 hours.
  3. Serve with little forks or toothpicks and crackers.

Serves: 6-8 for cocktails

Source:  Gerrie Hastings

Gazpacho by Margie

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The perfect summer lunch – Gazpacho, good bread, and maybe a little Sangria.  This one is mild and slightly chunky.  For a little more bite substitute 1 can of soup for an equal amount of V-8 juice and a dash of Tabasco sauce.

Ingredients:

  • 2 can tomato soup
  • 1 green pepper
  • 1 cucumber, peeled
  • 1 onion
  • 1 large tomato, peeled
  • 2 stalks celery
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 2/3 c wine vinegar
  • 6 Tab olive oil
  • sour cream

Directions:

  1. Chop pepper, onion, celery and garlic in food processor.
  2. Finely dice by hand cucumber and tomato.
  3. Mix together with soup, vinegar and oil.
  4. Chill.
  5. Serve with dollop of sour cream.

Serves: 4

Source: Combination of several recipes.

Notes:  Updated version:  Replace tomato soup with 1 large can V8 juice.  Use 1/3 c wine vinegar, 1/3 c balsamic vinegar.  Add diced avocado for special occations.

 

Caviar Canapé

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Pretty fancy for not much work!

Ingredients:

  • 12 oz cream cheese
  • 1 Tab onion, grated
  • 1 Tab milk
  • 1/2 loaf of white bread, cut into 2 inch rounds
  • caviar

Directions:

  1. Mix cream cheese with onion and milk.  (Add more milk if needed to make a good spreading/piping consistency.)
  2. Spread cream cheese mixture on bread round.
  3. Using a star tip, pipe a ring of cream cheese around the top of the bread round.
  4. Dot the center with small spoonful of caviar.

Serves:  50

Source:  50 years of Christmas parties.

Note:  If you can find a bakery that can slice the bread parallel to the bottom of the loaf, you have less waste.
Freeze the bread before cutting.

Marinated Roast Beef

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You can use this on a salad or on bruschetta.  Great way to used leftover roast beef or steak. (Dreamer!)

Ingredients:

  • 1/3 c vinegar
  • 2 Tab salad oil
  • 1/4 tsp dry mustard
  • 1/8 tsp pepper
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 Tab Worcestershire sauce
  • 4 tsp sugar
  • 1 onion, thinly sliced
  • leftover roast beef

Directions:

  1. Mix.
  2. Chill for at least 3 hours.
  3. Turn, stir meat if not covered.

Serves:  Depends on how much beef.

Source: Gerrie Hastings

Perfect Autumn Olives

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Good as a tapas kind of dish.  Serve with several small plates of nibbles.

Ingredients:

  • 1 (6 oz.) can Lindsay Naturals Green Ripe Olives, drained
  • 1 ½ Tab extra virgin olive oil
  • Three 2-inch strips orange peel, removed with a vegetable peeler
  • 1 ½ tsp freshly grated orange zest
  • 1 tsp coarsely crushed fennel seed

Directions:

  1. Heat oven to 375°F.
  2. Toss all of the ingredients together.
  3. Place in a 2-cup decorative table-ready baking dish.
  4. Place in the middle of the oven and bake until the olives are hot, 5 minutes.
  5. Place the baking dish on a larger serving plate or small platter and serve immediately with frilled bamboo toothpicks.

Serves:  The can has about 33 olives.

Source:  Lindsay Olives, Recipe provided by award-winning cookbook author Joanne Weir.

Herbed Polenta “Fries”

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In his “A Tuscan Son” menu, Tony Oltranti serves Polenta with Franklin’s Teleme as a smooth, soft base for his roast chicken. This recipe takes polenta in a different direction—cooked with sage, rosemary, and Parmigiana-Reggiano, the polenta is then cooled, cut into sticks, and broiled until the outer edges of the “fries” are golden and crisp, a fine contrast to the creamy interior. Serve them with a fried egg and a salad for a vegetarian lunch, or pair them with something saucy like chicken fricassee.

Ingredients:

  • Olive oil for brushing
  • 3 1/4 cups cold water 1 cup polenta (not quick-cooking)
  • 1 teaspoon chopped sage
  • 1 teaspoon chopped rosemary
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmigiana-Reggiano
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits

Directions:

  1. Brush an 8-inch square baking dish with oil.
  2. Combine water, polenta, herbs, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in a heavy medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking.
  3. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring constantly with a long-handled wooden spoon, until polenta begins to pull away from side of pan, 15 to 20 minutes.
  4. Stir in cheese and butter until incorporated,
  5. Transfer polenta to baking dish, spreading evenly with a dampened rubber spatula.
  6. Chill, uncovered, until set, about 45 minutes.  Polenta can be cooked (but not broiled) 1 day ahead and chilled (covered once cool).
  7. Preheat broiler.
  8. Line a baking sheet with foil and brush with oil.
  9. Unmold polenta.
  10. Cut into 16 (about 4- by 1-inch) sticks.
  11. Brush tops with oil and space evenly on baking sheet.
  12. Broil about 4 inches from heat until golden, 15 to 20 minutes.

Serves: Makes 4 to 6 (side dish) servings

Source:  By  Lillian Chou –  GOURMET, January 2011

Cheese Triangles

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You will make this many times – it is so easy and impressive!  And, it can be frozen before it is baked.  Filo dough is not to be feared!  Even if it tears, just keep layering.  All will end well.  These became Italian Cheese Triangles when we added a pound of diced pepperoni or salami. 

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb filo dough
  • 3/4 lb butter – melted
  • 6 eggs – beaten
  • 1 1/2 lbs Jack cheese, grated
  • 1/2 lb feta cheese, crumbled

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven 425°.
  2. Mix cheeses with beaten eggs.
  3. Brush melted butter in a large (12×18) rimmed pan (jelly roll pan).
  4. Place sheet of filo, cut to size, in the pan.
  5. Brush with butter.
  6. Repeat 10 times.  (you can use the scrap pieces in layers also).
  7. Spread 1/2 the cheese mixture (easier with a large spoon).
  8. Layer 10 more sheets of filo – buttering each.
  9. Spread rest of cheese mixture.
  10. Layer rest of filo sheets brushed with butter.
  11. Cut into small diamonds or triangles.
  12. Bake for 10 – 15 minutes – until brown.
  13. Cool for 10 minutes.
  14. Recut the diamonds/triangles.

Serves:  about 80 bite size pieces

Source:  Peg Egeler

Note:  I have made this in a 9×13 pan for a luncheon dish.  You can add to the cheese layers a layer of well drained spinach, well drained sauted mushrooms, and/or bay shrimp.  Yum.

Hot Dofino/Havarti

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More good things to do with cheese and puff pastry.

Ingredients:

  • 1 Dofino, whole, 4 oz (or a slab of Havarti)
  • 1 sheet Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry

Directions:

  1. Defrost pastry according to package directions.
  2. Set cheese in the  enter of pastry sheet.
  3. Cut a circle of pastry large enough to wrap up and over the top of the cheese about 1/4 to 1/2 inch.
  4. Wrap the cheese, pleating the top edge of the pastry to fit the cheese.
  5. Set in a shallow ovenproof dish, top side down.
  6. Place in refrigerator until ready to bake.
  7. Bake in a 450° oven until cheese melts and pastry is brown.
  8. Serve with crackers..

Serves:  4-6

Source:  Sunday Los Angeles Times

Notes:  8 oz Dofino is too thick to melt easily.  Use slab or two smaller instead.  Sometimes it is necessary to finish under the broiler to brown the pastry.  The Havarti with caraway seeds is good too.