Category: Appetizer

Cucumber Salad- Din Thai Fung Copycat

Appetizer

Din Thai Fung is one of our favs in Las Vegas. Their cucumber salad is a must and this copycat recipe I found on the internet is pretty close.

http://www.platingsandpairings.com

INGREDIENTS

  • 8 Persian cucumberssliced into 1/2-inch thick pieces
  • 1½ Tablespoons kosher salt

DRESSING:

TO SERVE:

  • 1/2 Tablespoon chili oil or more, to taste
  • ½ Tablespoon sesame oil
  • 1 fresno chile pepperminced (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Add sliced cucumber to a small bowl. Sprinkle with 1 ½ TBSP kosher salt and toss to combine. Let sit for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
  • After 30 minutes, rinse off the salt mixture and pat the cucumbers dry.
  • Meanwhile, make the dressing. In a small bowl whisk together the rice vinegar, mirin, sugar, sesame oil, garlic and salt. Mix well and set aside.
  • Toss the rinsed and dried cucumbers with the dressing and let marinate for a minimum of 4 hours, up to 2 days.
  • To serve: Taste for seasoning, and add additional salt if needed. Drizzle with chili oil and sprinkle with fresno chile and serve chilled.

Rosemary Roasted Cashews

Appetizer, Nuts, Rosemary

We had a version of these as Astoria on Detroit Ave – which is a great place to go by the way – that were so good.  I made this recipe for the clambake this past weekend and they were great on the cheese board.

Rosemary Roasted Cashews

Ina Garten

  • 1 1/4 pounds raw cashew nuts
  • 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
  • 2 teaspoons dark brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon melted butter
  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Place the nuts on an ungreased baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes until they are warmed through. Meanwhile, combine the rosemary, pepper, sugar, salt and butter in a large bowl. Toss the warm nuts with the rosemary mixture until the nuts are completely coated. Serve warm.

PJH notes:  I think I might roast them for just a few more minutes next time – I liked the really brown ones.  I liked them better at room temperature as they were crunchier.

Some clambake 2020 photos:

Mussels Stuffed with Spinach and Parmesan

Appetizer, Parmesan, Spinach

We did seven fishes for Christmas Eve this year.

Menu:

  1. Smoked salmon platter
  2. House smoked tuna dip
  3. Lobster bisque
  4. Caesar salad with anchovies
  5. Mussels Stuffed with Spinach and Parmesan
  6. Shrimp with mayo, lemon and red onions
  7. Crab Cakes

The smoked tuna dip and mussels were new recipes and both were great.  Here’s a couple Xmas Eve photos and recipe for the mussels – great because you can make them totally ahead, pop them under the broiler when ready to serve and they’re super tasty.

Xmas eve mass… church asked everyone to take photos before mass started

posing girls

Owen was the Xmas Even entertainment

opening presents

Xmas jammies 2017

girl power

Mussels Stuffed with Spinach and Parmesan

Fine Cooking Issue 14

  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 4 Tbs. finely chopped shallots
  • 1 tsp. cracked black pepper
  • 4 sprigs parsley
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme (omit if fresh isn’t available)
  • 28 medium mussels (about 2 lb.), sorted and cleaned

for the stuffing:

  • 2 Tbs. butter or olive oil
  • 2 cups lightly packed, washed, stemmed, and chopped fresh spinach
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 3 Tbs. chopped parsley
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Combine the wine, 2 Tbs. of the shallots, pepper, parsley sprigs, bay leaf, and thyme in a pot (with a lid) large enough to accommodate the mussels when their shells have opened. Bring to a boil, add the mussels, cover, and steam until just opened, 2 to 3 minutes. Try not to steam the mussels longer than necessary, because they’ll be cooked again later. Remove the mussels with a slotted spoon and set aside. Strain the cooking liquid through a strainer lined with several layers of cheesecloth and reserve.

For the stuffing—Heat the butter in a heavy-based pan. Add the remaining shallots and cook until soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the spinach, cover, and cook briefly until the spinach wilts. Uncover and cook until the liquid from the spinach evaporates, another 3 to 4 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of the strained mussel liquid and cook until the mixture is almost dry, about 5 minutes. Add the cream and again cook until the mixture is almost dry, about 10 minutes. Add the chopped parsley and season to taste with salt and pepper; the mixture should be quite peppery.

