Category Archives: Appetizers and Snacks

Habanero Pico de Salsa

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habanero-pico-de-salsa

I’ve been making this “salsa” for about fifteen years and the bowl is always empty at the end of the night. I’ve heard some of my friends call it a salsa, a salsa fresco, and others call it a Pico de Gallo. I finally decided to name it a Pico de Salsa so everyone would be happy! Regardless of what we all call it, when I tell my friends, “Buy a bag of tortilla chips on your way home from work tonight,” they instantly know I’m going to be giving them a jar of the salsa the next day. The anticipated smile on their faces is always worth it!

So even though this isn’t a ‘secret recipe’ (I always share it when asked), it’s one I guarantee you’ll enjoy the simplicity of making and the joy of sharing. And seriously, it only takes twenty minutes from your cutting board to tortilla chip.

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Salmon Pillows with Basil Cream Sauce

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Salmon Pillows with Basil Cream Sauce

I love the ease of using puff pastry dough. It bakes up crisp and flakey every time without fail, and can be used in both sweet and savory dishes. These salmon pillows are light and flaky on the outside and delicate and silky on the inside. Plus they’re super easy to make. You can also control the ratio of salmon to cream cheese depending on your palate. The fresh basil cream sauce has a bright, nutty flavor, and pairs beautifully with the salmon. Give one a dip, take a bite and be prepared for a ‘yum’ moment!
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Leek and Gruyere Tartlets

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Leek and Gruyere Tartlets

I was giggling all the way through preparing this post because of the movie ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2,’ where everyone screams because there’s a leek in the boat. Ever since my family saw that movie, anytime I return from the grocery store with leeks as one of the items, someone inevitably exclaims, “There’s a leek in the car!” or “There’s a leek in that bag!” or “The fridge has a leek!”

Another reason for my giddiness is due to an old Friends episode featuring John Lovitz where he has a marijuana-induced case of the munchies for a batch of tartlets Monica prepares, and he repeats the word tartlet over and over and over in classic Lovitz-style. It still cracks me up thinking about it!

But there’s nothing funny about these tartlets. They’re a seriously great appetizer with a filling of smoky/cheesy/custardy/oniony goodness, and a flaky phyllo cup that melts in your mouth as you chew. Pair the tartlets with a bottle of your favorite chilled French Vouvray Chenin Blanc or buttery Chardonnay.

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Quick Pickle

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Quick Pickle

I love pickles. Not the rubbery ones you buy room temperature from the grocery shelf, the cold, crunchy ones that snap when you bite into them.

One day, I had a craving for a cold crunchy treat and when I went to the fridge for my jar of pickles, it was gone. Now I was in a pickle!  Fortunately, I had several cucumbers in the crisper, so an hour later, I had another fresh jar of pickles in the fridge!

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Pizza Pretzel Poppers

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Pizza Pretzel Poppers

What’s better than two hours in the kitchen, laughing and spending time with your daughter while making pizza filled pretzel poppers? Honestly, nothing could be better than that for me, however, eating the poppers when they’re done would have to be a close second! Especially when they’re fresh out of the oven and the cheese is all gooey and melted when you take your first bite…sigh. THIS was a fun day!

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Rosemary Dusted Asiago Sables

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Rosemary Dusted Asiago Sables

About every four months or so, I invite my friends over for ‘ladies night’ and everyone brings a dish to share with the group. It’s a lot of fun because it not only gives us an opportunity to catch up on what’s going on in our lives, we also share our latest culinary discoveries with one another.

For our most recent ladies night, I decided to make these delicious, buttery rosemary dusted asiago sables. A sable is a French butter ‘cookie’, named because of its buttery, flakey taste, and texture. But don’t let the word cookie throw you, these sables are savory and can stand up to anything you would normally put on a cracker. Or, you could eat them on their own. The light dusting of powdered fresh rosemary and kosher salt give these little darlings a great flavor!

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Sriracha and Lime Glazed Chicken Wings

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Sriracha and Lime Glazed Chicken Wings

This recipe evolved out of my experimentation with Vietnamese cooking when I made Pho a few weeks ago. I especially liked the spicy/acidic/sweet flavor profile in the seasonings and wanted to try it again. So I decided to use it on some chicken wings and they didn’t disappoint. (Having Sriracha on the list of ingredients didn’t hurt either!) I still got the heat I was looking for and the sweetness from the brown sugar, and the acidity from the fresh lime made them positively addicting. Before we knew it, the wings were gone, and the platter was empty!

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Gougères

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Gougeres

A gougère is the savory side of a little French pastry more commonly known as Pâte à Choux (pat-a-shoo).  The only ingredients are water, butter, sugar, salt, flour, eggs, and cheese.

What’s interesting about choux dough is instead of using a raising agent like baking powder, it utilizes high moisture ingredients to create steam during the cooking time which fills the pastry with air.  The end result is a light, creamy puff.  They’re super easy to make, look beautiful right out of the oven, and they taste like a little bite of fluffy, cheesy perfection!

Serve gougère’s as an appetizer with champagne or a light crisp white wine or even as an accompaniment to a bowl of your favorite soup.

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Firecracker Pepper Poppers

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Firecracker Pepper Poppers

What better way to kick off the 4th of July weekend get together than with these delicious bite-sized poppers.  Each one has the perfect ratio of smoky bacon, creamy cheese and spicy jalapeño.

One word of warning; make sure you have plenty of them on hand.  They’re always a hit and they’ll be gone before you know it!

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Creamy Pesto Cheese Spread

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Creamy Pesto Cheese Spread

There are over 100 wineries in the state of Missouri and my friend Kendra and I have pledged to visit them all.   Perhaps we’ll succeed in our mission, perhaps not.  The point is we are having one heck of a good time in the process!

What I enjoy most about Missouri wineries, other than sampling their wine of course, is the food you pair with the wine.  Many of the bigger, more established wineries don’t allow you to bring in your own food; however the smaller, more intimate wineries, are less restrictive.  It’s nice to go to the bigger wineries sometimes, but my preference is still to pack a picnic basket with a colorful tablecloth, bring real wine glasses (not the small plastic cups most places offer), an assortment of my favorite winery-friendly foods, and then sit back and enjoy the view.

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