Sun-Dried Tomato and Artichoke Dip

I loved this recipe because it didn't take long to make (only 10-20 minutes) and it is a great and healthy snack. My younger sister, the only one home at the time, tried it and didn't like it as much as me. I tried it right after I made it and the day after also. It was a lot stronger the day I made it (which I liked) than the day after I made it. I found this recipe here. I also forgot to take a picture of the dip so I used the picture from the same site.

Ingredients:

-box of frozen artichokes (thawed and chopped)

-1/2 cup of feta (crumpled)

-1 clove of garlic

-2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

-1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes

-1/4 toasted pine nuts

-1/2 cup basil leaves (torn)

-pinch of salt and ground pepper

-toasted peeta (to dip in)

Directions:

In a bowl, combine 1/2 cup artichokes, 1/4 cup feta, garlic, lemon juice, and 2 tsp water. Puree all until smooth. In another bowl, combine tomatoes, pine nuts, basil, the rest of the artichokes and feta, and the artichoke puree. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with toasted peeta.

Brown Sugar Smokies

A simple but great-tasting snack that I made.

Ingredients

 1 pound bacon

 1 (16 ounce) package little smokie sausages

 1 cup brown sugar, or to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Cut bacon into thirds and wrap each strip around a little sausage. 

Place the wrapped sausages on wooden skewers, several to a skewer. 

Arrange the skewers on a baking sheet and sprinkle them liberally with brown sugar.

Bake until bacon is crisp and the brown sugar melted.

 

Double Tomato Bruschetta

"Bruschetta is a traditional Italian item in which small slices of bread are topped with such things as tomato, basil, and mozzarella cheese, as is the case in this delightful recipe."

Rated: Submitted By: Laurie Thompson Photo By: COOKIEMONSTER803 Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 7 Minutes Ready In: 35 Minutes Servings: 12

INGREDIENTS:

6 roma (plum) tomatoes, chopped 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil 3 cloves minced garlic 1/4 cup olive oil 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup fresh basil, stems removed 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 French baguette 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat the oven on broiler setting.
2.	In a large bowl, combine the roma tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, basil, salt, and pepper. Allow the mixture to sit for 10 minutes.
3.	Cut the baguette into 3/4-inch slices. On a baking sheet, arrange the baguette slices in a single layer. Broil for 1 to 2 minutes, until slightly brown.
4.	Divide the tomato mixture evenly over the baguette slices. Top the slices with mozzarella cheese.
5.	Broil for 5 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2013 Allrecipes.com

Printed from Allrecipes.com 9/17/2013

English Muffin Pizzas Recipe

My family loves making these little pizzas because it is easy! Like most family's were all busy and this recipe is for the family's that want something easy and doesn't take to much time to do!  

This recipe was made by Elise Bauer 

Click on English Muffin Pizzas Recipe if you want to try it!! 

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 English muffin halves
• 1 cup grated Mozzarella cheese
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 3/4 cup diced ham or pepperoni 
• A pinch of chopped fresh sage
• Optional: A few slices of fresh tomato

METHOD:
1 Preheat oven to 425°F.
2 Melt butter in a medium skillet on medium high heat. Add the diced ham, cook 5 minutes more. Remove from heat.
3 Put muffin halves, open side up on a baking pan. Distribute the cheese evenly, sprinkling over the muffin halves. . If you want to use tomato slices, layer them between the cheese.
4 Bake at 425°F for 8-9 minutes, until the muffins and toppings are nicely browned, but not burnt. 

Spinach Pinwheels

Found this on Pintrest and I love spinach so I thought it'd be a good one to try out! 

The link on Pintrest leads to a site called Saving Money, Living Life, but the original recipe is from Allrecipes.

Spinach Pinwheels

Ingredients:

2 (8 ounce) packages refrigerated crescent rolls
*1 (7 ounce) package garlic herb cheese spread (or any other flavor you prefer!)
*1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Split crescent dough in half along center perforation. Flatten one rectangle, sealing perforations. Spread with 1/4 of the cheese spread and sprinkle with spinach.

3. Starting with long side, roll dough up, rolling back and forth several times to seal edges. Cut into 3/4 inch slices (about 15 slices per roll). Arrange the slices one inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Continue making the crescent roll ups until all of the ingredients are used.
4. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until lightly browned. Serve immediately or keep warm on a warming tray.

