You can always find the signature gold wrapping with green logo in my fridge. Kerrygold is my go-to butter brand for when butter quality is key. My favorite way to use it though is just on a slice of toasted Rosemary Olive Oil Bread, yum!
The Kerrygold brand is a line of all-natural, grass-fed cheeses and butters crafted at dairy farms throughout Ireland. The hormone-free cheese and butters are available around the world but still come from milk supplied from independent dairy farmers within the Emerald Isle. My relatives in Ireland actually own some dairy farms so this concept is pretty close to my heart.
Needless to say, I was so excited to make a recipe using both Kerrygold Butter and Cheese. Through Cooking Light Bloggers’ Connection, I was sent coupons to buy and use some yummy Kerrygold products. I decided to adapt a recipe from the Kerrygold website.
Ingredients:
Potatoes:
15 small yellow, white or red potatoes (about 2 pounds)
Hummus is really easy to prepare and the addition of the beets makes this one a show stopper. Whip up a batch of this to serve with a crudite platter at your next gathering!
Ingredients:
2 red beets
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
8 garlic cloves, halved
grated lemon rind of two lemons
fresh lemon juice from two lemons
1/4 walnut oil (or good olive oil)
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
Stuffed mushrooms are one of my favorite appetizers, they always hit the spot! So when Jimmy Dean contacted me about their new Fully Cooked Sausage Crumbles, I knew I wanted to use the crumbles in stuffed mushrooms.
I adapted this recipe from one I found on the Jimmy Dean website. It comes together very quickly, in about 30 minutes. It’s simple enough to whip up when you need an appetizer in no time!
Ingredients:
12 oz medium sized mushrooms, stems removed
1 package Jimmy Dean® Sausage Crumbles, Original
1 garlic clove, minced
2 eggs
¾ cup dry Italian bread crumbs, divided
½ cup (2 ounces) grated Parmesan cheese, divided
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon olive oil
#spon: I’m required to disclose a relationship between our site and Jimmy Dean. This could include Jimmy Dean providing us w/content, product, access or other forms of payment.
You can never have too many party appetizers in your cooking arsenal. I wanted to try something a little different than the apps I’ve been posting recently. This dish is a layered dip with black beans, chorizo, tomatoes, and cheese and would be perfect for watching the game or any other party!
I am in a never ending search to find ways to make chicken into a new and different meal. Cooking Light’s September issue had this recipe for Japanese Chicken Meatballs, or Tsukune, that were mentioned as a great “party snack.” I decided to change the recipe size and pair it with grilled baby bok choy and some rice to make this traditional appetizer/snack into an entrée.
Oh how I love fresh figs! They are in season late summer into the fall and I recently spotted some Black Mission Figs at my grocery store. I’ve used fresh figs as a dessert (Grilled Mission Figs with Mascarpone and Spiced Honey) and as a main dish (Prosciutto, Fig, and Arugula Flatbread) in previous recipes so I decided to do a quick and really simple appetizer or hors d’oeuvres recipe this time around.
These are exactly what the title says, figs wrapped in prosciutto and roasted until the figs are warm and juicy and the prosciutto is crispy.
Ingredients (serves 6):
1 dozen figs
6 thin slices of prosciutto, sliced in half lengthwise
I continue to struggle with looking at a bunch of ingredients and imagining a meal. In general, I follow recipes and make a few changes to account for ingredients available or to suit my tastes. But yesterday, a friend and I came across fresh ricotta and the most beautiful fresh cherries. The cherries were slightly tart so I thought they would make an amazing “dessert alternative” or a somewhat sweet appetizer.
We topped toasted baguette pieces (also from the market) with some of the ricotta, pitted cherries, mint, and a touch of honey to make this Cherry Ricotta Bruschetta.
I am less than one month away from attending Eat Write Retreat in Philadelphia and am getting so excited for it! Not only is the lineup awesome, but I get to meet a ton of other bloggers, what could be better? As we get closer to the big weekend, the attendees were sent a secret ingredient and were asked to try to incorporate into an appetizer recipe. I received California raisins, which people tend to think of more for sweet foods, but play off savory dishes oh so well. It goes without saying that I haven’t been able to get California Raisins’ classic commercial out of my head since I received them! OXO generously also sent us a few spiffy tools to help create our recipe; I can never have enough of their products!
Raisins are a great addition to a meal to add some sweetness without any added sugar. The dried fruit is loaded with antioxidants and fiber while being fat free and cholesterol free. Did you know that one serving of raisins (just 1/4 cup) has more potassium than a banana?
