Pear Crostini

There was a recipe in Plenty for pear crostini and this is inspired by that but a little different. I love pears and cheese, so this is a great mix. It's sweet and a little tart and creamy, it's delicious. Great appetizer. 

Ingredients:

1 pear

1/2 tsp sugar

Black pepper

1/2 tsp lemon zest

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1 tbsp pecorino

2 slices good bread

Olive oil

1 clove garlic

Soft goat cheese

Easy Roasted Shrimp with Garlic and Chorizo

This recipe is so simple! It's a great snack hors d'oeuvre from Blue Ribbon cookbook. They have you just toss it all together and bake it at once, but I think it would do better with a little time to marinate. We had it in the winter, but I think this would be a great summer dish to eat outside with some rose. 

Serves 2

Ingredients:

8-10 medium size shrimp (or fewer if you can find jumbo shrimp), peeled and deveined - leave the tail on for looks

1 small dried Spanish chorizo, cut into 1/4" half moons

2 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced

olive oil

salt and pepper

fresh parsley, roughly chopped

Tarte Soleil

I saw this beautiful snack on Smitten Kitchen and had to try it. It's so easy! It looks really fancy, but it's super simple. Very tasty and would be great to have out for a cocktail party. You can fill it with anything (cheese, chocolate, nutella...) but I tried a savory one first with tapenade. I did a mini one using just one sheet of puff pastry, but you can do a bigger one using two. 

Ingredients:

1 sheet thawed puff pastry

tapenade (I made some by pureeing black olives, sundried tomatoes, capers, garlic, anchovy paste, olive oil, and red pepper flakes, but store-bought works, too!)

grated pecorino

1 egg, beaten up with some water

Summer Rolls

These are the best summer rolls I've made. They were so fresh and flavorful and crunchy. I did use this and this for inspiration and sort of merged them. Yum!

Makes 8 summer rolls

Ingredients:

1/2 lb shiitake mushrooms, sliced

1/2 tsp grated ginger

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tbsp canola or vegetable oil

2 carrots, peeled and shredded 

1/2 cucumber, cut into matchsticks

Snap peas

3 scallions, cut into matchsticks

1 handful cilantro, chopped

1 handful mint leaves

Red leaf lettuce, ripped into pieces

Handful of peanuts, roughly chopped

8 rice paper rounds

Caviar Potato Chips

I saw this recipe in the Times ages ago and have been wanting to try it. I had some friends over for my birthday and served this as a festive appetizer. It's delicious. So salty and tasty, and goes perfectly with champagne. It's great for a special occasion. 

You just mix up some creme fraiche with lemon zest and put it on good potato chips and top with salmon roe. Easy peasy. Just be sure to only do it right before you serve them so they don't get soggy.

Candied Bacon (or crack)

If you need a new make-ahead salty cocktail snack, this is it. It's salty and sweet and crunchy and bursting with flavor. It's completely addictive and totally delicious.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup nuts (I like spicy smokehouse almonds)

1/4 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp chipotle powder

1/2 tsp oregano

1 tbsp maple syrup

1/2 lb bacon

Directions:

Blend first six ingredients in a food processor. Add maple syrup until it's almost in a sandy paste. Season to taste with more sugar or chipotle as you like.

Dinner Party Hors d'Oeuvres - Chicken Liver Pate and Caramelized Onions, St. Andre Cheese and Fig Butter

We had friends over for dinner last night and I made a nice little appetizer spread. My sister in law, Katie, gave Jamie this slate cheese board which is so fun if you have chalk because you can write out what everything is. I made this delicious chicken liver pate (but with half the butter - still amazing) and wanted to serve it with caramelized and slightly pickled onions, a la Vinegar Hill House. Yum! It was so delicious. Onion recipe below. I also picked up some fig butter from Trader Joe's and paired that with a wedge of St. Andre cheese and served it all with thin crostini. 

Ramp Crostini

Ramp recipe #2! This is also super simple and great for hors d'oeuvres in spring.

Pea Hummus

This is so fresh and bright and such a fun change from regular hummus. I saw this recipe on Cup of Jo and wanted to try it out. I didn't follow the directions exactly, but made it just like I usually make hummus - a little of this and a little of that. It was delicious. Jamie, my pea lover, adored it.

Ingredients:

1 box frozen peas

juice of 1/2 a lime

big handful fresh cilantro, rinced

1 large clove garlic

2 big tsp tahini

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

a little water

salt and pepper

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp cumin

Directions:

Cook the peas until soft and thawed - a couple minutes in a sauce pan with some water. Drain and run under cold water until cool.