Heat the broiler. Remove the mussels from their shells. Make a bed of rock salt or crumpled foil on a baking sheet (to steady the shells) and arrange as many half shells as you have mussel meats. Put a mussel meat on each half shell and spoon a teaspoonful of the spinach mixture over each. Top with the grated cheese and broil until golden and bubbly, 4 to 6 minutes. Serve with small forks and bread to soak up the rich juices

12/2017 note: I made a double batch – with about 4 lbs of smallish mussels – way over 100 – and two reg bags of fresh spinach.  I ran out of spinach for the last bit so would make more spinach next time.

Peanut Sauce

Appetizer, Cauliflower, Lime, Nuts

A good dip for crudites.  We especially like it with blanched cauliflower.

  • 1/2 cup roasted salted peanuts (abbout 2.5 ounces)
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
  • 2 T creamy peanut butter (do not use old fashioned style or freshly ground)
  • 2 T fresh lime juice
  • 1 T (generous) seeded minced jalapeno chili
  • 1 T honey
  • 1/2 t chili powder

Grind peanuts in processsor

Add remaining ingredients and process until well-blended

(Can be made 2 days ahead.  Cover and chill.  Serve at room temp.)

Buffalo Cauliflower… Clambake 2015

Appetizer, Cauliflower

I have made this a few times now and everyone always loves it.  A healthier option to satisfy your buffalo wing cravings.

We got two HUGE beautiful cauliflowers at Sun Plum

cauliflower still life

I didn’t get a picture until they were almost gone.  They are a crowd pleaser.

Buffalo Cauliflower

  • One head cauliflower
  • One stick butter
  • 1/2 cup of Frank’s Red hot sauce (plus or minus how spicy you like)
  • Blue cheese dressing

Cut up cauliflower into little pieces.  Steam for 5 minutes.  I do this ahead of time.  When ready to serve.  Melt butter and hot sauce together.  Shake sauce with cauliflower in a big bowl.  Roast in hot 450 oven for 5-10 more minutes.  Serve with blue cheese dressing.

I brought this to the clambake last Saturday which was on a perfect October day on Lake Erie.  Here’s some pix.

Hanging out by the clambake

Looking good

The Master

Grace timed her Fall Break just right

picture perfect day

All my girls

the ceremonial pour

us

and a beautiful sunset to top it off

Tomato Jam

Appetizer, Tomatoes

tomato jam on pita crackers

Our supply of tomatoes continues to occupy our kitchen window sill.  A friend at work gave me this recipe after we discussing all the different things we do with tomatoes.  It’s a nice easy way to use up the smaller ones that seem to be all that is left now…and is also very tasty.

our window sill tomatoes

lots of nice spices

the tomatoes as they started to cook. such a nice color.

about an hour and a half later

Tomato Jam

Meg Guncik – who got from New York Times

  • 1 ½ lb good ripe tomatoes (Roma are best), cored and coarsely chopped.
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 1 Tbsp fresh grated or minced ginger
  • 1 tsp. ground cumin
  • ¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp. ground cloves
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 jalapeno or other pepper(s), stemmed, seeded and minced (or red pepper flakes or cayenne to taste)

1.         Combine all ingredients in a heavy saucepan.  Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring often.

2.         Reduce heat to simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture has consistency of thick jam, @ 1 hour, 15 minutes.

3.         Taste and adjust seasoning, then cool and refrigerate until ready to use.  Will keep at least a week.

Meg’s notes:

My Roma tomatoes were so small, I didn’t bother to core them, but I did coarsely chop them.

I usually double this recipe and end up with 2-3 small/medium sized jars.

If you want, after cooking for the hour and 15 min, you can run the mixture through a strainer to get rid of any skins and/or cores.  I did not do that – I used an immersion blender and made it smooth that way.

A few times, I needed to cook it longer to continue to reduce it to the right thickness.

I think it keeps longer than a week.  It’s very good on melba toast or water crackers -it’s not necessarily a breakfast-type jam.