*** Using one package of crescent rolls I did the original recipe and for the second package I used Regular Cream Cheese, Half a Tomato Finely Chopped and some Dried Basil. These can be made with pretty much any flavour you like!

I served this to my family and they all liked them, it was about 50/50 on whether the spinach or tomato basil was better.

Blue Cheese Bites

~ by Steven Reichard

An appetizer is like the door to a house. It is the first opportunity you have to judge the building-and the building is the food. The appetizer-like the door-should fit the house, it should serve as an entrance that entices you to leap to the center of the meal , but it is not to be more important than the meal; yet if the door is haggard and decrepit nobody will want to enter the house, and so the appetizer is quite key. I believe a good appetizer-like a good meal-is an exotic blend of flavours with a cardinal simplicity as a key part. The appetizer should be worthy of a comment yet forgotten once the meal begins.

For my cousins birthday I made an appetizer consisting of: pear, prosciutto, and blue cheese which rested on a cracker. It received praise from all guests who were in attendance. I really liked the taste as it started with pear, followed by prosciutto and ended with a kick of blue cheese.

I made this recipe myself so I don’t have any sources, though the idea came from a dish I had at “The King Street Trio” restaurant.

The recipe is as follows:

-5-7 prosciutto slices

-2 pears (I used organic Bartlett pears but any will do)
-a few ounces of Stilton Blue Cheese*  
-Carr’s Table Water crackers
  *The brand of the cheese doesn’t matter as long as it is a dry and mild blue cheese.

First lay out your Carr’s crackers on a tray-these are the best choice because they don’t really have any flavour and so they act solely as a way to hold the food.

Then cut your pears into thin slices and place them onto the cracker, don’t use the core.

Next cut the prosciutto into long slices, fold them and stack them onto the pear.

Lastly place no more than a half tea spoon of blue cheese on top.

I do hope that if you try it that you will like it. My advice is to experiment and play around with different amounts of cheese or different brands of pears/prosciutto.

Steamed Mussels with a Butter Shallot Sauce

 Steamed Mussels with a Butter Shallot Sauce
by Kirkland Moore

Ingredients:
1 Bag Mussels
1 1/2 Cup Water
1/2 Cup Butter Divided*
1 Garlic Clove
1 Shallot
Parsley
*Divided in 1/4 cup portions

Directions:
Clean mussels well, scrubbing all surfaces and removing each beard.  Bring water to a boil in a large pan. Add mussels and cover until they all open (aprox. 5 minuets). Once finished drain water in separate bowl and cover mussels. While the mussels are cooking prepare your sauce. Add half your butter into a medium sauce pan and heat until melted. Dice garlic and shallot and add to pan and simmer until soft. Add in water drained earlier. Simmer for 3 minuets. Mince a parsley shoot and add to sauce. Serve in a bowl with sauce and parsley leaves.

Turned out very well! I don't think there is anything I would do differently.

Bruschetta

This recipe makes about 4-6 servings. One of the best bruschetta recipes I've had.

Ingredients: 

- 1 baguette, sliced 

-  2 teaspoons minced garlic

- 3 tablespoons olive oil

- 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese

- 2 1/2 cups diced tomatoes

- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

- 1 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, add the tomatoes, garlic, basil, vinegar, olive oil, cheese, salt and pepper.
2. Mix thoroughly and let sit for at least 15 minutes at room temperature to let the flavors marinate.
3. Slice the bread into individual pieces and spoon the mixture on top.
4. Spread the grated cheese on top of the pieces
5. Put the bread into the oven at 350 for 10 minutes
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Chicken Tortilla Cups (Appetizer)

Ingredients

• 6 small flour tortillas
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) vegetable oil
• 1 tsp (5 mL) chili powder
• 1-1/2 cups (375 mL) diced, cooked chicken breasts or turkey cutlets or red kidney beans, (rinsed)
• 3/4 cup (175 mL) shredded old Cheddar cheese or Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/3 cup (75 mL) finely chopped jalapeño peppers or pickled jalapeño peppers, (drained) (optional)
• 1 tsp (5 mL) minced fresh parsley

Preparation

Brush both sides of tortillas with oil; stack and cut into quarters. Fit each wedge into mini muffin cup to make 24 cups.
In small bowl, sprinkle chili powder over chicken; toss to coat. Divide among cups; top with cheese, and jalapeño peppers (if using). Bake in 425°F (220°C) oven until cups are golden and cheese is melted, 10 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve hot.

