Stuffed Mushrooms p. 113

I do not believe I'd ever had a stuffed mushroom. It seems like its a traditional appetizer at parties and such, but somehow I had missed it.

Several weeks ago I hosted a small gathering at my house and decided it was high time I try a stuffed mushroom.



They were fairly easy to prepare and turned out being a tasty snack. Great for a cocktail party or other gathering.

Curried Deviled Eggs p. 85

Oppsy. Its been a while. I didn't realize how long its been until I sat down with my book to look at the pages I've been meaning to post and realized that this one was made at Easter. EASTER! Yikes.

Deviled eggs is one of the staples, at least in my opinion, of an Easter meal. Something about eggs, I don't know for sure. But I wanted to try a variation, as there are mutliple good ones offered in How to Cook Everything. I'd also been craving some curry around this time as well.

Curried deviled eggs substituted yogurt for mayo (another reason for using this recipe to get rid of the large container of yogurt going bad in my fridge). Instead of mustard, use curry powder and garnish with cilantro.



They turned out very pretty, but I still prefer a traditional deviled egg for flavor.

2009 Recap: Appetizers

For this last week of 2009, I thought I'd look back at the dishes I've completed and list which were my favorites. While I still have a long way to go before completing this project, I am proud of myself for sticking with this so far and trying a bunch of new things.

So for today we'll start with starters, appetizers:

1. Marinated Celery and Carrots, Chinese style. I had never had anything like this before, but have since made it twice. Bryan and I both really enjoy the flavors. Its a departure from regular crudities and still healthy.

2. Hummus. Hummus is not really something I typically like. I'll take a bite or two out of politeness at parties or gatherings. Homemade hummus is about two steps ahead of the store bought stuff. I've made it for several parties and received many compliments. Not only is it delicious, but its easy!

So far I've completed 8 appetizers. Which is pretty low, will definately being doing more appetizer posts in 2010.

Quesadillas p. 109

I had made a shredded pork the day before and thought that maybe quesadillas would be a fun, casual dinner.

We started by putting a little oil in a skillet and putting on one flour tortilla. while it warmed we added some cheese, green peppers if wanted, some pork, and salsa. Then topped it with another tortilla. After a minute or two flipped it.



Viola! Your very own quesadilla!



They were a fun dinner. We had friends/family over for a relaxed evening and made each person make their own.

You could make them just cheese quesadillas as an appetizer, but I think adding a meat and making it your own really added a fun vibe to the evening... and no one could blame me if their meal wasn't good!

Sour Cream or Yogurt Dip p. 89

I forgot to take pictures of this dish. Sorry.

I was putting together some snacks for a party at Bryan's work place last week. I purchased a large fruit and a large veggie trays. One of them came with ranch, but I thought a nice dip like this would be a good alternative.

I used half sour cream and half yogurt. I think it'd be better with just yogurt. I mixed in a cup or finely chopped cucumber and some fresh parsley. This makes a lot so don't be fooled if you are preparing for a party.

Baked Tortilla Chips p. 97

These are one of those things that make me feel like super woman. Yeah, who makes their own chips. Ridiculous.

I was wanting to feel ridiculous and super woman, so I made a big batch recently. I had read several different versions in various places and decided to experiment with both corn and flour tortillas. I cut each into 6 triangles. Brush them on both sides with olive oil and sprinkle with your favorite seasonings.

Now Mark Bittman recommends adding your salt and seasonings after baking, but when I did this to the first batch, most of it fell off. I wanted highly seasoned chips, so with the next batch I rubbed the seasoning (I mixed up some Mexican seasonings.) in after add the oil. This worked out nicely. But I think my favorite way of seasoning was to mix the oil and seasonings and brush it on simultaneously.

In the end the flour tortillas were our favorite. Bryan loves them and insists that I make them again. And to be honest, they really aren't that much trouble.

Guacamole, p. 95

Ingredients: avocados, onion, garlic, jalapeno, chili powder, salt, pepper, lime juice, cilantro.

I first chopped the onions, garlic, and jalapenos a few hours before serving and put them in a baggy in the fridge. This made it easy when my guests arrived. All I had to do next was cut the avocados, and mix everything up.



Guacamole is a very easy dish to make from scratch. I won’t eat anything, but the fresh made stuff. Over the years I’ve developed my own recipe which is very similar to this one, just without the onion and garlic and jalapeños. (I don’t really like the flavor of jalapenos.) I add tons of cilantro and salt cover it with lime juice. Sometimes I throw in about a tablespoon or so of already made salsa and that seems to round of the flavors. But if you like onions, throw them in, they do add a nice crunch to the guacamole.

Fresh Tomato Salsa, p. 23

Ingredients: tomatoes, onion, garlic, jalapenos, cilantro, lime, salt, pepper.

The recipe suggests to finely chop your onions and tomatoes, but I was feeling lazy after an early start to the day, so I just tossed everything in the food processor. It was a little bit of a finer texture, but I don’t mind that in a salsa.

So basically throw everything in the food processor and serve. I didn’t measure the quantity of jalapenos I put in, which is a bad idea since I don’t normally eat or cook with them. The salsa turned out a bit spicer than I normally like, but was delicious. I doubled the recipe and we still have some left over.