I have a friend that absolutely raves about Mediterranean Stuffed Peppers that her grandmother used to make for her, with rice, nuts, spices, and golden raisins. I decided to make an appetizer version, using mini sweet peppers. My version of these Mediterranean Stuffed Mini Peppers are stuffed with a lamb-farro mixture that includes tomatoes, raisins, pine nuts, and a touch of lemon zest (using my new snazzy OXO zester (paid link)). The peppers are then topped with feta cheese and broiled to make this recipe for Mediterranean Stuffed Mini Peppers!
Ingredients (serves 8):
16 mini sweet peppers, seeded
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped (no more than ½ cup)
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ lb ground lamb
2/3 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 teaspoon cumin
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
the zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons golden raisins
2 teaspoons raisins
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
½ cup cooked farro – I used Tuscan Fields vegetable farro
Supposedly Spring started this past Wednesday. And yet, meteorologists in the Philadelphia area do not expect the temperature to go above 50 degrees for the foreseeable future. AND it’s supposed to snow on Sunday/Monday. What the heck?! Well, I’m sick of waiting for spring to arrive so I’ve decided to make it spring in my kitchen. Cooking Light seems to agree with me, and the April issue has a ton of recipes using the best of spring’s produce. This Radish and Arugula Crostini recipe immediately caught my eye; not only is it beautiful, but the ingredients give me hope that warmer weather is on it’s way.
This recipe is also really simple. I made this as a quick appetizer to bring to a friends house and was able to make the entire recipe in 20 minutes!
Ingredients:
16 (1/2-inch-thick) slices diagonally cut French bread baguette (6 ounces)
Cooking spray
1 1/2 cups sliced radishes
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, plus the zest of 1 lemon
Let’s be honest, one of the best parts of Super Bowl Sunday is the food. Although I’m excited to hang out with friends as we root for (so far) the most successful graduate in our class (Go Flacco!) and watch some amazing commercials, I’m more focused on the tasty treats that come along with the viewing.
I’ve been in the Football Food spirit for a while now. Last week, Land O’ Lakes and Rebecca of Foodie With Family hosted a webinar all about food for the big game.
We discussed a bunch of different group-friendly snacks, which ones travel well to other locations, and even how to keep food safe while it is sitting out during the game. Land O’ Lakes has a great round up of game day favorites, so be sure to check it out for some inspiration here. I learned a lot, but I was unfortunately kind of distracted. Why? Because the first darn photo they showed me was of a Pull-Apart Party Loaf.
Look at that loaf!
I loved it so much, I made a test batch of my own to share with you! I also received a nifty prize package for participating, plus one to give away, woo hoo! More on that below…
So this recipe is one created in the Land O’ Lakes Kitchen. Original recipe can be found here.
My CSA share this year has had plenty of tomatoes. Not that I’m complaining, I absolutely love them! But I’ve been running low on new inspiration for what recipes to use to highlight the tomatoes. I put out a request for yummy recipes that use cherry tomatoes on my Facebook page, and Katie H. suggested this Food and Wine recipe, which is a real winner. You slow roast the tomatoes to bring out the flavor and pair them with two types of honey and fresh ricotta cheese. mmm!
Ingredients:
2 pints cherry or grape tomatoes, halved lengthwise
1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons clover honey
2 teaspoons thyme leaves
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
12 baguette slices, cut 1/2 inch thick on the bias
1 cup fresh ricotta (8 ounces)
1 tablespoon buckwheat honey
6 basil leaves, thinly sliced or torn
I wanted to go over the two different honeys used in this recipe. The tomatoes are tossed in the clover honey, which sweetens up the somewhat tanginess of the tomatoes. Clover honey is simply honey in which bees feed mainly on the nectar of clover plants. Clover honey is mild, relatively inexpensive, and has a slight floral taste to it. The buckwheat honey is drizzled over the finished burschetta to bring out the flavor of the ricotta. Buckwheat honey is a darker amber colored honey that is produced by bees who feed mainly on the nectar of flowers on buckwheat plants. The flavor is similar to molasses and has a wonderful earthy flavor. (If you’re in the Philadelphia area, Bee Natural, located in Reading Terminal, has both honeys for sale).
This recipe is definitely not weekday friendly. You can roast the tomatoes beforehand and refrigerate up to 2 days to break up some of the time. Just bring the tomatoes to room temperature before serving.
To make, preheat your oven to 300 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, toss the tomatoes with olive oil, clover honey, thyme leaves, salt and pepper.
Add the tomatoes to the baking sheet, turning them cut side up.
Bake for 1 hour and 25 minutes or until they begin to shrivel. Allow to cool.
Preheat your broiler and add the baguette slices to a baking sheet. Broil for about 30 seconds on each side or until the edges of the bread are golden brown.
Add the ricotta to the baguette slices and top with the slow-roasted tomatoes.
Lightly drizzle with buckwheat honey and sprinkle with sliced basil.