-these were really good, and really easy to make!

Pastry Burek (Appetizer)

I recently found this recipe on this website, acanadianfoodie. I decided to give it a try making some few minor changes to the original recipe...However my family loved it and it is one I will be trying again very soon.

European Burek

Yield: 12 burek (two rounds of dough)

Ingredients:

• 1 kg flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 340g (400ml) water
• 1/4 cup melted unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 kg freshly ground beef
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 large or 1/2 medium onion, minced

Instructions:

1. Mix all ingredients together, and knead until dough is soft, but not sticky
2. Cover with plastic wrap and a towel and rest for thirty minutes
3. Divide into two portions and make each into a ball (each will make 6 burek )
4. Preheat oven to 260 C
5. Roll each ball on a flour dusted sturdy paper, turning only once, until about 1/4 inch thick
6. Spread oil over the surface of each rolled pastry oval very lightly, but cover the entire surface area to enable easy stretching later
7. Rest for 15 minutes (and not more than 5 minutes longer) and prepare the meat (mince the onion and mix all ingredients together)
8. Transfer one disc of pastry dough to the middle of the table covered using hands gently from the middle of the pastry to stretch it and lay it out
9. Then, pull the dough out little by little around the table and around again until it covers the table and then pull it to just go over the edge of the table; use your fingers in a pinching motion very lightly
10. Take half of the meat portion and lay it out on the edge of the table little by little until there is some meat all around the circumference of the table
11. Add the oil to the melted butter and sprinkle just a little over the pastry on each portion (make a circle with the sprinkling)
12. Cut the dough in half down the middle of the table; and cut off the thickened edge of the dough from the overhanging portion
13. Flip the overhanging pastry from the side of the table to over the meat laid out on the table until all is covered
14. Then, lift the cloth gently to force the dough to gently roll toward the centre of the table; stop it when you can easily roll the rest by hand
15. Use the butter and oil to grease the baking pan; roll each end of the two ropes of dough into two burek portions and leave enough in the middle for a third
16. Place all in the pan and very lightly brush with butter oil mixture
17. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes at 260 and remove from the oven
18. Pour about 1/2 cup of water over the golden burek and return to the oven for 5 more minutes
19. Take out of the oven and cover with a towel for at least five minutes before serving
20. Serve with yogurt (not required)

Garlic Cheese Bread (Elijah's Way)

Yummy!!!

Ingredients:

• Italian Bread
• Cheese
• 1 cup butter
• 2 tspns Garlic Powder

Direction: 

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix butter, and garlic powder in a bowl, and apply generously upon bread. After buttering bread wrap it in tin foil, and place in oven for 8-10 mins. Take bread out, and remove tin foil to apply cheese as needed. After applying cheese place back in oven till cheese melts. Then eat.

Garlic Flatbread

I found this recipe on a "best recipes" website.  I made for my family and it was a big hit!

Ingredients:

1 pinch granulated sugar
3/4 cup (175 mL) warm water
1 tsp (5 mL) active dry yeast or quick-rising yeast
3 tbsp (45 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
1-3/4 cups (425 mL) all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp (4 mL) salt
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp (1 mL) dried mint or dried oregano

Preparation:

Grease rimless baking sheet; set aside.

In large bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water. Sprinkle in yeast; let stand until frothy, about 10 minutes. Whisk in 2 tbsp (25 mL) of the oil. Stir in flour, about 1/4 cup (50 mL) at a time, and salt to form sticky dough.

Turn out onto lightly floured surface; knead until smooth, 5 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning to grease all over; cover and let rise in warm draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 1-1/2 hours.

Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface; press fingertips into dough to create dimples. Gently stretch into 15- x 6-inch (38 x 15 cm) rectangle. Transfer to prepared pan. Cover and let rise in warm draft-free place until nearly doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.

Bake in centre of 400°F (200°C) oven for 13 minutes. Meanwhile, in small bowl, stir remaining oil, garlic and mint; brush over flatbread. Bake until light golden around edges, about 5 minutes.

Black and Green Olive Tapenade: (for Garlic Flatbread): In bowl, stir together 1/4 cup (50 mL) each finely diced pitted Kalamata olives and finely diced pitted green olives; 1/2 tsp (2 mL) grated lemon rind; 1/2 tsp (2 mL) toasted coriander seeds, crushed; and 1/4 tsp (1 mL) pepper. Stir in 1/4 cup (50 mL) extra-virgin olive oil. (Make-ahead: Refrigerate in airtight container for up to 1 week; let come to room temperature to use.) Makes about 1/2 cup (125 mL).

