Love this dip! Easy, healthful and exotic. (My food trifecta!)
If you can find any late-season eggplants at the market, grab’em. Throw them on the grill with whatever else you’re cooking. Let the eggplants get nice and charred, and then wrap them up until you feel like making this irresistible dip. (Even mid-winter, you can make this in the oven with grocery store eggplants.) Continue reading
¡Hola! In honor of Cinco de Mayo tomorrow, I’m reposting links to some of my favorite Mexican recipes. While the outnumbered Mexican army’s defeat of the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862 is certainly worth celebrating (unless you’re French, I suppose), any sunny day is good for a Mexican food fiesta. I also included a recipe for my cheater margaritas. They’re not the traditional recipe, but they’re easy to make by the pitcher. (Careful: they’re easy to drink by the pitcher as well!)
Don’t let your Game Day appetizers fall flat! These spicy, cheesy olive balls are pumped full of flavor and go great with beer or cocktails. This retro recipe is all over the internet (and in several of my cookbooks), though usually it calls for paprika instead of cayenne pepper. Boring! Also, all of the recipes I looked at failed to mention the key step of drying the olives before wrapping in the cheese dough. If your olives are wet, your dough will get slimy and sticky. You do not want sticky balls! Continue reading
There’s a lot to love about a good baked brie – golden puff pastry wrapped around a wheel of creamy cheese and a secret sweet surprise (jam, brown sugar, nuts, etc.), where the cheese and jam meld together and ooze out of the flaky crust when you first cut into it. That’s Baked Brie’s brief moment of glory, though, so you’d better eat fast. When the cheese cools, the once-elegant pastry/cheese package turns into a congealed blob, with soggy dough that contributes little more than calories. Your party guests deserve better! Continue reading
I love pre-cut parchment sheets so much, and use them so often, I though they deserved their own post. These 12″x16″ sheets fit perfectly on half-sheet baking pans (another kitchen essential) – no more wrestling with parchment rolls that never quite fit right. They make cleanup a snap as well. Continue reading
Hello, loyal readers! I’m back from a long summer break with some big news to share: we’ve moved to Pennsylvania. New job, keeping the family together, blah blah. Fine. Let’s get to the tragic part of this story. My lovingly designed, light-filled kitchen with its 9’x5’ marble-topped island and rocket-powered 8-burner range. . .
Subee’s Kitchen – Before (Photo credit Katrina Mojzsez)
Looking for a crowd-pleasing appetizer that can also score as a quick weeknight dinner? The extra filling for these addictive stuffed mushrooms can be frozen and later turned into dinner in the 10 minutes it takes to cook a pound of pasta. I’m a big fan of epicurean efficiency. (And also of all teams from Seattle – Go Seahawks!)
For those who couldn’t make my Blog Holiday Open House earlier this month, here’s a little taste of what you missed.
This year’s theme was “Christmas in Paris” – I thought having a theme would help focus the menu and provide décor inspiration. Some of my menu items were legit French (i.e., gougères, or cheese puffs), but most were French-inspired/French-ish. I had fun creating a French Christmas theme board on Pinterest – a great way to organize ideas for a party.
Oui -those are little Eiffel Towers on my apron.
Need a quick but “wow” appetizer for a BBQ this weekend? These grilled shrimp bites are just the thing. You can prep the shrimp skewers and the sauce earlier in the day, or even a day ahead. When it’s party time, toss the skewers onto the grill and cook for a few minutes until the prosciutto is crisp and the shrimp have turned pink. Serve on a platter with the sauce alongside for dipping, or spoon some sauce onto small plates for an elegant first course. (I’ve even served the shrimp over pasta and called it dinner.)
Are you as excited as I am about watching TV this Sunday? The suspense, the egos, the drama – man, I love those commercials!
Another reason to get excited about this Sunday? An excuse to eat nothing but snacks and appetizers all day long. Sometimes I wish every meal could be comprised of nothing but appetizers. (And aren’t the hors d’oeuvres always the best part of a wedding or any catered event? Why is that?)
If you’re looking for a super-simple, super-delicious appetizer for Sunday, or for any day, try these 3-ingredient Blue Cheese and Bacon Dates (with Green Olive Tapenade, but that adds a few more ingredients). Not a fan of dates? I bet that’s because you’ve never tried them stuffed with blue cheese and snuggled in bacon, baked until the three ingredients meld into one crisp, salty-sweet, mind-blowing bite. (Did that all just sound like a commercial?) Continue reading
Subee's Kitchen 