Shrimp with Red Onions, Lemon and Mayonnaise

Appetizer, Lemon, Shrimp

This is an old family recipe that only seems to get made for special occasions.  It sounds kind of gross, but it is one of the best tasting, and simple appetizers around.  Talking to my Mom, they got the recipe from a friend in California over 40 years ago.  We went to Blossom on Saturday to hear the Cleveland Orchestra and this is one of our favorite things to bring to Blossom.  We also made corn and avacado salad, and teriyaki marinated sirloin skewers with red peppers.  It was a great night.

ingredients

lot’s of onions. that’s the best part.

like most things…tastes better with wine

enjoying the shrimp at blossom

it was a beautiful evening at Blossom

our other dates for the night…Sophie and her pals

the cleveland orchestra was great as always

 

Shrimp with Red Onions, Lemon and Mayonnaise

  • Peel and boil as many shrimp as you are going to use.
  • Chill completely
  • Thinly slice LOTS of red onions.  Add to chilled shrimp
  • Squeeze a fresh lemon or more and add to shrimp and onions.
  • Add mayonnaise to get to the consistency that you want.  Creamy, but not too much.
  • Add just a bit of salt and pepper.
  • Let chill for several hours, the flavor develops as it chills.

 

Dolmades (Stuffed Grape Leaves)

Appetizer, Dill, Fenell, Nuts, Onion, Parsley, Rice

This was my third attempt at making dolmades over the past year or so and I am happy to report success at last.  I have always loved these ever since Uncle Tom and Aunt Evie introduced them to us, but could never quite get it right.  We were at the West Side Market on Saturday and they were charging $7.00 for a half dozen of them so I said… sam hell… I can make those for much less and much better to boot.

Fennel….our new favorite vegetable that makes everything taste good:  (made a risotto on Saturday w fennel, shitakes, cremini and sausage… awesome).

pine nuts.  an essential ingredient in dolmades:

The slightly cooked mixture of onion, fennel, rice, parsley, dill and mint:

rolling them up…

Not the most beautiful things… and they are a lot of work…but they sure taste good.

Dolmades (stuffed grape leaves)

Recipe 99% from Tyler Florence on FoodNetwork.com after looking at lots of recipes.  I also learned from watching quite a few YouTube videos of Greek Grandmas dolmades techniques.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
  • 1 small fennel bulb, halved, cored and diced
  • 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
  • 1/2 cup pine nuts
  • 1 cup long-grain rice
  • 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
  • 2 T. finely chopped dill leaves
  • 1 T. finely chopped mint (or 1 t. dried)
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 jar grape leaves, rinsed and drained – the big jar
  • 2 lemons, juiced

Directions

To make the filling, coat a large saute pan with 1/4 cup of the oil and place over medium heat. Add the onion, fennel and lemon zest and stir until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the pine nuts and rice, saute for 2 minutes, stirring to coat. Pour in just 1/2 cup of the chicken stock and lower the heat. Simmer until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is al dente, about 10 minutes. Scrape the parboiled rice mixture into a bowl and add the dill, mint and parsley; season with salt and pepper. Allow to cool.

Bring a big pot of water to a simmer. Blanch the grape leaves in the hot water for 5 minutes until pliable. Drain then trim the stems and any hard veins from the leaves. Pat dry with paper towels.  The leaves are all really packed tight in the jar.  I found it easiest to separate them by submerging them in water.

To assemble the dolmades, lay a grape leaf on a work surface, shiny-side down. Put 2 tablespoons of the rice filling near the stem end of the leaf. Fold the stem end over the filling, then fold both sides toward the middle, and roll up into a cigar – it should be snug but not overly tight because the rice will swell once it is fully cooked. Squeeze lightly in the palm of your hand to secure the roll. Repeat with remaining grape leaves and filling.

Place the dolmades in a large Dutch oven or wide deep skillet, seam-side down in a single layer. Pour the remaining cup of broth, remaining olive oil, and the lemon juice over the dolmades, the liquid should reach halfway up the rolls, add some water if necessary. Cover the pan and simmer over low heat for 30 to 40 minutes, until the dolmades are tender when pierced with a fork. Serve warm, at room temperature or cool.