Changes: I melted mozzarella cheese on the finished garlic bread and it was great!

Cauliflower Pizza Bites

Cauliflower Pizza Bites, I found the recipe here and the picture here

2 cups	Cauliflower (about 1/2 head of cauliflower)
1/4 cup	Egg whites (or 1 large egg white)
1/8 cup	Low fat cottage cheese
1/4 cup	Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp	Dried oregano
1/2 tsp	Dried basil
1/4 tsp	Garlic powder
1/4 cup	Mini turkey pepperoni’s (or regular size turkey pepperoni cut into quarters)
Optional	Topping: Additional pepperoni’s to place on top just before cooking

*instead of dried I used 1 tsp Dried Italian Seasoning.

Preheat oven to 425. Line 14 mini muffin cups with silicone liners, or foil muffin liners with paper liners removed. Spray liners with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

Wash cauliflower, and cut in half, (save the rest for later). Break cauliflower into segments, and place in food processor. Pulse until it reaches a rice-like texture.

Place cauliflower in microwave safe bowl and microwave for 8 minutes. (Do NOT add water or cover).

Remove cauliflower from microwave and add the rest of the ingredients. Stir to combine. Place back in microwave for 2 minutes. Mix again.

Scoop cauliflower mixture into muffin liners, dividing evenly between the 14 mini liners. Fill to the top, and press filling down so it’s compact in liner.

Place muffin tin in the oven and bake muffins for 30-35 minutes, or when top starts to become golden brown. Remove from the oven, let cool completely before popping the muffins out of the liners. Serve warm with pizza sauce for dipping!

Tomato Bruschetta

This is my go-to recipe when I am in need of a really tasty appetizer. It is also great on its own as a lunch. The original recipe has oregano instead of basil but I'm not a huge fan of oregano. So, I replaced it with the basil and, IMHO, it is 100% better. (I will add a photo later)

1/2 baguette, sliced into 1 inch slices                 
1/3 cup butter  (or margarine)                                                      
1 garlic clove, minced                                          
1 Roma tomato, diced                                           
½ green pepper, diced
1 tsp basil or 1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
1 TBSP olive oil
½ cup mozzarella, shredded
1/3 cup parmesan, shredded



Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
Mix oil, tomato, green pepper, and basil.  Set aside.
Mix minced garlic and butter (margarine) until creamy.  Spread on one side of the sliced baguette.
Sprinkle slices with shredded cheeses.
Spoon tomato/pepper mixture onto the slices of baguette.  
Bake at 350°F for about 15 minutes.

Tomato ball

Last Friday was a snow day, and also my birthday.. so I decided to make a more creative appetizer which are salsa with bread and the tomato ball....   it looks nice and works well... I also cooked some dumplings for Chinese New Year..as shown on the right hand side.
I got the recipes from a Chinese website.
I am going to introduce the tomato ball .
Ingredients:
Tomatos
red and green peppers
cheese

meat

bread


Directions:
Cut the vegetables in to small pieces..  dice  the breads.
Take a big ball to put all the things together with cheese pieces.
Put them in the oven for about 300 degree and for 10 minutes.
Then take them out and use some green leaves to democrat.

I made some more to share with my homestay and they said it taste good..

In class cooking: Salsa-licious

The thing about salsa... Fresh salsa recipes are easily modified.  There are no rules as to how much of a certain ingredient you need to put in, but there are guidelines.  Start with the recipe below, and before you begin ask your group the following questions: how spicy do you want your salsa to be? how much garlic do you want to put in?   do you want big chunks in your salsa or small pieces? Cilantro: smell it.  Do you think you will want a large or small amount of this herb? Remember: It is easy to add MORE to a recipe, but very very difficult to remove a certain ingredient.  Start small and add more to taste.