I tend to be awfully impatient when it comes to making food, I want my meal prepared in under 40 minutes. So I’ve rarely attempt to slow roast, well, anything. But the flavor of a slow roasted tomato makes the wait time well worth it! (It also makes your kitchen smell fantastic)
The honey is a really nice addition and brightens up the flavors of the tomatoes. Creamy ricotta just finishes off the dish. The recipe is really simple (although time consuming) but would be a very welcome appetizer at any party.
Hummus is probably my favorite snack. On days I don’t feel like cooking, I tend to grab some hummus with pita, tomatoes, cucumbers, or anything else that will work as a yummy vehicle for the hummus. It’s also really delicious as a spread on a sandwich instead of mayo. So I usually have at least one container of hummus in my fridge at any moment. But homemade hummus is exponentially better than the store bought stuff. Plus, you can customize it to your liking.
I recently watched a video of the hummus master himself, James Beard winner Michael Solomonov. Mike Solo has arguably the best hummus found in Philly, at his restaurant Zahav. I wanted to attempt to make my own creamy hummus at home. I tend to like mine slightly spicy, which can be achieved by adding a lot of garlic. But I have this awesome Nudo Chili Olive Oil, so I thought I’d include that to give it a bit of a kick, so I decided to make this Chili Oil Hummus!
I received Italian Frying Peppers in my CSA share this week. I had no idea what an Italian frying pepper was so I was curious to find out more about these fun looking peppers. Although they look like they might be spicy, they are definitely closer to the flavor of a bell pepper, but there is a hint of spice. They come in a range of colors so I thought they’d make a beautiful bruschetta-type appetizer. I figured there was good reason they were called frying peppers, so I kept it simple and did just that: sauteed them up in some olive oil. (Sorry about the lack of amounts of each ingredient, I made this up as I was going)
Ingredients:
Italian frying peppers, cut small/thin enough to fit on bread slices
French or Italian bread, sliced
Olive oil (I used Nudo’s basil olive oil)
Parmesan cheese
Fresh basil, chopped
Preheat your broiler. Brush the pieces of bread with the olive oil. (I realized after I did this with basil how fantastic it would have been with Nudo’s olive oil with chili. Sigh. I’ll do that next time!)
Top with Parmesan cheese and add to a cookie sheet.
Broil for 1-2 minutes or until the bread begins to brown.
Add 1 teaspoon of olive oil per frying pepper (I cooked three so I used 1 tablespoon) to a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the peppers.
Cook until they begin to brown, turning once, about 4-5 minutes.
Remove the peppers from the pan and top the bread with slices of peppers.
If desired, add a bit more Parmesan cheese and broil for another 30 seconds to a minute, or until the cheese melts.
They can be served as is. Simple, delicious, and quick.
You can also add some freshly chopped basil to the slices to add a bit more flavor.
These were really stellar. I loved how (for lack of a better term) creamy the peppers became once fried. This recipe was really delicious with the basil olive oil, but I bet the chili olive oil would have been spectacular. Normal extra virgin olive oil would also do the trick.
Can you tell I really like the Kitchen Table Bakers Parmesan Crisps? When I first heard of the crisps, I wanted to make an appetizer with smoked salmon, creme fraiche, and dill. The rosemary crisps are perfect for me to make Smoked Salmon Crisps!
Have you ever had a craving for something that you just can’t shake? Even after eating? I desperately wanted hummus. And even after filling up on delicious pizza I still wanted that hummus. But I don’t have any chickpeas in my place right now. (Note to self: stock up on cans of chickpeas so that I am never in this terrible situation again) So I went in search of a recipe for hummus that I could use something, anything else I happened to have on hand. White bean hummus to the rescue! (I found this recipe in Southern Living)
Ingredients:
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 (15.5-ounce) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
the juice and zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons tahini
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoonpaprika, plus more for garnish
1/4 cup olive oil
Rinse and drain your cannellini beans.
Add all the ingredients except for the olive oil to a food processor and blend. You may need to stop the food processor one or two times to scrape the sides to make sure everything is evenly blended.
While the food processor is running, add an even stream of the olive oil until well blended. Add to a bowl and sprinkle with some paprika. Serve with pita chips, cucumber, or green peppers.
Due to my craving, I had none of these on hand. Junk. But I did have some of the Kitchen Table Bakers Rosemary Parmesan Crisps that went perfectly with the hummus!
Oh so satisfying.
Cannellini beans make one fantastic hummus, who knew?
The hummus was nice and creamy. And I loved the fresh rosemary!
I’d suggest adding some extra fresh chopped rosemary on top for added flavor. You can store this overnight or for a few days beforehand. I like to bring it with me as a snack at work.