Fluffy Hummus

This was the lightest, fluffiest hummus I've ever made, and possibly ever had. The caveat is that it's a pain in the butt to get it that way. I read that if you peel the chickpeas (that's right, each and every individual canned chickpea) the consistency would be dramatically lighter. Somewhat unfortunately, that is exactly right. I stood in my kitchen for about 15 minutes popping the little translucent skins off the chickpeas and it was not fun. Would have been better to do it in front of the TV or something. Then I made the hummus, half hoping it would be the same so I'd never have to do it again, and half hoping it would be cloudlike and fluffy to justify my labor. It was the latter. Not sure this will be my moda operandi for casual hummus making, but maybe if I plan ahead. I'd also like to try it with the food mill since it works to get the skin off tomatoes.

Ingredients:
1 can chickpeas
1 tbsp tahini (sesame paste)
1 garlic clove
juice of half a lemon
big pinch of cayenne pepper
big pinch of cumin
a few tbsp of water
a few tbsp of olive oil
salt to taste

Smoked Shrimp

My brother-in-law Austen always buys me cook books for Christmas, and I love it! (Keep it up, Austen!) I know I've mentioned Home Made before, but it's full of interesting recipes and methods, one of which is creating smoker out of kitchen staples. Jamie and I had friends over for football on Sunday, and in addition to the usual wings, I tried making smoked shrimp. They were so smoky! It really works. The recipe calls for rosemary salt to go with them, but I'd actually next time serve them with a sort of BBQ-cocktail sauce hybrid. I just bought frozen shrimp and thawed them while I brined them - it worked perfectly. I can't wait to try the homemade smoker with other things. Ribs? Fish?

Ingredients:
1 package frozen shrimp, uncooked

Shishito Peppers

I saw these at the farmers market and couldn't resist. I made them as an hors d'oeuvre last night. They're so quick and easy and they taste great. The peppers are a little bitter, but the salt and lemon make them very tasty. Will definitely make them again.

All you do is put about a teaspoon of olive oil into a skillet and saute the peppers over medium heat until they start to char and blister in spots. Then squeeze lemon juice on them and sprinkle with salt and you're done.

Fried Scallops

Did anyone else see the Fried Scallops recipe in the Times? It's great! So simple. I quartered it to have it as an appetizer and it was a huge success. I will definitely be making them again. I also mixed up a quick sriracha mayo for dipping.

Ingredients:
1 lb sea scallops
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup corn meal
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup canola oil

mayo, sriracha, and a squeeze of lemon for dipping

Lobster Corn Fritters

...or the Best Hors d'Oeuvres Ever. Yum! These are amazing. I made them for Jamie to start out a special dinner. They taste like summer. The lobster is rich, the corn is sweet, and the spicy mayo is the perfect accompaniment. They're definitely a treat and a little pricey, but tooootally worth it! Ina is just the best. (These are from her new cookbook, Foolproof, a wonderful Christmas present from my mother-in-law - thanks, Cindy!)

I halved the recipe because there were just two of us, but I will definitely be making it again another time in full force. This recipe makes 12-14 fritters and served 4-6.

Ingredients:
6-8 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 scallions, thinly sliced
1 1/4 cups fresh corn (I used frozen)
12 oz freshly cooked lobster meat, 1/4-inch diced
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp paprika
3/4 tbsp Old Bay
Kosher salt
2 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup half and half

Chicken Liver Pâté

Chicken liver pâté sounds kind of fancy and scary, but it's actually super cheap and pretty simple to make. There are  very easy versions, like this, and this one is slightly more complicated. It has a wonderful flavor and texture and is a real treat. Don't eat this every day or you'll get gout. But for special occasions, definitely whip some up to share with friends - as long as those friends like chicken liver pâté. (It is an acquired taste.) I got the recipe from MarthaStewart.com and it's great.

See, $2.19 for more than enough chicken livers.

Ingredients:

15 tablespoons (1 7/8 sticks) unsalted butter

3/4 pound chicken livers, rinsed and drained

Tuscan White Bean Dip

I'm crazy for not taking pictures during this - the infusing oil is so pretty - because now I have nothing to show for myself. But this recipe is really delicious. It's rich and has a great depth of flavor and it's sort of subtle, too. All the flavor comes from the infused oil - a great way to get a bunch of flavors into the dip completely seamlessly. I had a few people for dinner last night and served this and it was gone in about 20 minutes.