Fresh salsa recipe:

3 large tomatoes
½ chopped onion
1or 2 garlic cloves, minced
¼ c finely chopped cilantro
1 tbsp lime juice
½  jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
salt to taste

1.  chop tomatoes, place in bowl.
2.  After discussing questions above, measure and chop other ingredients.  
3.  Mix all ingredients together

Home-made Pita Chips:
2 whole pitas
1 tsp olive oil
tyme
garlic salt

1.  put the olive oil in a small bowl.
2.  Use your brush to lightly kiss the pita with olive oil, on one side
3.  lightly sprinkle the thyme and garlic salt on the pita
4.  cut the pita into wedges
5.  spread the wedges on a cookie sheet
6.  bake in the oven for approximately 8-10 minutes

Sausage and Greens Frittata

My mom made this last week, and it was SO good and I just had to make it into an appetizer. So I made it and cut it into smaller "finger food" sized squares.



Sausage and Greens Frittata (Advanced Diet)      

1 large bunch of dark greens spinach, kale, collards (or a mixture)
1 pound of ground sausage meat
½ tsp. hot pepper flakes

1&1/2 tsp. parsley flakes

10 eggs

pat of butter (I used coconut oil instead because I don't eat dairy)

1. Chop greens, then sauté in butter until soft. Add the sausage, pepper flakes andparsley and sauté the meat until it is almost cooked.

2. Grease an 8x8 pan, then add the meat and greens mixture. Spread the mixtureevenly in the pan.

3. Whisk the eggs, them pour them into the pan.

4. Bake at 375 F. until the eggs solidify, (approximately 25 minutes).

5. Frittata can be eaten warm or cold.

My whole family really enjoys when we have this at my house, so they liked it when I made it too! You guys should try this too, its really good :)

Artichoke and Spinach Dip

We often order this dip whenever we go out to eat, and so I decided to make it for myself. I got the recipe from the website All Recipes

Ingredients

• 1/2 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons grated Romano cheese
• 1/2 clove garlic, peeled and minced
• 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic salt
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 1/4 cup frozen spinach, thawed and drained
• 2 tablespoon shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a small baking dish.

2. In a medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese, Romano cheese, garlic, basil, garlic salt, salt and pepper. Gently stir in artichoke hearts and spinach.

3. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish. Top with mozzarella cheese. Bake in preheated oven 25 minutes, until bubbly and lightly browned

Changes
I changed the amount of mozzarella added on top so that the top layer was not too thick to get through. I also served it with pita bread and tortilla chips.

Garlic Bread

Tonight I made my family garlic bread from a recipe I found on a website called simplyrecipes.

Ingredients:

• 1 16-ounce loaf of Italian bread
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 large cloves of garlic, smashed and minced
• 1 tbsp of parsley 
• 1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese (optional)

Method:

1. Chop up the parsley, mash up the garlic, and melt the butter for 20 seconds until it is softened. Mix them all together in a small bowl, and let it sit.
2. Cut the bread in half horizontally. Spread the butter mixture over the two bread halves. Place on a baking pan and heat in the oven for 10 minutes.
3. Remove the pan from the oven. Sprinkle parmesan cheese over the bread. Put the bread on the highest rack and broil on high for 2-3 minutes until the edges of the bread begin to toast and the cheese bubbles. Watch very carefully while broiling, the bread can easily go from un-toasted to burnt.
4. Remove from the oven, let it cool for a minute. Remove from pan and make 1-inch slices. Serve immediately.

Changes:
I didn't add as much parsley as the recipe said, and instead of cutting it really fine I made it a bit chunky.

Grape Jelly Meatballs

We always eat these on New Year's, but they're great anytime of year! You can find this recipe pretty much anywhere, but I got mine from my mom.

Ingredients:

• 1 jar of Heinz chili sauce (doesn't necessarily have to be Heinz, but it tastes the best!)
• 1 jar of grape jelly
• Meatballs (however many you would like)

Instructions:

Put the chili sauce and jelly together in a large pot, heat until the jelly is melted and sauce is smooth. Stir often. Add frozen meatballs; heat until meatballs are thawed. Let simmer for 3 hours.

Changes:

Instead of buying meatballs and thawing them, I made my own!

How to Make Your Own Meatballs:

• 1 and a half tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup of crumbs
• 1 lb. lean hamburger
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 egg

Mix together all ingredients. Add in the meat, use your hands to make sure the meat is evened out throughout the mixture, add more water/crumbs if the mixture is too dry/wet. Roll mixture into desired shape for the meatballs. Preheat a skillet with olive oil to medium heat; cook the meatballs, make sure all sides are browned and thoroughly cooked. Place the meatballs on a paper towel to get rid of excess grease. Enjoy!