Ingredients:
1 can cannellini beans
3 garlic cloves, smashed and skin removed
1 large sprig rosemary
1 dried chili (I used Chinese, but you could use Arbol or something, too)
2 long pieces of lemon zest
About 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of a small sauce pan and go up about an eighth of an inch)

Directions:
Put the oil, garlic, rosemary, chili, zest, and oil in a small sauce pan. Heat over very low until it starts to really lightly simmer. Stir. When the garlic starts to brown, turn off the heat, cover the pot, and let it sit for about 20 minutes.

Drain the beans but do not rinse them. Put them in the bowl of a small food processor and strain the oil into the processor with them. Add a pinch of salt and blend until smooth. Put into a bowl and with a rubber spatula, scrape out any oil remaining in the sauce pan and drizzle it on top of the dip. Serve with carrots and light crackers or pita.

Olives Al Forno

My second try from the wonderful Mozza cookbook - thanks Siobhan! - was olives al forno. They're great! Something about having the olives warm and roasted and soft makes them totally different and really tasty hors d'oeuvres. And oh my gosh, the garlic confit is amaaazing. Yum!

Ingredients:
4 cups mixed, unpitted olives (I used a mix of picholine, nicoise, and kalamata)
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Wide zest strips of 1 lemon and 1 orange
4 dried bay leaves
1/2 cup fresh rosemary needles
garlic confit (recipe below)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

Directions:
Combine olives in a large bowl. Add the olive oil, orange rind, lemon rind, bay leaves, and rosemary. Add the garlic confit, including the chilis, and toss to combine.

Healthy Bruschetta

I was planning on making this tomato tart for Jamie last night, but wanted to use even more of our tomatoes as a little hors d'oeuvres. We've been making a lot of pico de gayo, so I wanted something similar but maybe more Mediterranean. I love tomato bruschetta, but didn't want the bread since we were going to have the tart. Solution? Endive! It was so tasty and fresh, and much healthier - though I do love those crunchy crostini, too... Definitely worth a try for a lighter hors d'oeuvres or snack. (And you can always swap in the crostini if you miss it!)

Ingredients:

2-3 large, ripe tomatoes (or a mix of 2 bigger tomatoes and a few colorful cherry tomatoes), seeded and diced

1 garlic clove, passed through a garlic press

1 large handful of basil leaves, chopped

1-2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp kosher salt

black pepper to taste

endive

Directions:

Mix all of the ingredients (except endive) in a bowl and let it sit for at least an hour. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Tear the leaves of the endive individually and fill each with a scoop of the tomato mixture. Done! (If you're serving at a party, maybe put some lentils or something on the plate to hold them up - they can tip a little.)

Easy Spring Bruschetta

Tomatoes aren't great yet in the spring, so bruschetta isn't always terribly appetizing. The trick to dodging mealy tomatoes is just using grape tomatoes. They're always firm and flavorful. For this bruschetta, I used the garlic scapes I accidentally pulled out last week and they gave a great fresh garlic flavor to the mix. We also forgot to buy a baguette, so we just used regular sliced bread toasted with olive oil and salt - surprisingly delicious and less messy to eat!

Just cut the grape tomatoes into little pieces, mince the scape (or garlic) and toss with salt and olive oil to taste. The secret it letting it sit a while to let the flavors mingle. Then spread some bread with olive oil and salt and put under the broiler. I tip I learned somewhere along the way is rubbing the toasts with a clove of garlic. It gives them an extra hit of it. Then top it with the tomato mix. Yum! (And feel free to change it around or add mozzarella or basil or anything - it's not a science.)

Arugula and White Bean Dip

After a very successful weekend in the garden, I had lots of arugula to take back to the city. Now I'm just wondering what I'm going to be making all summer with this excess of the peppery plant. Last night when we got back to the city we knew we were having a light dinner of this awesome pizza and salad, so I wanted a little dip while we caught up on Thursday night TV.

I mashed up a garlic clove with some kosher salt and put it in a food processor with about a cup of arugula and a little olive oil and ground it down. Then added about 1.5 tbsp grated Pecorino and pulsed. Then added 1 can of white beans, drained, and about 2 tbsp water and 1 tbsp olive oil and pureed. I added salt, pepper, honey (only a drizzle to fight the bitterness), and cayenne to taste and blended it until smooth. It was super tasty! Really light with that peppery bite of fresh arugula. Jamie loved it. We ate it with carrots before our pizza course and an evening of Game of Thrones and Mad Men. Haven't Sunday nights gotten so great with that TV line up? Makes looking forward to Monday a little less sad.